In an exciting update Thandi, the poached but surviving rhino that underwent facial reconstruction surgery, is becoming the poster child for the anti-rhino poaching movement. Natural History New Zealand is negotiating to produce and air a documentary in China. Workshops have also been conducted in Hanoi by Dr William Fowlds, the vet who did Thandi’s facial reconstruction surgery, sponsored by Humane Society International and the Department of Vietnam Forestry. Here’s hoping that Thandi’s, and indeed the rhinos’ story per se, touches hearts in the regions where rhino horn is being bought and sold.

< Dawn of a new era[/caption]Life is an absolutely amazing journey! I have recently completed the toughest and most demanding, but also the most productive and creative decade of my life yet. And it's now time for a new day... Over the past ten years I have honed my craft and extended my horizons beyond what I could have imagined possible - self-publishing my book “Miracles of Hope: Surviving and Thriving in the 21st Century” and then buying back the rights from a wrong publisher who had taken it on (a very painful and expensive exercise and one I don’t recommend if at all possible).

I have made newspaper history by publishing over 35 newspaper broadsheets and numerous supplements on ‘Cinderella’ issues such as food, water and energy security, hopefully helping to bring them to the forefront of concern in the Western Cape – conceptualising, marketing, researching, writing, photographing and co-ordinating these features with enormous love and devotion (who says women aren’t brilliant multi-taskers?).

My husband and I have sustainably owner-built our own home in the heart of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve (located between a mountain and the ocean with glass walls overlooking both) and although it’s not quite finished yet we’re living in it and enjoying being in such a wonderful (but challenging) place.

Now, however, it’s definitely a new day. So a different work focus. I’m excited …

This pic of a Cape Cobra by Western Cape Snake Rescue Volunteer, Shaun MacLeod, epitomises for me the incredible diversity of the magnificent planet we call home. Every species has its role to play in the checks and balances of life on Earth. Such an epic pity that we are in the midst of the 6th extinction with so many species disappearing forever!