It's one of the toughest assignments I've ever done. Apart from the very long days - beginning at 0430 - the heat at midday could sometimes reach 50 degrees.  It was a film documenting the Herculean task of relocating Black Rhino from the Zambezi River to safer havens south, away from poachers.  At the time, the population of this species had dwindled to little over 800, and the Zimbabwean Government had leant a lot of support to the project.

Filming was hard. Every day we had to leave very early to avoid as much of the sun as possible, and the treks would be in excess of ten miles - not easy in excesses of heat, and carrying film kit!  No room to carry the gear on the lorry - that was used exclusively to recover the captured rhino, and in any case it was actually quicker on foot with all the undergrowth!  The whole film took six weeks - four of which living in tents in Hwange National Park on the Zambezi River at Mana Pools.

When in pursuit of a rhino, there was no stopping the team - they had to move fast.  Over a four week period in the outback, we went out often twice a day to film their activities.  We even surprised ourselves with the determination to keep up! Initially, the hardened members of the recovery team would play pranks on us, not expecting us to survive more than a few days.  Had to check your sleeping bag for the odd uninvited visitor.  One night we even had a Hyena break into our tent, and every night there'd be enormous cockroaches walking around the floor, and hear the sound of prowling animals outside.

Sound-wise, I'm glad I took loads of batteries - although the Nagra (yes, it was real film!) went for weeks without a change.  Carrying tapes, and spares for all the gear that got trashed was a major consideration. I had Clem Coetzee and his second in command - Doug - on radio mics most of the time, as we often had to hang back when in pursuit of a rhino.  The gun mic covered pretty much everything else. Changing film rolls every ten minutes, and sound rolls every twenty was fun when (literally) running alongside the team!

Apart from Nick the cameraman rolling the car with us and equipment on a gravel track, we managed to run out of water in 50 degrees when the whole team - including native guides - got completely lost returning to base.

Sadly, Clem Coetzee died of a heart attack, aged 67 in September 2006.

More info & CVs here