Sunday, 7 February 2010, 8:30PM – 9:30PM

In this episode Rowan (Cal Macaninch) gets into trouble in the bush while making a romantic gesture to win Vanessa’s (Mary-Ann Barlow) heart.

Talking about his character, Rowan, in the new series Cal explains: “He is very excited to be in Africa. He has a great sense of adventure and loves being with Vanessa. Rowan is full of great of ideas but is not a very good businessman and knows nothing about animals so these ideas often end up backfiring. His heart is in the right place and he thinks he is in a good position to make money so he comes up with all these schemes. Some of them pay off because he works really hard but not all of them – he has ideas but no ideals. He is not a bad guy but sometimes he just doesn’t think.

“He has a growing affection for Vanessa and enjoys being in her company and working with her and it then grows into a burgeoning love. But she doesn’t feel the same way so he has his work cut out. He decides to make his feelings known but she doesn’t respond in the way he wants. When they have an adventure out in the bush where she thinks he has been killed it makes her realise how much he means to her. So they are together, but not necessarily for long…”

Explaining this bush adventure Cal says: “It was brilliant; my favourite part of the shoot. There was one stunt I wasn’t allowed to do which involved my character falling backwards down a precipice. When I saw the stuntman, I realised that they always have to think of safety first and there’s a reason why actors don’t do stunts for a living. Stuntmen have got to do it over and over again and do it in a certain way to stop themselves getting injured whereas if I had done it then I would probably have hurt myself. So I didn’t take the risk but I do like getting involved in the action. Getting down and dirty.”

But Cal had more than lions and tigers to deal with in South Africa this year, he had a new baby daughter.

“My wife Shauna gave birth to our new baby girl, Ava Red at home in South Africa, where we live during filming. Shauna feels very at home in South Africa, very relaxed about travelling so we can feel at home in any place. This is my fourth time here for various projects so I feel comfortable with my family being here too.

“My older daughter, Jessie, loves being out here with all the animals and as she knows the movie Madagascar back to front she loves it but wonders why the lions aren’t dancing…”

In episode five Danny (Stephen Tompkinson) and Alice (Dawn Steele) are taking a well deserved mini break but Olivia (Olivia Scott-Taylor) is upset to learn they’re leaving that day. Angry at missing out on a driving lesson, she decides to take the jeep out on her own. When she crashes it, none of the family believes her protests that it was an accident. Du Plessis (Deon Stewardson) makes Olivia ask Rowan (Cal Macaninch) and Vanessa (Mary-Anne Barlow) to lend Danny and Alice a jeep, which gives Rowan an idea. He sees an ideal opportunity to spend some romantic time with the oblivious Vanessa and decides that they’ll come along too. As they all leave, Du Plessis introduces Olivia to the concept of brat camp.

On the road, the group take a diversion and their vehicle gets damaged. There’s worse in store when they discover a terrible accident up ahead. The driver of a crashed truck is dead and Susan (Vanessa Cooke), a tourist, has severe injuries. There’s also a very angry lion which has escaped from its trailer in the accident. When the disorientated lion runs at Vanessa, Rowan heroically saves her showing himself in a new light. That night, Susan’s son Michael (Antony Coleman) decides to go for help and a worried Rowan goes with him, but when they try to take a shortcut, Rowan falls down a rocky incline and is knocked unconscious. When Michael returns alone and covered in blood, the group fear the worst for lost and injured Rowan. After Alice and Danny have searched in vain for him they decide to continue on for Susan’s sake. However, Alice can’t leave her brother and decides to go back alone to protect him.

Meanwhile, Du Plessis’ brat camp isn’t working well until he gets Olivia involved in the rescue of an orphaned baby leopard. Finally Olivia feels like she has a role at Leopard’s Den and Du Plessis is pleased to have formed a bond with her. However, when Danny and Alice arrive back, Olivia is immediately on the defensive with Alice. Realising that Olivia needs the leopard to help her feel at home, Alice offers her brother a deal; she’ll work at Mara if Olivia can have the leopard.