January 2012
5 posts
Tomorrow is our toughest yet
1/1/12
There is still music playing in celebration for New Year. Last night’s festivities made for a full night of sleep without any wakings. We were treated to a special dinner that included turkey and gravy, karaoke and some drumming. I still need some practice to find some rythm.
We missed the town party sadly, but our consolation was to chill with an awesome, drooly dog. On our way...
All is well and tonight we party
12/31
If another rooster crows in the middle of the night, I’m going to kick it off a cliff. Ok I’m kidding, that’d be too many roosters to kick. I slept in a hammock last night hoping it would be more comfortable than the floor. It was. We took our time getting ready this morning and I discovered that fried plantains were my favorite way to have plantains so far.
We set off...
Incredible so far
12/30
Ok I am just going to have to learn to write before the sun sets. So to finish off the first day, we arrived at the hostel around noon. After having lunch and bringing in our bags, we took a few hours to explore the property. There was a small obstacle course and rope bridge. Of course a few of us had to cross the precarious “bridge” hanging just a few feet above danger infested water....
I shall finish this tomorrow
12/28
Today was a day of hours in a van/bus (not really sure what it was) and exploration. So great. We left Panama City in the morning, picked up our translators and doctor and journeyed to our base in Coclesito in the Colon Province.
The drive was long, but unlike anything I have experienced so far. The city and countryside were two different worlds. Ok well Panama itself is a different...
Romping Around Panama
Like my South Africa trip, I kept a journal of daily shenanigans and other events throughout my stay in Panama. So again I will be recounting my tales as they appear in my journal since there was no electricity much of the time let alone Internet. Panama is a fascinating country and I have a new found respect for those who call the communities only accessible by foot or horse on sometime hazardous...
July 2011
11 posts
not the final chapter
6/6
I’ve just said my good-bye to Kelly as she boards her flight to New York. It’s been a long and somber day. The farewell to everyone who accompanied us to the Hoedspruit airport was one of the most difficult ever. There was a full caravan of people and that made good-bye no easier.
I had a long time to think about my stay at Moholoholo. It feels as if I’v been there are...
riding in south africa
6/3
So today was…for lack of a better word, hectic. We found out at dinner that all the boys were needed at Nhoveni to help set a leopard trap. This meant the girls were left behind to do rounds alone. This would have been fine had it not been for the fact that there was A LOT to do.
I stayed at the clinic to clean the klipspringer cage and the baby honey badger’s cage (Katrina,...
break from the routine
6/1
Today was normal, the end. Ha! Funny I know. I’m not even sure what is considered normal around here. We did rounds as usual and had wild dogs camp to clean, which had been left unclean for 2 weeks. For those of you who have no clue what that means, there was a horrific amount of mud and green gunk caking the sides of the pool they have.
What was interesting today was having a...
cuddling with servals
5/29
Today’s stories of the crazy adventures at Moholo include capturing and relocating a 250 kg croc, a baby serval coming into the clinic and me taking over care of the sick Cape vulture. Quite the busy day. We’ve been so rediculously fortunate to be able to help so many animals and be exposed to so much.
The crocodile call came in yesterday and we spend hours darting,...
an interesting experience
5/27
Finally we get our turn to go to Nhoveni, the little piece of Kruger that belongs to Moholo. We left around 5:30 am on Thursday morning and stayed until this evening. Even though we had to battle frost-bite weather, it was an incredible trip.
Brian was with us most of the first day. We trekked on foot through the park for the first two hours. It was absolutely mind blowing how Brian and...
here and now
5/23
Cheetahs can run up to 70-75 mph. Unfortunately, when we watched the cheetah run today Juba did not run that fast. It was still a very impressive feat to watch. Other than seeing a cheetah run and giving Hammy and Stoffel guinea pigs for dinner, the day was routine.
Again, time out here passes differently. I feel as if I’ve been here for months. Life here has an illusion of of being...
cosmic dust littered it
5/21
Today has just been fantastic. Even after being thrown in a mud hole by Martin and Cody, thrown in a sink and almost having my head dunked inot a bucket of defrosting chicks by Hardus, it’s been a good day. Jan, who formally was Yan until I learned how to actually spell his name, took us to take pictures with Shinandi the cheetah.
Of course no day is complete without some sort of...
decisions and dreams as vast as the African sky
5/20
Today was the second day with half our group gone to Nhoveni, a piece of Kruger that belongs to Moholo and is exclusively used by staff and students. Trespassers and poachers are turned into the police or shot. Jo, Olly, Ryan, Hetty, Hannah, Ale and I have been covering all the rounds. It has actually been quite fun. I am now in charge of three young servals, Zachary, Betty and Butch, since...
night of the elephant
5/17
To forewarn you, we cut up an elephant. I talk about it here. There’s blood involved and I get stuffed into the carcass. Yes, you read that right.
Thrown into a pool, cut up an elephant, surrounded by hyenas, then stopped in the middle of the night, in the middle of Kruger, in the middle of the road by a lion. Yeah, Mondays.
We started our day with rounds and planned a trip to town...
wild and unexpected=normal
5/15
12:30 am wake up call by Jan, our awesome and michievious student coordinator. There’s a leopard that was caught in a snare. Clothes are thrown on in a sleepy haze, headlamp grabbed and we all head up to the clinic. Fortunately we are spared a 2 hour drive as the leopard has been brought to us. His head is covered, but he is still quite impressive and marvelous. The staff quickly...
Let the games begin
5/13
So today was my first full day. I was placed in group 4 which means looking after guinea fowl, honey badgers, wild dogs, white faced owls and a cage full of vultures. It’s been left to Hamish, a blue-eyed English boy, and I to do the rounds since our third teammate Sixtine is leaving tomorrow. After our morning rounds we hiked down to Forest Camp for breakfast.
After fresh fruit,...
June 2011
4 posts
what the morning will bring
5/12
I’ve decided that 14 hours on a plane is definately as bad as it seems. Looks like I can and do get air sick after all. Three movies and hours of restless sleep later, Kelly and I find ourselves at the Johannesburg airport. Our first impression of this supposedly hostile city was promising. A kind old lady from London, who now lived in South Africa, chatted with us and directed us...
Playing with the Wild Things
Earlier this summer, right after a math exam in the morning and a bio exam in the afternoon, I took my first flight out of the country to South Africa. I was to spend one of the best months of my life at a wildlife rehabilitation center. I kept a journal and since I didn’t have regular access to the internet there, I’ll share what I wrote now.
5/11
As with many stories, this one...
Land of Enchantment/Entrapment
Spring break 2011. I decided to embark on an alternative service break trip instead of getting sun poisoning on the beach again. Turned out to be one of the greatest decisions I made during my freshman year of college. It was a humbling week in the southwest on the land of the great Navajo Nation. Our experience and service centered around Native American culture and an elementary school on the...
And so it begins
Yes, I’ve caved to writing a blog. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while now. Not that I don’t love adamantly telling about my adventures in person complete with wild, animated hand gestures. Just figured it’s time to write them down and put pictures to the stories I tell. Don’t fret, I will still be more than willing to retell my harrowing and...