All I did today was clean Laurie's office. Which was quite an adventure in mouse droppings, dust, dead moths, live and dead spiders, cobwebs, etc; but not very interesting. So! For today's blog, you get tips I have for Namibian travelers that I have learned ALREADY! :D
Useful Tips for Namibia:
1.Bugspray is your BEST friend
I know people will tell you this, but there really ARE mozzies everywhere, even in the dry season. Cover ANYWHERE that is exposed or covered only by light fabric. Even at night. I had NO bug bites at all until one night I wore shorts to bed without thinking that bugs would really be a problem while I slept (there didn’t seem to be any in my room…)… I didn’t put bug stuff on my upper legs… and woke up with bug bites everywhere. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW! Just, anytime any skin is exposed to the air, it is mozzie food, so cover it with bug spray.
2.Sunblock is your other best friend. It throws picnics with the bugspray.
It is sunny. Very sunny. Like, hole in the ozone layer above Namibia sunny. Wear sunblock even if you never burn. The intern from AUSTRALIA got a sun burn. Do not skimp on it. Any showing skin should get a slathering. And some not showing skin too if you think you might take off a layer.
3.Long hair with pony-tail capabilities is a plus
Long hair in a pony-tail keeps the sun off the back of your neck. It is also good for swishing at flies or mozzies who are flying around your ears when your hands are full. (Like a real horse!)
4.Long pants and sleeves are like force fields.
Okay, so not quite that cool. But seriously: every plant in Namibia has thorns except for the grass. (And sometimes that’s touch and go.) Some of the thorns are bright white and two inches long. Some of them look deceptively soft (they’re not!). So if you plan to do ANYTHING outside, wear long pants and at least BRING something long-sleeved along. You will thank me later.
5.Don’t go cheap on sunglasses. The sun can spot penny pinchers.
Cheap sunglasses, as I am finding out, don’t block the sun as well as you’d like. The sun still hurts and you still squint. So spend the money to get good ones so that you’re not squinting 99% of the day. That being said, don’t go out buying Prada sunglasses just cuz they’re expensive. They just make you look like a rich target in the cities. Go to REI. Get a pair that WORKS but is not flashy.
6.NEVER approach animals. Even cute ones.
Keep at a distance. In the case of leopards, snakes, baboons, etc stay at a VERY safe distance. Do not approach an animal even if you think it may be struggling to live or dead. It may be okay or it may still savage you. They are WILD. If you are concerned, call a local wildlife authority. They have people trained not to get mauled.
7.Termite mounds look good in photos but could be full of snakes.
Well, usually just the one snake, actually. Snakes like the Spitting Zebra Cobra and the Black Mamba like to make homes in termite mounds. They are deadly. So no photo ops next to termite mounds unless you feel like washing out your eyes with water for twenty minutes to wash out zebra cobra poison.
8.The Audubon Society African Mammals book is not good enough
Sure, it IS good, to an extent. But it really doesn’t include all the various BIRDS you see in Namibia. And they are many and varied, indeed. However, finding a wildlife guidebook to NAMIBIA in your local bookstore is like trying to get water out of a rock: it only works if you’re Jesus. Get a guide book for Southern Africa. You should do better.
9.Make sure you like your traveling buddy
Namibia goes city, lots of bush, city, lots of bush, city, etc. The time to get from one place to the next is very long. There are animals and pretty views, yes, but not all the time. It can get pretty monotonous. So if you hate your travel buddy, know that you will be stuck with them in the car for a very long time. That being said, try to stay awake. I apparently missed a herd of giraffe on the way from Windhoek to CCF.
Today is Brittany’s 21st birthday. We’re celebrating with champagne and s’mores. Well… we might… we kinda got into the s’mores last night when there was a fire. Basically, there was a fire in the fire pit and Rachel and Kristi told us that they had NEVER had a s’more before! I know right!? I couldn’t believe it either. And then Rosie (she works in the clinic) came over and I taught her how to make one too, because she hadn’t had one either! Apparently s’mores are an American thing… I was actually surprised that they would have all the ingredients here… well… we had to use digestive biscuit type things for graham crackers, but they tasted BASICALLY the same. Ah, gotta love Africa.
ps- Australians call mosquitoes "mozzies"
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Goats Are Funny and Other Tales from the Bush
Today started out on an interesting note. Since one of the goat herders is gone right now, I got to help feed the Anatolian shepherds! (aka the dogs that watch and guard the herd of goats here at the CCF farm. I met Joeh (one of the guys that works with the goats) at the big, quite industrial, barn. There he introduced me to… someone. I couldn’t really pronounce his name and now I can’t remember it. Anyways, after he mixed up the food (dog food, cooked donkey meat, and water… interestingly enough, the dog food was made out of rice and ostrich…); we went over to the goat pens to feed the dogs. They were VERY happy to see us, and they were adorable. On a side note for Liz, one of the dogs was named Leah. :D
Besides the dogs, the goats were VERY funny. On the second trip feeding the dogs (once at 8am, once at 3pm), there was this goat that REALLY wanted to eat the dog food. Like REALLY/ He would jump up like one of the dogs and try to steal some from the bowl in my hand. And when I wouldn’t give it to him, he tried to eat my pants instead! Lol! Also, once Shadow was done eating her food, she walked away from it and at least 15 goats went over to start eating the leftovers! I had to shoo them away just to grab the bowl! (On that note, shooing goats isn’t hard. You just kind walk through them and they get out of the way. It was REALLY amusing walking through a virtual SEA of goats, all of them bleating at you noisily).
Besides that, I was mostly in Laurie’s office for most of the day ORGANIZING IT. And let me tell you, it REALLY could use it. The papers are covered in dust and cobwebs and dead moths and spiders and a lot of the stuff has been chewed up by a mouse. In fact; when I started on Laurie’s office with Santa yesterday, we found the mouse IN IT’S NEST in one of the boxes! I almost grabbed it without knowing! But it jumped out and ran off, which wasn’t a huge deal but it did startle Santa and I a lot! Basically, I actually enjoyed organizing Laurie’s office in the same way I enjoyed the living room in my suite after I finish cleaning it. It just makes me feel better about life. However, there is A LOT of stuff and Laurie’s not here so I can’t ask her if we can throw anything away. Instead, I’m just organizing and labeling EVERYTHING.
I also went on a Circuit Count this evening, which is a lot like a game count but longer and through thicker bush. We actually have to keep our windows rolled up and the side-view mirrors turned in so that the thorns and branches that are creeping in don’t SMACK us! There’s this great nails-on-chalkboard sound almost THE WHOLE TIME. I went on one yesterday as well (in which we got stuck in an aardvark hole momentarily and had to push the truck out of it) and we barely saw any animals. This time, we were scrabbling for extra paper to record them because this route took us through the main field! I even saw eland for the first time. (Though from a far distance because they are car-shy and run away from EVERYTHING!!!!)
One last thing. Yesterday, I was weeding the OK cubs’ pen with Casey and we took a five minute break at one point… and she finally introduced me to the cubs! I mean, in their pen, petting them, talking to them, the works! It was midday and so they were really lazy and sleepy so they just came over to be petted and licked my hand a lot :D :D :D They were ADORABLE! Their names are Peter, Tigerlilly, Sene, and Kaije. Peter’s face is SO FLUFFY! XD Best five minute break EVER!!!!
Anyways, I love you all! Look forward to my next exciting adventure!!!
Besides the dogs, the goats were VERY funny. On the second trip feeding the dogs (once at 8am, once at 3pm), there was this goat that REALLY wanted to eat the dog food. Like REALLY/ He would jump up like one of the dogs and try to steal some from the bowl in my hand. And when I wouldn’t give it to him, he tried to eat my pants instead! Lol! Also, once Shadow was done eating her food, she walked away from it and at least 15 goats went over to start eating the leftovers! I had to shoo them away just to grab the bowl! (On that note, shooing goats isn’t hard. You just kind walk through them and they get out of the way. It was REALLY amusing walking through a virtual SEA of goats, all of them bleating at you noisily).
Besides that, I was mostly in Laurie’s office for most of the day ORGANIZING IT. And let me tell you, it REALLY could use it. The papers are covered in dust and cobwebs and dead moths and spiders and a lot of the stuff has been chewed up by a mouse. In fact; when I started on Laurie’s office with Santa yesterday, we found the mouse IN IT’S NEST in one of the boxes! I almost grabbed it without knowing! But it jumped out and ran off, which wasn’t a huge deal but it did startle Santa and I a lot! Basically, I actually enjoyed organizing Laurie’s office in the same way I enjoyed the living room in my suite after I finish cleaning it. It just makes me feel better about life. However, there is A LOT of stuff and Laurie’s not here so I can’t ask her if we can throw anything away. Instead, I’m just organizing and labeling EVERYTHING.
I also went on a Circuit Count this evening, which is a lot like a game count but longer and through thicker bush. We actually have to keep our windows rolled up and the side-view mirrors turned in so that the thorns and branches that are creeping in don’t SMACK us! There’s this great nails-on-chalkboard sound almost THE WHOLE TIME. I went on one yesterday as well (in which we got stuck in an aardvark hole momentarily and had to push the truck out of it) and we barely saw any animals. This time, we were scrabbling for extra paper to record them because this route took us through the main field! I even saw eland for the first time. (Though from a far distance because they are car-shy and run away from EVERYTHING!!!!)
One last thing. Yesterday, I was weeding the OK cubs’ pen with Casey and we took a five minute break at one point… and she finally introduced me to the cubs! I mean, in their pen, petting them, talking to them, the works! It was midday and so they were really lazy and sleepy so they just came over to be petted and licked my hand a lot :D :D :D They were ADORABLE! Their names are Peter, Tigerlilly, Sene, and Kaije. Peter’s face is SO FLUFFY! XD Best five minute break EVER!!!!
Anyways, I love you all! Look forward to my next exciting adventure!!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
"Cheetah Husbandry" is a Very Official Sounding Job
This morning, I FINALLY got to join in on cheetah husbandry: aka feeding all the captive cheetahs here at CCF. There are quite a lot of them.
But before I could feed cheetahs, we had to go get the meat. And as is the theme around here, it wasn’t ready. So we waited in the slaughter enclosure while they cut up big chunks. There were two fully grown dead donkeys hanging upside-down from hooks in the ceiling with all their skin cut off except for around their heads. You could see all the muscle and blood and such, but it actually didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Even when Kristi (another intern) and I were tasked with cutting up larger, still warm, chunks into bit sized ones for the older cats who couldn’t eat as well. I was fine; it was like cutting up strips of raw chicken after you’ve put it in the microwave for a minute.
We started off with some of the older cats in their enclosure. There is this one cheetah named Klein who has hepatitis on his legs and is missing a lot of teeth. We had to pay special attention to him and squirt antibiotics on his legs through the fence. He wasn’t too happy about it, but it will keep him from licking the infected areas. There were I believe four other cats at that enclosure. I think they keep all the ones who need special pills or powders hidden in their meat in that enclosure. In other words, the older cats.
The next group we fed was the newest cubs. I overheard that one boy is called Donner and one of the girls is Skeet, but I could be mistaken. That feeding actually took us the longest because those cubs are still really wild and they really don’t trust people. We had to be very quiet and pretty much just stay out of the way while Juliette fed them very cautiously. They were growling the entire time we were there!
The next set was the seven girls and five boys who live nearest the facility. We first ran the boys, but we didn’t use a lure. Oh no. Kristi, Juliette (the head cheetah keeper), and I hopped into the back of the truck and James (the cheetah keeper who’s leaving tomorrow) drove into the enclosure. He drove probably at highway speeds down the enclosure while the cheetahs chased us and we hung on for dear life. I’m actually not sure why I was in the back other than for the experience of watching a pack of cheetahs running after us. Which was rather exciting. Juliette threw the meat to them after a couple laps around the pen.
After that, it was a half an hour ride to Belabino farm (one of CCF’s farms) to feed these two ADORABLE cubs and then a bit further to feed another set of boys and girls (six girls, five boys, I think). We ran them both! The boys were all named after scientists. That was lots of fun. On the way to the enclosures, we took the middle road past a few watering holes and I saw zebra, giraffes, kudu, warthogs, cows, and lots of birds! It was really cool! However, we were working so I couldn’t stop and take pictures.
But cheetah husbandry wasn’t the only fun thing today! This morning, while we were raking and weeding pens while waiting for Juliette to start the cheetah feeding; they ran the OK cubs with a lure for the first time ever! They were SO funny. To run the cheetahs, Rachel, Ron, and Juliette (some more senior staff/ volunteers) hooked a rag onto a pulley system and attached it to a battery. When switched on, the rag can travel at 70k/hr on the line, and cheetahs instinctually run after fast moving objects. (Which is why we are not really allowed to run here that much) It’s not as fast as a cheetah can run, but fast enough to give the cubs some exercise. Despite the fact that their instincts told them to chase the red cloth, they weren’t very good at running yet. They could run, obviously, but they couldn’t manage the turns (the lure line is set up in a square shape), and so they just kept barreling right past on the corners. Also, when the lure wasn’t going as fast, they would run in this pouncy/ hoppy/ running sort of way that was ADORABLE. Also, they weren’t quite used to the lure yet, so they kept tripping over the line that the cloth was on. It was so hilarious to see them trip over their own paws. (They were fine, that’s why it was so funny.)
After lunch (in which Kristi thought it was weird that I ate plain pasta), I started the “Casey’s Slave” part of the day. Officially, it’s General Tasks with Casey or Santa supervising (yes, Santa is her real name), but it generally amounts to doing data entry or sticking labels on things. Something that I am now an expert at. It’s actually hard for Casey to find stuff for us to do since a lot of it is special stuff that would take either forever to explain or we don’t have enough CCF knowledge/ specifics to do… So we interns on data entry duty take it project by project and try to find things to do as they come.
Anyways! Today was an awesome day, though my hands still smell a bit like donkey blood despite washing them. But it doesn’t bother me too much. Tschuss!
(ps- that means “bye!” in German… actually, any website I visit is in german the first couple of tries… like… Blogspot.)
But before I could feed cheetahs, we had to go get the meat. And as is the theme around here, it wasn’t ready. So we waited in the slaughter enclosure while they cut up big chunks. There were two fully grown dead donkeys hanging upside-down from hooks in the ceiling with all their skin cut off except for around their heads. You could see all the muscle and blood and such, but it actually didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Even when Kristi (another intern) and I were tasked with cutting up larger, still warm, chunks into bit sized ones for the older cats who couldn’t eat as well. I was fine; it was like cutting up strips of raw chicken after you’ve put it in the microwave for a minute.
We started off with some of the older cats in their enclosure. There is this one cheetah named Klein who has hepatitis on his legs and is missing a lot of teeth. We had to pay special attention to him and squirt antibiotics on his legs through the fence. He wasn’t too happy about it, but it will keep him from licking the infected areas. There were I believe four other cats at that enclosure. I think they keep all the ones who need special pills or powders hidden in their meat in that enclosure. In other words, the older cats.
The next group we fed was the newest cubs. I overheard that one boy is called Donner and one of the girls is Skeet, but I could be mistaken. That feeding actually took us the longest because those cubs are still really wild and they really don’t trust people. We had to be very quiet and pretty much just stay out of the way while Juliette fed them very cautiously. They were growling the entire time we were there!
The next set was the seven girls and five boys who live nearest the facility. We first ran the boys, but we didn’t use a lure. Oh no. Kristi, Juliette (the head cheetah keeper), and I hopped into the back of the truck and James (the cheetah keeper who’s leaving tomorrow) drove into the enclosure. He drove probably at highway speeds down the enclosure while the cheetahs chased us and we hung on for dear life. I’m actually not sure why I was in the back other than for the experience of watching a pack of cheetahs running after us. Which was rather exciting. Juliette threw the meat to them after a couple laps around the pen.
After that, it was a half an hour ride to Belabino farm (one of CCF’s farms) to feed these two ADORABLE cubs and then a bit further to feed another set of boys and girls (six girls, five boys, I think). We ran them both! The boys were all named after scientists. That was lots of fun. On the way to the enclosures, we took the middle road past a few watering holes and I saw zebra, giraffes, kudu, warthogs, cows, and lots of birds! It was really cool! However, we were working so I couldn’t stop and take pictures.
But cheetah husbandry wasn’t the only fun thing today! This morning, while we were raking and weeding pens while waiting for Juliette to start the cheetah feeding; they ran the OK cubs with a lure for the first time ever! They were SO funny. To run the cheetahs, Rachel, Ron, and Juliette (some more senior staff/ volunteers) hooked a rag onto a pulley system and attached it to a battery. When switched on, the rag can travel at 70k/hr on the line, and cheetahs instinctually run after fast moving objects. (Which is why we are not really allowed to run here that much) It’s not as fast as a cheetah can run, but fast enough to give the cubs some exercise. Despite the fact that their instincts told them to chase the red cloth, they weren’t very good at running yet. They could run, obviously, but they couldn’t manage the turns (the lure line is set up in a square shape), and so they just kept barreling right past on the corners. Also, when the lure wasn’t going as fast, they would run in this pouncy/ hoppy/ running sort of way that was ADORABLE. Also, they weren’t quite used to the lure yet, so they kept tripping over the line that the cloth was on. It was so hilarious to see them trip over their own paws. (They were fine, that’s why it was so funny.)
After lunch (in which Kristi thought it was weird that I ate plain pasta), I started the “Casey’s Slave” part of the day. Officially, it’s General Tasks with Casey or Santa supervising (yes, Santa is her real name), but it generally amounts to doing data entry or sticking labels on things. Something that I am now an expert at. It’s actually hard for Casey to find stuff for us to do since a lot of it is special stuff that would take either forever to explain or we don’t have enough CCF knowledge/ specifics to do… So we interns on data entry duty take it project by project and try to find things to do as they come.
Anyways! Today was an awesome day, though my hands still smell a bit like donkey blood despite washing them. But it doesn’t bother me too much. Tschuss!
(ps- that means “bye!” in German… actually, any website I visit is in german the first couple of tries… like… Blogspot.)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Grossness 101
I’ve noticed at CCF that nothing really goes as scheduled. On Friday, I was scheduled to clean the center pens, then help out Casey, and finish up with the Field Count as the highlight of my day. Yeah, that plan went to shit about half an hour in. Basically, I was finishing up Chewbakaa’s old pen when one of the CCF staff members walked up to the pen and told us all that they were going to need us to work over the male cheetah that they had brought in the night before. However, this time I wasn’t as eager to help simply because the cheetah had pooped all over its cage and all over itself during the night it was waiting in the box…
Yeah, that’s the reason it’s a bad idea to capture and cage a cheetah right after it’s gorged itself on Hartebeast. It was… disgusting. And let me tell you, cheetah poop smells rank! We got him out of the box and onto a tarp and tried to wash him off, but his temperature started dropping dramatically, so we had to take him inside and work on him WHILE he was covered in poop. The smell was almost overwhelming, but we had gloves on and I was on breathing duty again, so it was okay. Well, until his temp dropped severely and we had to cover him in blankets, hot water bottles, wrap up his feet, try to dry him off a bit, etc. I had to put my hand right on his poop covered chest.
I was grossed out until he stopped breathing. And didn’t start again. This time freaked me out even more than the last because he didn’t start breathing again for the entire check-up and Anna, the vet, had to keep breathing for him with something that looked like a BVM and a tube. When we got him back in the box, he STILL wasn’t breathing and his oxygen levels were dropping, so Anna kept having to breath for him. It was like a huge weight off my chest when I saw his chest finally rise; though it took him hours to rouse from the sedative.
It was really a shame that he was so dirty. According to all the cheetah experts here, he is a prime male. He’s big, his sperm is really active, he’s not underfed or dehydrated, they kept going on and on about it. They really hope he mates to pass on his good genes.
After that bit of excitement, I HAD to go shower. I wasn’t physically very dirty, but the smell was just clinging to me. Thankfully we had power in the room once more and I was able to shower in hot water. (The power went out mysteriously during the night and didn’t come back on at 6am like usual…When the power goes out, so does the hot water).
The game drive in the afternoon was very exciting once more. I was on center field like last time. This time we got a whole page of recorded sightings, INCLUDING two aardwolves and what we think was an aardvark. According to Rachel, aardvark sightings are VERY rare! She was super excited and even though we didn’t get a picture, we are convinced we saw one.
The burgers in the evening were grilled by Juan and they were delicious!
Yeah, that’s the reason it’s a bad idea to capture and cage a cheetah right after it’s gorged itself on Hartebeast. It was… disgusting. And let me tell you, cheetah poop smells rank! We got him out of the box and onto a tarp and tried to wash him off, but his temperature started dropping dramatically, so we had to take him inside and work on him WHILE he was covered in poop. The smell was almost overwhelming, but we had gloves on and I was on breathing duty again, so it was okay. Well, until his temp dropped severely and we had to cover him in blankets, hot water bottles, wrap up his feet, try to dry him off a bit, etc. I had to put my hand right on his poop covered chest.
I was grossed out until he stopped breathing. And didn’t start again. This time freaked me out even more than the last because he didn’t start breathing again for the entire check-up and Anna, the vet, had to keep breathing for him with something that looked like a BVM and a tube. When we got him back in the box, he STILL wasn’t breathing and his oxygen levels were dropping, so Anna kept having to breath for him. It was like a huge weight off my chest when I saw his chest finally rise; though it took him hours to rouse from the sedative.
It was really a shame that he was so dirty. According to all the cheetah experts here, he is a prime male. He’s big, his sperm is really active, he’s not underfed or dehydrated, they kept going on and on about it. They really hope he mates to pass on his good genes.
After that bit of excitement, I HAD to go shower. I wasn’t physically very dirty, but the smell was just clinging to me. Thankfully we had power in the room once more and I was able to shower in hot water. (The power went out mysteriously during the night and didn’t come back on at 6am like usual…When the power goes out, so does the hot water).
The game drive in the afternoon was very exciting once more. I was on center field like last time. This time we got a whole page of recorded sightings, INCLUDING two aardwolves and what we think was an aardvark. According to Rachel, aardvark sightings are VERY rare! She was super excited and even though we didn’t get a picture, we are convinced we saw one.
The burgers in the evening were grilled by Juan and they were delicious!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
HUIEW&#@YQGUI#EV!!!!!!! XDDD
OMG GUYS! GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAAAAAAAAAT!!!!
I PETTED A WILD CHEETAH!!!!
njelfhalhlsvlvszdbvaldfv YAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAAAY!!!!!
ok, here's the story.
It was a dark and stormy night. No, really it was. Booming thunder, flashing lighting, rain, hail- full on African storm type stuff. serious business.
Anyways, they had just gotten three new cubs in from a farmer whose mom had died :( And by cubs, I mean probably about 7-8 months old, but already pretty big. They needed to knock them out and run check ups/ measure them/ take sample/ etc. We interns were told we could watch! (rather impromptu I might add, like A LOT of things here, actually) Anyways, we were watching from the sidelines in the clinic, VERY silently, when the vet and all the actual official people started asking us to help. First it was just to take the cheetahs' temperature, then monitoring breathing (which I did for all three cubs!), measuring it, rubbing its paws to keep it warm, etc. So there I was, watching my watch (lol), when the temperature of the first female started to drop pretty severely. So they piled on blankets and hot water bottles, but I couldn't exactly watch her breathing with all the blankets. THUS, Juliet (one of the staff members) put my hand under the blanket RIGHT ONTO THE CHEETAH'S SIDE and told me to keep track that way.... DWQIDHWLEFHLQWE!!! Then she was telling us to rub her to keep her warm and THAT is how I pet a WILD CHEETAH yesterday!!!!
IT WAS SO AMAZING!!!
Well, apart from this one terrifying moment wherein the male cub STOPPED BREATHING... worst thing ever. D: But he was okay in the end. I would have told you about this ADVENTURE earlier, but we finished with all three cubs at about 11pm and by that time the internet had been switched off.
Apart from that bit of excitement, i have been having an EXCELLENT couple of days. Officially, I have still been in the office. UNOFFICIALLY, I helped release the three cubs into there enclosure (a lot more work than it sounds, especially when they didn't want to get out of the box), feed two other cheetahs, and capture another who needed to be taken to the vet. (All of this done on a trip that I pretty much hopped on board with last minute which made me late for Game Count orientation, but no one really cared.)Also, I took an impromptu hike through the bush trying to track Hi-Fi, the local wild cheetah. It actually got really dark while we were out there WITHOUT a flashlight... adventurous, but we weren't actually in much danger and we never did find Hi-Fi. Pretty much, Cat (my primary supervisor at the moment) rushed into her office and was like "I'm going to go track Hi-Fi, we think he might have killed something. Want to come???" and I was all like "HECK YES!"
OFFICIALLY, I went on a Game Count trip. This is where we go into the field (the field is HUGE) in a van (again the very legit safari one) and count all the various animals we saw. VERY cool and ABSOLUTELY gorgeous. It was AMAZING. I saw onyx, red hartabeast, an ardwolf, jackals, an ostrich, and even a LEOPARD. (Who was hiding in the grass so well, I couldn't get a good pic!)
And yes, I know I said I wouldn't blog for a bit, but this was just TOO exciting to handle. Tomorrow I will be going on a visit to the cheetah dentist and I will be working more outdoors, thank god. But you know, I REALLY like it here so far. And boy, does it feel like I've been here more than three days. I'm having so much fun! Check out Facebook for photos! Love you!
I PETTED A WILD CHEETAH!!!!
njelfhalhlsvlvszdbvaldfv YAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAAAY!!!!!
ok, here's the story.
It was a dark and stormy night. No, really it was. Booming thunder, flashing lighting, rain, hail- full on African storm type stuff. serious business.
Anyways, they had just gotten three new cubs in from a farmer whose mom had died :( And by cubs, I mean probably about 7-8 months old, but already pretty big. They needed to knock them out and run check ups/ measure them/ take sample/ etc. We interns were told we could watch! (rather impromptu I might add, like A LOT of things here, actually) Anyways, we were watching from the sidelines in the clinic, VERY silently, when the vet and all the actual official people started asking us to help. First it was just to take the cheetahs' temperature, then monitoring breathing (which I did for all three cubs!), measuring it, rubbing its paws to keep it warm, etc. So there I was, watching my watch (lol), when the temperature of the first female started to drop pretty severely. So they piled on blankets and hot water bottles, but I couldn't exactly watch her breathing with all the blankets. THUS, Juliet (one of the staff members) put my hand under the blanket RIGHT ONTO THE CHEETAH'S SIDE and told me to keep track that way.... DWQIDHWLEFHLQWE!!! Then she was telling us to rub her to keep her warm and THAT is how I pet a WILD CHEETAH yesterday!!!!
IT WAS SO AMAZING!!!
Well, apart from this one terrifying moment wherein the male cub STOPPED BREATHING... worst thing ever. D: But he was okay in the end. I would have told you about this ADVENTURE earlier, but we finished with all three cubs at about 11pm and by that time the internet had been switched off.
Apart from that bit of excitement, i have been having an EXCELLENT couple of days. Officially, I have still been in the office. UNOFFICIALLY, I helped release the three cubs into there enclosure (a lot more work than it sounds, especially when they didn't want to get out of the box), feed two other cheetahs, and capture another who needed to be taken to the vet. (All of this done on a trip that I pretty much hopped on board with last minute which made me late for Game Count orientation, but no one really cared.)Also, I took an impromptu hike through the bush trying to track Hi-Fi, the local wild cheetah. It actually got really dark while we were out there WITHOUT a flashlight... adventurous, but we weren't actually in much danger and we never did find Hi-Fi. Pretty much, Cat (my primary supervisor at the moment) rushed into her office and was like "I'm going to go track Hi-Fi, we think he might have killed something. Want to come???" and I was all like "HECK YES!"
OFFICIALLY, I went on a Game Count trip. This is where we go into the field (the field is HUGE) in a van (again the very legit safari one) and count all the various animals we saw. VERY cool and ABSOLUTELY gorgeous. It was AMAZING. I saw onyx, red hartabeast, an ardwolf, jackals, an ostrich, and even a LEOPARD. (Who was hiding in the grass so well, I couldn't get a good pic!)
And yes, I know I said I wouldn't blog for a bit, but this was just TOO exciting to handle. Tomorrow I will be going on a visit to the cheetah dentist and I will be working more outdoors, thank god. But you know, I REALLY like it here so far. And boy, does it feel like I've been here more than three days. I'm having so much fun! Check out Facebook for photos! Love you!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
First Days Are Endlessly Amusing
Yesterday was a beautiful day.
Seriously. Sunny, warm but not beastly hot, green (seriously, the rainy season does wonders), and pretty much amazing. We started out with breakfast at the Hot Spot (the communal eating area) and then went on a tour of the facility. Very informative, I suppose. But the highlight came when we got in our very LEGIT safari truck and went on a drive to see 7 of the cheetahs
We saw SEVEN cheetahs. Count ‘em SEVEN! There was Bella, Padme, Samantha, Blondie, Dusty, Sandy, and Amani. Our tour guide, Charles, tried to teach us how to differentiate between the different girls. Bella has a “teddy bear face”, Padme “looks angry”, Samantha has white in her eyes, Blondie “looks like a lioness”, Dusty looks like Samantha but without the white and likes to come close to the car, Sandy has a very small head and “looks sleepy”, and Amani has a very large head… yeah, I still can’t really tell them apart unless they’re looking directly at me.
The second half of my day was… not as interesting. I did get to see them feed some of the ambassador cheetahs in a pen, though, which was interesting. They pretty much just CHARGE at the meat in the bowls, grab them and try to run; but seeing no exit, they run back to the bowls to keep it clean while they eat. Cheetahs are very picky. Besides that, I was doing… data entry! YAY! DDD: I was entering really frustrating survey data, too. Frustrating as in a lot of the answers weren’t complete and the survey kept changing slightly. MY RESEARCH METHODS PROF WOULD BE ASHAMED! Ah, well :/
On another note: everyone here speaks Afrikaans except for us interns. Thus, Britanny and Margaret are obsessed with learning it. They are video-taping our former tour guide Charles saying small phrases. They are also practicing the clicks from Charles’ native language so that they can say his real name. (His real name kinda sounds like Da!nome!nome!om!om… with clicks where the ! are) Here are a few of the words we’ve learned transcribed as best I can.
May nahm es- my name is
Ek es van- I am from
Oo handet?- how are you?
Hud- good
En medeo? – and you?
Ien- one
Deviet (very French)- two
Dree- three
Fee- four
Fihve-five
Seis-six
Sieven- seven
Acht- eight
Neeren-nine
Deen- ten
Ek es dohch- I am thirsty
Ek es Blehy- I am happy
Look forward to the next phase in my adventure! (Probably next week, lols)
ps- I did data entry all day today too. I am promised a more interesting schedule tomorrow :)
Seriously. Sunny, warm but not beastly hot, green (seriously, the rainy season does wonders), and pretty much amazing. We started out with breakfast at the Hot Spot (the communal eating area) and then went on a tour of the facility. Very informative, I suppose. But the highlight came when we got in our very LEGIT safari truck and went on a drive to see 7 of the cheetahs
We saw SEVEN cheetahs. Count ‘em SEVEN! There was Bella, Padme, Samantha, Blondie, Dusty, Sandy, and Amani. Our tour guide, Charles, tried to teach us how to differentiate between the different girls. Bella has a “teddy bear face”, Padme “looks angry”, Samantha has white in her eyes, Blondie “looks like a lioness”, Dusty looks like Samantha but without the white and likes to come close to the car, Sandy has a very small head and “looks sleepy”, and Amani has a very large head… yeah, I still can’t really tell them apart unless they’re looking directly at me.
The second half of my day was… not as interesting. I did get to see them feed some of the ambassador cheetahs in a pen, though, which was interesting. They pretty much just CHARGE at the meat in the bowls, grab them and try to run; but seeing no exit, they run back to the bowls to keep it clean while they eat. Cheetahs are very picky. Besides that, I was doing… data entry! YAY! DDD: I was entering really frustrating survey data, too. Frustrating as in a lot of the answers weren’t complete and the survey kept changing slightly. MY RESEARCH METHODS PROF WOULD BE ASHAMED! Ah, well :/
On another note: everyone here speaks Afrikaans except for us interns. Thus, Britanny and Margaret are obsessed with learning it. They are video-taping our former tour guide Charles saying small phrases. They are also practicing the clicks from Charles’ native language so that they can say his real name. (His real name kinda sounds like Da!nome!nome!om!om… with clicks where the ! are) Here are a few of the words we’ve learned transcribed as best I can.
May nahm es- my name is
Ek es van- I am from
Oo handet?- how are you?
Hud- good
En medeo? – and you?
Ien- one
Deviet (very French)- two
Dree- three
Fee- four
Fihve-five
Seis-six
Sieven- seven
Acht- eight
Neeren-nine
Deen- ten
Ek es dohch- I am thirsty
Ek es Blehy- I am happy
Look forward to the next phase in my adventure! (Probably next week, lols)
ps- I did data entry all day today too. I am promised a more interesting schedule tomorrow :)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Flights to Africa Are Very Long...
The only real difference between airports is the decorations, the things they’re selling, and the statues that you gawp at along the way. Besides that, all airports are a bustle of vaguely annoyed or excited people just trying to catch a flight on time. I’m no different than any other tourist here, really.
My flight started out okay, despite the fact that I hadn’t slept yet since I was trying to maximize my time with two of my best friends on campus before I left for a year. There were mixed feelings at that vigil and I actually think that everyone was a tad more emotional than they were letting on, but I digress.
JetBlue is like a godsend. The service is friendly, they do everything in their power to make your flight more convenient, they offer programming on the screens even for short flights, and their seat are both cushier and roomier than competing airlines. That being said, I cannot remember the flight from Logan to JFK, because I completely passed out. Literally, I cannot remember the take off or the landing. I just remember suddenly becoming aware of the pilot welcoming us to New York.
I got to my next gate just fine with time to spare. It was all hunky dory, really. Until the actual flight. A 14 and a half hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. It started out fabulously, actually. I originally had a dreaded middle seat but a girl whose friends would have been sitting on either side of me asked to switch, so I got an aisle seat. That was fortunate. And I have to report that South African Airlines is also a VERY excellent service. The people were friendly, accommodating, and helpful; the food was actually not too bad, if a tad bland; and the blanket they handed out was actually big enough and significant enough that I kept it. :) They also included a pillow, toothbrush and paste, socks, and sleeping mask. I felt well taken care of.
It was not the airlines’ fault at all that my flight was COMPLETELY HORRIBLE. Somewhere around hour eight, I began to develop a headache. But my Ibuprofen was stupidly in my overly-heavy bag in the overhead bins and it would have been a giant struggle to get it down. Also, I was immersed in reading my Namibian culture book, so I ignored it.
Worst. Mistake. Ever.
By hour 11, it had turned into a full blown migraine with nausea, headache, shakiness, etc. I literally thought I was going to throw up for about four hours. It sucked, but I didn’t ask the fight attendant for pain meds because I had done that on an American flight before and been refused, so I assumed it would be the same. However, the two girls next to me (both from Africa though I never learned which specific part) were concerned and asked why I hadn’t asked for pain meds. So I did, and the VERY NICE flight attendant quickly retrieved me some… unidentifiable pain meds. But seriously, at that point, I didn’t really care if the side effects killed me, I wanted the migraine to be over that badly.
So eventually the flight ended, much to my relief. I went through security for the third time this trip and got to my gate fairly quickly since I didn’t have to go through customs until I reached Windhoek. (The funny thing is that the signs to the gate all have estimated travel time to reach the gates, ranging from one to seven minutes.) The shops were SO tempting: fully of all sorts of African goods. And there were statues of animals everywhere, including a giant giraffe that I wanted to take a picture of but didn’t want to dig out the good camera to do it.
The flight to Windhoek was uneventful and customs took FOREVER, but besides that, everything went rather smoothly. Africa kinda looks like Idaho with a lot more diversity and bigger bushes. And oh yeah, cheetahs :)
Look forward to my FIRST DAY SAFARI ADVENTURE in my next blog post and… PICTURES OF THE CHEETAHS!!!!
Love you all and missing you already!
My flight started out okay, despite the fact that I hadn’t slept yet since I was trying to maximize my time with two of my best friends on campus before I left for a year. There were mixed feelings at that vigil and I actually think that everyone was a tad more emotional than they were letting on, but I digress.
JetBlue is like a godsend. The service is friendly, they do everything in their power to make your flight more convenient, they offer programming on the screens even for short flights, and their seat are both cushier and roomier than competing airlines. That being said, I cannot remember the flight from Logan to JFK, because I completely passed out. Literally, I cannot remember the take off or the landing. I just remember suddenly becoming aware of the pilot welcoming us to New York.
I got to my next gate just fine with time to spare. It was all hunky dory, really. Until the actual flight. A 14 and a half hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. It started out fabulously, actually. I originally had a dreaded middle seat but a girl whose friends would have been sitting on either side of me asked to switch, so I got an aisle seat. That was fortunate. And I have to report that South African Airlines is also a VERY excellent service. The people were friendly, accommodating, and helpful; the food was actually not too bad, if a tad bland; and the blanket they handed out was actually big enough and significant enough that I kept it. :) They also included a pillow, toothbrush and paste, socks, and sleeping mask. I felt well taken care of.
It was not the airlines’ fault at all that my flight was COMPLETELY HORRIBLE. Somewhere around hour eight, I began to develop a headache. But my Ibuprofen was stupidly in my overly-heavy bag in the overhead bins and it would have been a giant struggle to get it down. Also, I was immersed in reading my Namibian culture book, so I ignored it.
Worst. Mistake. Ever.
By hour 11, it had turned into a full blown migraine with nausea, headache, shakiness, etc. I literally thought I was going to throw up for about four hours. It sucked, but I didn’t ask the fight attendant for pain meds because I had done that on an American flight before and been refused, so I assumed it would be the same. However, the two girls next to me (both from Africa though I never learned which specific part) were concerned and asked why I hadn’t asked for pain meds. So I did, and the VERY NICE flight attendant quickly retrieved me some… unidentifiable pain meds. But seriously, at that point, I didn’t really care if the side effects killed me, I wanted the migraine to be over that badly.
So eventually the flight ended, much to my relief. I went through security for the third time this trip and got to my gate fairly quickly since I didn’t have to go through customs until I reached Windhoek. (The funny thing is that the signs to the gate all have estimated travel time to reach the gates, ranging from one to seven minutes.) The shops were SO tempting: fully of all sorts of African goods. And there were statues of animals everywhere, including a giant giraffe that I wanted to take a picture of but didn’t want to dig out the good camera to do it.
The flight to Windhoek was uneventful and customs took FOREVER, but besides that, everything went rather smoothly. Africa kinda looks like Idaho with a lot more diversity and bigger bushes. And oh yeah, cheetahs :)
Look forward to my FIRST DAY SAFARI ADVENTURE in my next blog post and… PICTURES OF THE CHEETAHS!!!!
Love you all and missing you already!
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