picture above is me administering the antidote to wake the eland up!
Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 45 – 5/10/11
I had cook crew this morning so the alarm went off quite early. Most of my bags were already packed so it was just packing my sleeping bag and mat along with a few odds and ends. I was 15 minutes late to the kitchen but no one said anything. Options for breakfast were a bit limited and I slightly burned my third finger in hot oil but otherwise it was a normal start to the day. We had program debrief at 8am so people filtered in to eat before grabbing a chair and forming a circle in the shade beside the volleyball court. Since I walk fast I was the first student to start the circle and I choose to sit next to the only other person out there: Shem. Once everyone was there Okello began going through all the usual program aspects; the academics, the housing, the food, the staff, and all manner of other things. By the time we wrapped up the sun had moved so much that we were now sitting in the sun roasting. We officially graduated to become SFS alumni and we went around hugging each other. After this people organized a trip into town to celebrate while I plugged my last few electronics in to charge. I had the last of my things packed and was relaxing with a few students until about noon. I was supposed to leave at noon so the kitchen let me make a plate a bit early which I quickly ate. Then it was quick hugs all around, lug bags to small emergency truck, and drive away. Jackson was driving me and we made a few stops to get groceries for his family. One in Sultan Hamud and another in Emali. Armed with bread and other foods off we go along the bumpy roads toward Nairobi. At some point we hang a sharp left and drive over the usual rough roads to Jackson’s house. Lots of open space with the usual collection of skinny dogs and a sturdy but small house was Jackson’s house. His brother came out the door and introduced himself while Jackson walked into the house and I followed. His grandmother was taking a nap but asked to meet me, kissed my hands, and insisted I take one of the big traditional Maasai collars she had made. I got a brief look at the Spartan three room house before Jackson dragged me out and off we went again. We made one other stop to pick up Jackson’s mom and then really hit the gas for Nairobi. We had made excellent time and I was dropped off with plenty of time. After getting my ticket I went up to the counter to check my luggage only to find out that my bag was over weight. So I was sent to the packing counter and removed the extra weight, paid the fee for overweight bags, and checked both. Going through customs was a different experience because they take digital finger prints and my picture before letting me continue into the terminal. From my long layover in February I knew the terminal really well and immediately walked to the café at the far end. I had been dreaming the whole way to Nairobi of the avocado, cheese, tomato sandwich I bought at the café as well as the large glass of fresh squeezed mango juice. Oh it was fantastic to eat food completely different from the KBC kitchen and the juice….words really can’t describe it. After my decadent meal I changed my remaining money to South African rand and walked to my gate. Before we boarded I got to sit in the gate area and watch a portion of a Kenyan tv show and what was going to be the last Swahili I would hear. We walked across the tarmac to the plane and I was amused to see the clothes on the seat head rests had the typical profile of an acacia tree with a lion pride under it. I was seated next to a very nice Australia couple who were on holiday. We took off and were served drinks and dinner before the lights were dimmed and I was able to doze. Waking up as we began to descend into Johannesburg, I found out that South Africa is an hour behind Kenya. Getting off the plane and walking to bag claim I realized how dirty I was from living rurally and hand washing my clothes. I got all my bags and breezed out into the arrival area looking for the Emerald Guest House person who was suppose to meet me. After walking all over the place there was no person. It was after midnight Jo’burg time now (so 1am on my clock) and I had no phone. A tour driver saw me looking confused and offered his cell phone. I was able to contact a guy at Emerald name Marius who directed me to wait and that he would be there in a few minutes. It was a relief to meet him and a shocking pleasure to get into a plain but very clean and comfortable car. Marius and I chatted easily on our way to Emerald as I internally laughed at my surprise to find myself driving along excellent paved roads with traffic lights and lines to divide the road into lines. Emerald was very close to the airport and Marius ducked into a building to grab my room key before leading to the door. By this point I was bone tired and almost asleep on my feet. The room was another wonder of modern comfort. For one the lights worked (and it was after 11 pm), the bathroom had no spiders or moths, there was a shower I was sure would produce hot water later in the day for a shower, and a big bed with no mosquito net!!! While all of this was great I was beat and quickly went to bed.
Africa Conservation Experience – Day 1 – 5/11/11
I woke up early out of habit and was just thinking about rolling over when I hear a knock on my door. It was the hotel letting me know that my driver would be here in half an hour. That had me scrambling to pack and take a quick shower. Even though I was rushing the hot shower was so wonderful I wasted a full five minutes just marveling at hot water. After getting everything zipped up I dragged my bags around front and met my driver who would take me out to the vet I will be following for the next two weeks. He offered to load my bags in the car while grabbed a quick breakfast which I gratefully accepted. The breakfast lay out was nice but to me coming from the bush it looked like heaven. They had a lady making eggs and bacon that were so good I nearly cried. Bacon was never part of our meals in Kenya or Tanzania so this was a special treat. One guy noticed my undisguised happiness at fairly ordinary food and asked where I had been traveling. We got to talking and it turns out he is a safety officer for a huge energy/petroleum company. In the course of his training, he lived in the bush for six months so he completely sympathized with my amazement at modern life after being away for several months. After chatting while I ate my toast, fried eggs, and bacon I said good bye and got in the car. My driver and I had a great conversation on the several hours drive to Lephalale. The driver told me about the government and politics since a provincial election was going to occur on the 18th. The ruling party (the ANC-African National Congress) holds all cities in South Africa except Cape Town which is held by the tiny party of white politicians (the DA – democratic alliance). Incidentally Cape Town is the only town in South Africa with a clean audit. From politics the conversation turned to agriculture, rugby, language (there are 11 official languages), and tourism. About an hour from Lephalale (the town where I will be staying and working) we stopped for lunch where I got a chicken and mushroom pie. Pies are pastries filled with various fillings. They are really good and I’m sure very bad for you. Driving into Lephalale showed that area to be nice and a small town that is still expanding. The clinic we pulled into is a small unassuming brick building with red iron gate across the glass sliding front door. A small plaque next to the door stated in afrikaan that the vet was Daniel Kriel. Inside the clinic is white walls with bright pictures of wildlife as well and bags of dog food, collars, leashes, and worming products. The front half of the entrance is divided from the reception area by a half wall with chairs and a small couch in the waiting area and a counter dominating the reception. Taking this all in two girls walked out of the hall way leading away from this front room. One was tall, thin, with straight almost white blond hair and a nervous air about her. The other girl was several inches shorter than me, dark brown hair and a quick smile. The brunette stuck her hand out and introduced herself as Imogen and indicated the tall girl as Jess. Both girls had clear british accents. Jess was leaving today so she said her goodbyes, loaded her bags in to the truck I had just pulled mine out of, and drove off. Imogen, or Immi for short, helped me drag my stuff down the hall and into a small storage office room on the left where I put everything in the corner by what looked like and unused desk. Immi was very easy to talk to and we both sort of clicked immediately. Everything now stored, Immi gave me the tour. Next door to the storage room was the operating room with a stainless steel table and a large cupboard in the corner holding suture material and other operating necessities. Just inside the doorway was a machine I have seen previously used to anaesthetize dogs and cats for surgery. It was not in use and seemed to be there only to hold a roll of cotton wool. They had just finished surgery when I arrived and clean up had just begun. The cleaner of the clinic was a tall black man by the name of Philamon who unfortunately did not speak any English, only afrikaan which is a combination of English and Dutch long ago by the white farmers that colonized the cape and moved into the interior. On the other side of the hallway on the right from the waiting area was an area to make tea and coffee and also held the steam sterilizer. Next door to this was the consultation room. In here there was a counter at the back that had a sink and microscope, shelves on the left wall holding medicine, a fridge next to the shelves, and a rickety tall table in the center for examination (it looked at be made of scrap metal). The right wall had windows and a door that looked into the covered car park area. If you went out this back door, the metal kennels were enclosed to the right, and two white trucks (one quite big and one pretty small) were parked under the metal overhang. Beyond the overhang two large heavy duty green metal trailers were parked as well as two normal compact cars. Back inside Immi introduced me to the staff at the clinic. Neil is the owner and main vet of the practice. He had to be about 6’4” with sandy brownish hair. He was polite and seems not to be a big people person. The other vet in the practice is a woman named Shannon. She is much shorter than me, light brown hair streaked with blond, sturdily structured with a tendency to mumble. I had come to realize that the afrikaan accent is very different from Swahili so understanding everyone was a bit challenging. The last person to meet was Talana the secretary and good friend of Shannon. She is tall with dark hair and a loud voice and doesn’t take crap from anyone. I had just gotten my bearings and met everyone when Neil walked past and just said “Get your stuff” and had Immi and I scrambling to grab our backpacks and jump in the big truck. Neil pulled out and drove into town where I bought another pie and drove out of town. Driving from Jo’burg this morning the bush had been the only scenery but fences were everywhere. Large farms had elaborate entrances and lines of wire fences stretching around the entire property. Neil pulled into one of these farms and drove up to an impressive house complete with parking area and fenced area that had a few fat ponies resting in the shade. Neil and the owner who introduced himself as Clive began speaking in afrikaan and walking into the house with Immi and I following. Until we reached a small shed behind the house (which was a impressive inside as out) we had no idea what we were here to do. In the shed was a very small calf of some antelope species. Crouching besides its head was the farmer’s wife and his son who told us it was a Gemsbok calf (the English name for gemsbok is Oryx). Clive had seen this little guy in the field and h just did not look good. Neil injected him with a booster of vitamins and minerals and started him on a fluid drip. The rest of the instructions were in afrikaan but from the gist it sounded like there was a 50-50 chance he would pull through. Back by the truck, Neil packed his meds up and told us we were going across the road to dart an eland. Clive and his son (Tristan) drive their truck over and we pull up at a nice and neat house that faces the feeding area for the eland. There is a tall wire fence keeping them away from the house with about six huge eland standing in the shade. Neil starts making a dart. This dart is a small metal tube with a double barbed point that Neil injects the drugs into. The cocktail was a mix of stress reducing drugs and anesthetics. Once the dart was made, Neil reaches behind the back seat and pulls out the dart gun. Its a standard .22 calibur rifle that has been modified to hold a dart while firing a blank. While all this prep was going on a few tourists came out of the house and came over to see what was going on. I’ll freely admit I found them forward and distasteful but they did not go with from the truck. Neil walked over to the fence that has some vegetation near it, found a spot and darted the eland in question. As soon as the dart struck him the whole herd jumped and scattered. We transferred into Clive’s smaller truck (or bucky as they call them out here) and drove into the fenced area, keeping our distance until the darted eland dropped to the ground. Neil and two farm helpers jumped out; Neil injected just a little more anesthetic, one helper held the eland’s horns (this keeps the eland from hurting anyone and ensures he keeps his airways open and doesn’t suffocate in the dirt) and the other blindfolded it with an old cloth. Examining the whole animal not much looked wrong with it. There was a tiny amount of swelling around the ankle of the right hind leg but I have seen worse on my horses at the height of the show season. Even the number of ticks on him were minimal. Neil allowed me to inject with antibiotics and a vitamin booster and he helped Immi administer the antidote to the anesthetic. Then it was back in the bucky and out by the house again. The guys stood around talking in afrikaan for a while so Immi and I got to chat a bit more before we packed up and headed out. Back at the clinic Immi and I took the dog still in the kennel area for a walk on the lawn and Alfie pulled up. Alfie is solidly built with black hair flecked with gray, bright dark eyes and an infectious grin. He gave Immi a big hug before introducing himself to me. Alfie is Neil’s father in-law and I will be staying in Alfie and Jackie’s (Alfie’s wife) guest house. Immi had been having problems with her camera so she and Alfie left for the camera shop while I stayed to see a few dogs get shots before the clinic closed. Neil nicely gave me a lift to Alfie’s with all my bags in the back of his truck. The house is in a nice quiet area with the the local elementary school across the street. There is a large black iron gate with a complicated lock that I had to figure out before walking up the short drive. Alfie and Jackie’s house was all one story, white with blue trim on the roof. The guest house was around back, also one story, and white. Immi (the keeper of the keys) unlocked the door which opens into the living room which has a two big couches and a big chair facing a coffee table and tv. Further exploration showed that the kitchen was next to the living room, the bathroom just down from the kitchen and the two bed rooms to the right and back of the living room. The larger bedroom faces the bathroom and the smaller bedroom is next to the bathroom but can only be gotten to by walking through the larger bedroom. For just Immi and I it was spacious and comfortable. It I had thought I had experienced culture shock this morning it was nothing compared to now. There was carpeting in all rooms except the kitchen and bathroom. I had a bed without a mosquito net and in a room to myself! There was air conditioning if we wanted to use it and I had a kitchen at my disposal. Immi was a good sport as I expressed my excitement over such ordinary items and laughed with me at my exuberance. After putting my stuff in the little bedroom, Immi and I headed over to Alfie and Jackie’s for dinner. The house inside was comfortable and homey. Jackie is tall with dark hair and also had a lovely smile. We sat down to dinner at the table, said grace and dug in. The food was good especially because it was different from the food I had been eating at KBC. After dinner Immi and I washed the dishes before sitting on the couch and comfy chairs in the living room to chat with Alfie and Jackie. It was a lovely welcome but I was exhausted so I excused myself and went to bed.
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