Part 5: Kalahari Safari

This past weekend was spent in the Kalahari. A true desert if I ever saw one. But its not the immense sand dunes you would expect. In fact, it is heavily treed and has many bushes but every one of them is adapted to live in one of the harshest environments in the world. We had a four hour drive in this amazing open-air vehicle. It was SO cold, but really neat! I also caught a cold, I think because of the intense temperature change from Thailand to Africa. I never imagined Africa to be this cold! Especially in a desert!

We headed to the Khutse Reserve but not before stopping off in a research camp right outside. The researcher there told us about how she tracks the lions and leopards within the reserve by collaring them. It was really interesting to learn about. We then headed to camp.

Once we reached our destination, we ate some lunch. It was the first time I had pilchared fish aka sardines in a can. It tasted a bit like tuna fish and I think I could grow to like it if I eat it more. Then we set up our tents. We made some new friends as we worked: the hook bill bird, which is Zazu from the Lion King!

We then went on a game drive where we saw an African Wild Cat, a Jackal, a mongoose, and some Fembock. All were really cool and our guides, Chris and Kenny were great, pointing things out left and right. We got back to camp just as the sun was setting, so we built a fire and waited for our dinner of beef stew and rice to be ready.

After the delicious meal, we sat around the fire and listened to our guides discuss histories of Botswana and South Africa but also other great countries of the world. It was extremely interesting and they were very knowledgeable. We drank hot chocolate as the temperature dropped and soon it was time for bed. When we awoke the next morning, we watched the sunrise and drank hot chocolate again around a small fire. We ate breakfast and broke down our camp. After packing everything away, we began to drive off, looking for game as we rode out. We managed to see some Springbok and ground squirrels. Then we were on our way home. We stopped halfway to eat some lunch (pilchard fish) and then arrived home at about 4:30pm. It was an incredible experience, one of my favorites thus far on the trip. I can't wait to go camping back in the States, its a lot of fun!

Part 4: Diamond in the Ruff (Jwaneng)

As soon as I got back from Thailand I was off again. Erik, the wildlife vet who works for the clinic, was called out to do some wildlife management work in Jwaneng. Jwaneng is the town where Debswana's diamond mine is located. And if you find a loose diamond on the ground, you can get up to 30,000 Pula for it! ($3750!) Needless to say we were looking ;-P They are having a serious baboon problem however, and asked Erik to step in and help.

Right before we left, we had to stop at Erik's house. The house had a few surprises in store:

Erik and his wife Marlize (who is also a vet at the clinic) keep this lion as well as a leopard in their back yard. Talk about cool! They were orphaned and the president allowed them to keep and care for them. They actually play with them, so crazy! In this picture, the lion is only about half the size he will be when he's all grown up! And then, when Erik said he had to "check on the little ones" we were not sure what to expect...and then.....

 

So cute!!! Alex and I each got to hold them and take pictures. Next thing I knew we were off to Jwaneng. Regrettably I didn't get any pictures of the baboons, they run off when you get close to them. The problem is that they are harassing the ladies that make lunches for the workers and digging in trash bins etc. The people are becoming scared of them as they are getting more aggressive. Erik's solution was keeping kitchens closed and also locking up the waste containers in a way that is baboon proof. Finally, we had to scare them off to let them know they are not allowed in the mine area. This included shooting at the baboons with a rifle. What a sight to see Erik running around after the baboons firing off warning shots every few seconds. We counted about 47 baboons in total all over the mine area. We first scared them off in the "Green Area" where any lay person is allowed to go. But then we had to also scare them away from the "Blue Area" which is a more tightly secure place. To enter, you must first go through "Induction." This is a 3-hour long course that involves all of the safety hazards of the mine. Erik and Alex had already gone through it the week before while I was in Thailand so I was on my own. Half of it being in Setswana and the other half full of repetitive questions, I was not seriously impressed. But after it was over I was then able to get into the "Blue Area." We began scaring them off again. At night we slept in a game reserve caravan that was right next to the mining area. We got to see some Zebras within the reserve as well as track the baboon spoor (footprints). After two days of excitement and sleeping in a caravan, we headed home, hopeful that our work would be continued and the baboon problem would lessen in Jwaneng.

Part 3: To Thailand and Back

Warning to readers: this will be long as I will attempt to sum up my whole trip to the land of Thai in one post. TL;DR- Thailand was great!

While on the 6 planes it took to get there and back from Gabs, I only had one flight delay on the last flight on my way home... I was seriously impressed. I took Etihad airways because it was the cheapest flight I could get back in March and it was awesome! I know this is virtually irrelevant to my travels, but check out the actual menu we got on the flight!

On our first full day in Bangkok, we ventured to the MBK mall, which was a sight I was unprepared for. It had 6 floors with no rhyme or reason to any of the escalators so it was quite an adventure just getting around. We then headed to Khaosan Road which is a "backpacker's dream" of sorts.

The following day we headed as a group to our first clinic day! It was so much fun. I performed my first Thai-cat neuter and got a lot of experience being in charge of anesthesia for some animals and assisting the "surgeons" aka other vet students on others. We also got this great photo in front of the Vet4 clinic. This hospital is huge and maintains 15 doctors which is insane.

The next day, Vet4 sponsored us to go to the Sriracha Tiger Zoo. It was an interesting experience. Actually it was quite sad. I didn't take many pictures because the way the animals were maintained under very poor welfare conditions and I was unimpressed by this place. Most of the tigers were open mouth breathing from the heat, none of the cages had any grass or natural flooring besides concrete. Far too many tigers were crammed into each enclosure. Baby pigs dressed as tigers were being fed by mother tigers and sows were nursing baby tigers. None of the young ones looked particularly well. Also, as a patron of the zoo, you could purchase a bottle of milk to feed the young tigers in the cage. People were passing the bottles from one tiger to the next without any thought to what kinds of diseases were being passed as well. Finally, the most disturbing portion of all was the bottle feeding fish attraction. Millions of fish were flopping around attempting to suck on this bottle of unknown liquid. So incredibly weird. The next portion of the day consisted of heading to a 3-D art museum where lots of Thai were captivated with taking picture alongside wall paintings. Example shown below. Following the museum, we headed to the Pattaya beach for a while we figured out where to have dinner. I got to put my feet in the Indian Ocean :) Dinner and sunset and finally home to Bangkok.

Then we headed to Mae Sot. This is where the majority of our clinic days took place. It was really awesome and the staff we worked with was wonderful and so helpful! I successfully completed both my first cat and dog spay while there. The clinic days were great and each was followed by a fabulous dinner. We had two free days once the clinic days were through, during which we hiked an incredible but taxing 5 hour journey to a beautiful waterfall. We also saw the crazy bug shown below that eats bamboo! And the next day we visited a very pretty rose garden where roses are specially preserved for people to purchase.

Then we were back to Bangkok again. That night we went up to the roof top bar of our hotel. It is slightly difficult to see but the view was gorgeous. Saturday before I left was supposed to be the last clinic day. Unfortunately, it also happened to be the day I got a terrible bout of stomach irritation. After taking a boatload of medications, as we were sent with a pharmacy from student health, I still was not feeling any better. I decided to sit out on the last clinic day :( Despite being very upset I was missing out, I was greatful for the sleep. But about an hour and a half after the rest of the group had left, I was awoken by a phone call that said "Alert! Calmly evacuate your room! Fire!" So of course I grabbed my hotel key and phone and high tailed it out of there in yoga pants and a short t-shirt. Looking ridiculous, I was under the sure impression that there was a fire. I headed down the fire escape stairs as the elevators weren't working (which made obvious sense to me because of the fire), and reached the bottom after 10 flights. I thought it was odd that no one else seemed to be coming... I got outside and realized immediately that this was a drill. And lucky for me, all of the other guests had warnings placed in their rooms to alert them that they did not have to participate....except our room. Several hotel employees escorted me around and thanked me profusely for participating. I prayed that my stomach would hold out and allow me to get to the bathroom, as it was unhappy after the 10 flight walk. I think because I looked so displeased and sick, they let me go back to my room. Oye. The very next day was my last in Bangkok! Flight at 3am! But we were sure to make the most of it and visited the Grand Palace, which was really cool but it was SO HOT!

All in all the trip was fantastic and, as I am taking over the organizing for the trip next year, I can't wait to go back!