Part 7: Falling Off the Edge of the Earth

What a whirlwind of a weekend. Alex and I along with the other interns headed up north to visit Chobe coupled with a quick trip to Victoria Falls! It was incredible to say the least, but let me start from the beginning.

We were able to take a plane (a very expensive one I might add) to fly in to Kasane, which is right outside the Chobe National Park. After being picked up from the tiny airport by our hotel guides, we reached the Water Lily Lodge and were amazed by what we saw. Greeted with an "all you can eat" buffet, we ate quickly and ran out to look at the view beyond the lodge.

It was so incredibly green! Much different than the array of browns of the bush we see in and around Gabs. Following some time spent relaxing by the pool, we hopped into a boat and were on our way to enjoying a 3 hour sunset cruise. With an unbelievable view in front of us, we took TONS of pictures. Sadly for me, my camera stopped working midway through the trip so I was stuck using my iPhone. It just doesn't do the sights justice, but here are a few things we saw!

The tour ended with a herd of elephants crossing the river during the sunset. What a day. It only got better from there. Once we docked, we headed to the bush lodge we were staying in for the next couple of nights. Although the drive there in the open air vehicle was freezing, where we arrived was totally worth it. Alex and I got our own hut on the edge of the lodge, with a porch that was perfect for stargazing. After enjoying a delicious homemade meal of vegetable stew and chicken, we hit the hay early in anticipation for the next day.

Waking up at our usual 5:45am time seemed much easier knowing what lay ahead of us. A full day filled with some of the most beautiful sights of Africa (not to mention one of the seven natural wonders of the world!) Despite the brief chilly open air vehicle ride to our van, I couldn't wait to get to Zimbabwe! We were told it would be about an hour trip to the falls, but that most of the delay would stem from crossing the border from Botswana to Zim. Once we had left the country painlessly, we headed to the Zim immigrations office. One of the other interns is actually originally from Singapore and didn't have to pay the mandatory $30 if you are from the US. I joked with the officer that I too was from Singapore and therefore should be exempt from the fee. His eyes seemed to glaze as the joke went over his head. "You are obviously from America, as you have an American passport." Right-o sir, nevvvverrrminddd. Clearly my dad's cheesy humor that strangers rarely understand is rubbing off :)

After making it across both borders, we were on our way to the falls, specifically the famous bridge where we would be able to enjoy the morning's activities filled with zip-lining, and for the more adventurous folks, bungee jumping and swinging. Once on the bridge, I actually got to straddle the "no man's land" and put one foot in Zim and one foot in Zambia. Three countries in one day must certainly be some kind of record!

Because I went skydiving with Robb last summer, I felt it was only fair to wait to bungee jump with him too. As a result, I merely zip lined over the gorge! This was the view:

I couldn't wait to head over to the falls and before I knew it, it was time. The view was unbelievable and breathtaking. Something I definitely must see again in my lifetime. Here are just a few angles, as it is too massive to capture in just one shot.

Amazing, right? I was so sad to leave, but I have vowed to return, especially since we missed out on swimming in the Devil's pool right next to the falls. The water is too high this time of year which just gives me an even better reason to go back. Once we arrived back at the lodge, we gorged ourselves on another delicious home cooked meal. For desert we had bananas swimming in a delicious amarula (which is slightly alcoholic and amazing) cream. And to top it all off, our night ended with a herd of elephants coming to drink at the water hole located right outside of our lodge. We watched them for what seemed like hours until they wandered off into the darkness and we could no longer see them. I continued to sit outside, wrapped in the warmest blanket ever, and stared at the stars. It's amazing how many you can see without the city lights drowning them out. The next morning, we headed out for our final game drive. I didn't want this trip to ever end, but alas all good things do. We saw a multitude of animals, including some elephants and giraffe feet from the vehicle! These were taken with no zoom from my measly iPhone, so you know its close!

Overall, this weekend must be dubbed the most amazing experience of this trip. I've been telling Alex all along that I wish experiences like this could be remembered moment for moment, but I guess that's why we have pictures to remind us. The only thing I would change about this trip to Bots, would be to have my family (and Robb) here to enjoy it too. I miss you guys! Stay tuned for my last few blogs coming up this week. Can't believe we leave here on Saturday; time really does fly when you're having fun!

Part 6: Ghanzi from Behind

This past week, Alex and I traveled to Ghanzi (pronounced with a throaty cough at the beginning) with the wildlife vet, Erik (or Fred as we now prefer to call him). On the way there, we were embarking on a 7 hour drive. Erik decided we should stop at a gas station in Kang where he knew the owner and we could chat and get some dinner, which happened to be a cheeseburger larger than my head. On the way out, he suggested we get some snacks, and his definition of snacking is buying every type of junk food in the store. We had jelly tots (my personal fave) and caramel covered popcorn, and "enerjelly babies," and that is just the beginning of the list. It was a pretty awesome week filled with tiring amounts of junk food!
We would arrive at the farm later than we had originally intended, which meant we would be driving at night, something Erik hates to do. It's actually pretty dangerous because herds of cattle/donkey/goats are all wandering around due to the drought and they often cross the road without warning. Nevertheless, we trudged through. It ended up being an awesome drive because Erik was pointing out a ton of wildlife for us, and by the end I was telling him which was a Duiker and which was a Sternbok (this is no easy task, let me tell you). He even turned the car completely around because I thought I had caught a glimpse of a porcupine and he wanted us to get a good look. These creatures are seriously huge! I would not want to battle with one that is for sure. Apparently they are a lion delicacy however.
We finally arrived at the farmhouse of Kworbus and his wife, Arletta and their three adorable children. The next morning, we were up at sunrise...literally because the roosters were crowing right outside our window. Rusks awaited us on the kitchen table (which are a bit like biscotti and very tasty dipped in morning coffee). Then we were off, ready to get very and I mean very dirty. Check out what we looked like by the end...oye

                                                        .....and this is my clean side!

Pregnancy Diagnoses are by no means easy.  In fact, it is easily one of the most difficult skills I have attempted to yet master in vet med. It is done entirely by feel...which means your entire arm is deeply plunged into the rear end of the cow. It's pretty tight in there and I am desperately feeling around for the cervix, uterus, and most of all a fetus. I was seriously terrible at it the first day (and the second day for that matter) calling several cows "empty" meaning I thought they had no pregnancy and Erik would rush through saying "yepp, this one is 6 months" a fetus I should have easily felt. Oh well. Day one over, and we came home to an awesome bath, backyard fire, and delicious dinner. This was also one of the nights of the supermoon, which was really awesome to see.

Day 2 my skills were getting slightly better, but still not great. It was another day full of mud (see below us completely covered along with Erik). Again we came home to an awesome dinner and fire. It was a lot of fun listening to Erik tell stories of when he was in vet school. It made me reflect on the fact that I am a very tame student compared to him. In fact, his stories reminded me a lot of my dad's college stories, so I enjoyed them a lot. 

Day 3 we finally started to get the hang of things....and when I say that I mean I think my accuracy may have improved from maybe 30% to maybe 55%? I would call that slight improvement! Erik informed us that we had finished early and would heading home the next day (meaning he had felt 1500 cows, and we had probably felt max 300). I was actually really sad. This brief view of farm life had left me with the sense that this is something I have been missing. I really felt like I could have spent forever there, with that family and all those cows. I had such an awesome time and it felt like home to me. On the way back from the day's work, Erik said we had some time, and since we were so close to the Namibian border, we should just "go check it out." So we did! Ha here we are pointing to the next country over and we are filthy!

We headed home the very next day and I was really sad to watch the farm disappear from view as we left. At least the ride was eventful as Erik and I discussed the politics of my country, his country (South Africa) and Botswana. I have learned so much about the political system here and how things work. Talking to Erik is like talking to an encyclopaedia of knowledge, he knows so much! Hopefully I will be off traveling again with him next week, I can't wait!