My First Kill

Before I go into the title of this post (which I know you're all dying to hear about) - I wanted to point out the little "Donate" button on the right side of the blog. As my loyal followers know, Daktari is a really amazing nonprofit saving animals' lives, and working to instill a love of nature and animals on the local children of Limpopo. As with any nonprofit, finding the money to stay running is a big part of the job. As the rainy season approaches, there is a big project that needs funding: redoing the thatched roofs all around camp. They are full of holes and at the moment covered with plastic tarps that blow around, blow off the roof, and generally don't do a great job of keeping the water out. It is usually very dry here, but there is a rainy season, which is rapidly approaching. So I am undertaking the mission of trying to raise the funds to fix the roofs before the rains. We really need your help! You can donate money through my page on global giving, which is tax deductible for US/UK citizens: http://www.globalgiving.org/dy/fundraiser/prevfund/gg.html?regid=6298. Please pass the link to whoever you can, post it on your facebook, etc. etc. Thank you so much!

Now on to the good stuff. We had an emotional weekend here at Daktari, as we said goodbye to four volunteers who have been here for the past month. They were all good friends, and it was really hard to see them go. This is the first week in a very long time where there won't be people overlapping who can help teach the ropes to the new volunteers, of whom there are only three (average is 6-10). That means this week is going to be a big test of how well I know my job - and how well can we all jump right in and make sure these children still have the best week ever. The kids this past week were awesome, and we had a really hard time picking out the most improved/respectful to win a trip to Kruger with us in October. They were all so polite, respectful, and fun! Overall it was a weekend full of goodbyes, and trying to prepare myself for what's sure to be a draining week.

This morning I woke up and came down to the Lapa for breakfast just as Michele (the director) came back from a morning walk. She explained that she had found a fresh kill just outside of camp, and she sent Ian (other director, Michele's husband, ex-head game ranger) off to determine what kind of animal had been killed. When she saw me she said, "Laura! You must go see your first kill." So, I grabbed my camera and off I went.

As we approached the site, the first thing we saw were literally dozens of vultures circling overhead. I tried to take a photo, which of course was pretty tricky:

The next thing I noticed was the smell, which hit me like a wall of death. It became stronger as we approached, and scared a vulture off of the carcass. When we saw what the animal was who had been killed, we were all a bit sad. It was a Nyala, a really beautiful type of antelope, and since there is only one nyala on Daktari, it meant we knew who he was. His name was Rusty, and he was hand-reared at Daktari a while back. When he became old enough to be released into the wild, he was released with a herd of impala (a different type of antelope) because there were no nyala around. They adopted him as their own, even after he grew up and began to look very different from the impala (adult male nyala are coverd with dark black hair). When I heard this story, I felt inspired to write a children's book about it. Of course, now this children's book would have a very sad ending. It was an interesting way to start the day, however, and as we teach the children every week, it's part of the circle of life. Here are a few photos of the carcass, which had already been picked clean of meat by the vultures:

Every day is an adventure here at Daktari. It's amazing to live in a place where every time you walk or drive out of the front gate you are surrounded by pristine African bush, and you can run into giraffe on your morning dog-walk. On our way into town we are always on the lookout for lions and cheetahs who live on the reserve next door, and are always spotting zebra, giraffe, elephants, and different types of antelope out the window.

I also got the go-ahead recently to go back to Mangaung the last week in October, to help give a training to the matrons, practitioners, and parents at the creches where I did my work when I first arrived in Africa. I am so excited! I will certainly write more about this project as it approaches.

Thank you for reading, and please share around the global giving link so I don't sleep in a puddle all summer!