Friday, October 21, 2011

Braai at Greg's

Although it seems like old news by now, last weekend all the volunteers were fortunate enough to be invited to Greg's house for a Braai. He does this about once a year, and I'm so glad it happened while I was here!

Greg lives on a "wildlife estate" about an hour away from Daktari (although actually geographically very close, the roads aren't great and you have to go in circles around fences etc.). This means that driving to his house you can see all sorts of animals, and then once you are on his property it's possible to see even more. When we first arrived, Greg took us on a walk down to the river near his house:
We walked along the river for a while:
Then we turned and walked up an empty riverbed:
The bottom of the riverbed was covered with all these really cool smooth rocks:
After we made it back to Greg's house we swam in his pool, read books, and hung out for a few hours. then we cooked delicious boerewors and lots of snacks: 
Next, Greg took us on a drive in his land rover to a different part of the river where the hippos stay. They were just waking up for the evening, and we stayed for about half an hour watching seven hippos swim around! 
Just as the sun began to set we headed back to Daktari, just in time to start another full week.

Tomorrow I'm off to Bloemfontein for a week, to help lead a training for the parents and teachers in the creches where I visited before. It should be very interesting! They still don't have internet at MUCPP so I will be off the grid for a while, but I'll try to write a post or two for when I get internet back. 

Monday, October 17, 2011

Baby Season

Remember when I said that I would get to hold the baby bushbabies soon? Well, it happened, and it was amazing. Imagine the softest, cuddliest, cutest thing ever and then make it TINY and multiply it by two:
Definitely one of the highlights of my time here so far. The same day that Chico gave birth to these beautiful creatures, our bushbuck Maxi also had a baby. Maxi leaves her babies (one from last spring, one from this spring) out in the bush when she comes into camp to eat, so originally we could only tell she had a baby because she was half the size from one day to the next. The coincidence that our two mommas would give birth on the same day, and that it was the same day that Michele returned from a trip to France, was pretty astounding. We have seen Maxi's baby outside on our dog walks, and she is similarly ADORABLE, but we haven't been able to get a photo yet. For those who are wondering what a bushbuck is, here's a photo of Maxi drinking her bottle (I promise a better photo sometime soon, she's gorgeous):
We also have found four baby squirrels that drop from the thatched roofs onto the ground all over Daktari. They each have a "mom" who feeds them porridge from a tiny syringe, and makes them pee and poop after they eat (it's a glamorous life being a mommy squirrel). Here's one of the tiny babies curled up in my dress:
They are also very sweet. Some of the kids are a little scared of the squirrels, but some want to dive right in and help us feed them: 
I have to run off to dinner now, but here's one more photo for good measure. This is Spikey, our porcupine, who comes around for food every night and then goes back into the bush to live. He's super friendly. He also might be a "she," because he/she has a baby that follows him/her around, who we have named Bo. Bo is very camera-shy so I don't have a photo of him, but picture a smaller version of Spikey. 
I'll try to post again before I have a week off in Bloemfontein starting next Saturday. I have so many more photos to share! 



Saturday, October 8, 2011

An Eventful Week

It's been an eventful week here at Daktari. Right after the last post, when I wrote that we had started construction and then had a rain-storm, we went outside and took the kids on a dog-walk. When we returned we were preparing to send children to see the leopard when the wind picked up and the sky suddenly turned black. Out of nowhere it began hailing nearly golf-ball size hailstones at an incredible rate. Looking out from the Lapa the whole sky looked white. Our poor blind donkey, Eeyore, clearly had no idea what was going on. To him it probably felt like someone was throwing rocks at him repeatedly. Michele basically threw the two baby squirrels she was feeding into my hands and ran out to try and bring Eeyore under shelter. The hail-storm lasted about ten minutes and was basically terrifying.

Right after the hail-storm, Eeyore and the white landscape:

Huge hailstones:

It was really cool. Until the hail melted and the camp looked like a huge bomb had hit. We had to do a lot of emergency care for terrified and soaking wet animals, running around a flooded camp trying to find the meerkats, and cleaning out the genet and caracal's roofs (which collapsed from the weight of the hail). Then there was the raking. The whole camp was covered in a thick layer of twigs and leaves, and it did not look so good. The volunteers were really valiant, raking during all their free time and whenever they weren't teaching in the classroom. As of Thursday the camp actually looked cleaner than it had before. I can't say the same for my room, which is covered in a layer of thatch and dirt since they are basically demolishing the roof above my bed. It will be so worth it when I don't have to cover my room with buckets and towels every time it rains. The construction is coming along, I'm documenting with photos, and I'll post them soon. 

Thursday morning we noticed that Elvis, one of the pied crows, had what appeared to be a bloody bone sticking out of his left (broken) wing. After a quick consultation with Ian and Michele, Risette and I hopped in the bokkie (pick-up) and brought Elvis into town to visit the vet. It turned out that it was not a bone, but rather a feather that was nearly pulled out from the root, which the vet compared to ripping a nail out at the base. She pulled the rest of the feather out and cleaned the wound: 
It was nice to get into town, and we're thrilled that Elvis is ok. I also was able to buy a GUITAR in town! Since I arrived at Daktari, I've been pining for a guitar, especially when we sit around the campfire. Apparently this notion of sitting around the fire playing guitar is especially American (and camp-oriented, obviously). I'm so excited. 

Last photo for good measure is a photo of Ian and I cleaning out the ostrich eggs. The ostriches have laid a bunch of eggs recently, but apparently they are not smart enough to sit on their eggs so if we want baby ostriches we have to create an incubator. This might happen eventually, but for now we are feeding the ostrich eggs to the other animals. Emptying the eggs was a rather gross process involving a drill, a syringe, and a LOT of pumping:
It is amazing the amount of egg that comes out of those things.

We're preparing now to head to Mahlahla, which is a lodge nearby where all the volunteers go to party on Saturday nights. After another driving lesson today I think I'm ready to be the DD on the way home! 


Monday, October 3, 2011

Roofs, Rain, and Raffles

It appears I have been a bit delinquent in publishing the blog recently. I apologize. My day to day has been very busy, and I keep forgetting to sit down and write for you all. In addition, my office time has become much more limited with the return of Risette. She held my job before me, and has returned in a new capacity to begin the "outreach program" where we work with the wildlife clubs that the children have formed in their schools after attending Daktari. She stole my office computer - which is fine, because I don't really need it too much - but I have been less available. It is nice to have someone who understands the ins and outs of the job around, to answer the random questions that keep popping up.

This week we are back up to eleven volunteers, seven of whom are French. It is a bit tricky because my American accent can be difficult to understand, but usually the messages don't get too mixed up. We also have three long-term volunteers who are here through December, which is amazing because it means that they can become strong leaders for the group and help the newer volunteers find their way around before asking me. Overall things are running very smoothly!

We have nearly raised enough money to re-do the roofs! Because of the time constraints, Ian and Michele have purchased the materials and are beginning the construction even before we reach our total goal. Other volunteers have had families contribute separately, so we're nearly there, but we could still use a bit more money if there's anyone who was waiting to donate! Today was the first day of roof construction, and started out with clear and beautiful skies, perfect for climbing roofs. Right when they got back to work after lunch the wind picked up, and the sky darkened, and it is currently thunder and lightning and heavy heavy rain. After a quick check of my room (one substantial leak, a few more minor ones), I am very pleased that you all helped me raise the money to fix this problem. This rainstorm today is nothing compared to what will hit us when the rainy season arrives for real!

This weekend Daktari set up a booth at Hoedspruit's annual "Sustainable Living Festival." We spent three days (I was there Friday/Saturday) advertising Daktari and selling tickets to our raffle to raise money. We were raffling off one night at Makalali Private Game Lodge, which is the four-star lodge we work with. We raised a bunch of money and made a lot of new contacts, and were able to tell a lot of locals in Hoedspruit about the important work that we do. Here's a photo of me and Risette in our booth:


It was nice to get the weekend in town, we were able to go out to a proper dinner without dozens of people and kids (which is nice, don't get me wrong), and stay at one of Ian and Michele's friends' amazing house. A proper shower, a proper bed... you cannot underestimate the rejuvenating power of a night in a nice house when you live in the bush! The owners of the house also have the sweetest bushbaby, named Boris, who visited with us all night: 
I really need to look into getting a bushbaby when I get home. They are the softest, sweetest, most amazing animals ever. Oh! Speaking of which! Our very own bushbaby, Chico, just had twins! Their names are Pepita and Pepito, and while I haven't seen them with my own eyes yet, I think this picture tells the story:
Chico is still in the protective phase of new mommy-hood, so she only lets Michele in to see the babies. Soon, though, we should be able to go snuggle them! I can't wait! 
That's all the news from this end for now, I have to go find a replacement rain-activity for mini-golf as it is still dark skies and thunderstorms. I also should probably check that my room hasn't been washed away yet!