Darting the Leopard

Remember how I said that my job often involves some wild and crazy things? Well this week it involved the organization and coordination of darting a leopard, and cleaning his camp. It involved a lot of planning, coordination, and a bit of stress, but it went perfectly.

I'll start from the beginning. We have a leopard, Shiloweni, who lives in an enclosure just outside of camp. He became too comfortable around people, got too close, and was going to be shot if he continued living in the wild. While he was initially being transported, he woke up and bit down on the steel bars of his cage - breaking his canines completely. Now he has no canines, and could not hunt in the wild. So, he lives with us. We feed him every day so that he won't try to run away (there's no such thing as a leopard-proof fence, even though ours is very electric) and he lives a pretty cushy life. Every day the kids go up on a platform outside his cage to look for him, and usually they are able to see him.

He's been here about two years, and in that time no one has been inside his camp. The owners thought it would be a good idea to get the vet to have a look at him, just to make sure he is healthy. So, we called our local vet, Peter Rogers, to come and dart the leopard and check on him. But while he was asleep, we figured we should also clean out his camp to take out all the bones from his meals of the last two years. So of course, as Volunteer Coordinator, it was decided that I would be the one person in charge of this operation. I had a lot of help, obviously, from all the other people in charge, but it was my voice that told the volunteers the plan, and where they needed to be when.

We split the camp into quadrants, and had a cleanup team in each section. Two by two they were able to come take their pictures with the sleeping leopard, and even the kids got to come touch him and take pictures with him. They couldn't believe how soft he was, and one kid told me, "He's so beautiful!" Of course I got to take some photos with him as well.. it was such a special treat. At first I thought maybe he would wake up and we would all die, but then I thought, oh well, I get to touch a leopard!

The organization was a bit tricky, and it was a bit stressful at times, but what an opportunity. It's my last week as coordinator next week, and I'm glad I can add more crazy experiences like this to my resume.

Here I am, coordinating important things over the radio:

Here the vets are checking Shiloweni's mouth:

Here the volunteers are getting started cleaning:

 Here I am organizing the kids for their photo op:

 Here the kids are so excited:

Here is my turn with the leopard!

 Here are all the impala and guinea fowl bones we took out of the camp!

The Panorama Route

There are a bunch of excursions around the area that volunteers usually go on. Of course I thought I would space them out over the course of my six months here, but then it got down to the last month or so and I realized that I hadn't done a lot of things I wanted to do! So for starters, I've extended my ticket two weeks, to now leave at the end of February instead of on the 11th. This is giving me time to go to Capetown, and probably also to Swaziland. Pretty cool.

It also means that last week I went with a group of three volunteers on what is known around here as "The Panorama Route." It is a gorgeous drive through the Drakensberg mountains that stops along the way at some beautiful vista points, and ends in the town of Pilgrim's Rest for lunch. It takes you along the edge of the Blyde River Canyon, which is the third largest canyon in the world, and the largest "green" canyon, meaning that it is lush and green instead of dry and brown (like the grand canyon). It was really beautiful! Since it's better to show than tell, here are a bunch of photos:

This is the lookout known as the "three rondawels" (the three circular hut-looking forms on the left). That's the Blyde River running in the canyon below.

 Overlooking the canyon:

 Down at the base of the canyon:

 "Bourke's Potholes," another scenic spot where the water has done amazing things to the walls along the river.

 This is really such a beautiful country. Vistas like this just when you're walking around.

 After a short climb to the lookout known as "God's Window," overlooking the lowveld.

The Floods of 2012

There's always some new adventure happening at Daktari. This past week, we've been dealing with the aftermath of huge flooding all around our area. The nearest town, Hoedspruit, was declared a state of emergency as people were airlifted off their flooded houses and all roads in and out of town were blocked. Some parts of the area had over 600mm of rain in less than two days. Here at Daktari we were lucky enough not to experience too much damage. However our dam burst, turning our main road in and out of camp into a rushing river. We were stuck in camp for about three days before we towed our bakkie (pick-up truck) across and parked it on the other side. Now whenever we want to come in and out of camp we have to take off our shoes, walk across the muddy river, and then get in the car. It's bush life, for real.

Here are the kids' dorms with all the rain puddling around:

This is a picture of what used to be our dam. Before, we would take our dogs on a walk each morning over the top of the dam, connecting to the sheer rock face shown ahead. It was possible to walk in a straight line - not so much anymore.


Of course when big things happen it changes around my program a bit, and I have to think on my toes. The day the dam burst was Wednesday, which is the day we take the kids next door to Makalali so they can meet the staff and learn more about job opportunities. Obviously we were stuck in camp (and so was Makalali, for that matter) so taking the kids there wasn't an option. We had a whole morning to fill and nothing in the program to fill it with. So I decided that the kids shouldn't miss out on their scheduled job opportunities lesson, OR their scheduled game drive.

The volunteers were champs, they each picked a job, dressed up appropriately, and answered the kids' questions about what it's like to do their job. Then Destry, who played the part of "ranger" took the kids on a pretend indoor game drive. The other volunteers held up pictures of animals, and the kids stopped to take pictures and learn more about them. The kids really enjoyed themselves, and I think the volunteers did too!

If anyone ever asks me again at a job interview if I am capable of thinking under pressure and/or being flexible... I think I will have a lot of these experiences to call upon. 

Trip to the Primary School

I'm writing about something that happened a few weeks ago, but I never had a chance to share and I've been meaning to. For those who haven't been paying attention, my friend and fellow long-term volunteer Risette has started up a new project at Daktari called the Outreach Project (donate here). She's working with the kids when they return to their schools to continue their environmental education, help their communities, and eventually find jobs in the ecotourism field. Some of the kids from one of the club had the great idea to go to the primary school and talk to all the little kids about taking care of the environment. I wasn't at that visit, but the headmaster was so inspired that he started a competition to see which grade could pick up the most trash around the village (of which there is so, so much).

I was lucky enough to go along with Risette and the three girls from the eco club to present the prizes to the kids after they had finished the competition. It was so cute, especially to see the little kids with bags of trash bigger than they are! The big girls had a great time handing out the candy to the little kids, and the kids were so excited. It was also nice just to be around smaller kids for a little while!

I will share some photos from the visit. I'm looking forward to a short trip to the Kruger Park before Saturday when we get seven new volunteers for me to train. It's a bit daunting but should be fun too - I can't believe I come home in less than six weeks!

Proud kids with their big bags of trash:

One of the older girls handing out candy:

Can you find me?

Risette, me, the headmaster, teachers, and a bunch of kids: