"Imagine there is a rhino charging you...

WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!  Did I happen to mention I’m in Africa??  I’m in Africa and meeting awesome people and working with animals!  Gah.  As I was riding back in the Combi tonight it just hit me.  (It does that occasionally.)  I’ve wanted so long to be here and do this and I’m here!  I’m actually freaking in Africa following my dreams.  WOW!   I encourage people to do things.  Really, Just do things.  If you want something go for it.  

Okay, I’m done babaling.  Now I’ll tell you what I did today.

I woke up early this morning before my alarm clock like usually and fixed myself some oatmeal and hot tea.  I read until I had to get ready and then went off to French class.  (I know, I know, I’ve got it so rough!)   I met my cab man, James, and practiced my Setswana on the way out to Mokolodi.  There I joined the others in cleaning out the marshall eagle’s cage.  

It was pretty dirty.  We raked out the leaves, scrubbed mass amounts of poop, cleaned the pool, pulled weeks, and tackled small thorn bushes.  First of all, gardening is not my strong suit.  Second, battling the super hard, dry dirt which is mostly rocks was quite a challenge.  In the end, we won most of the battles with small plants and the pen looked a lot better!  Our next stop was the monkey cage where we restored their ladder and hung it back up.  There were two monkeys in the cage,  both had been found abandon.  Blue, the smallest one, is still very sweet and loves attention.  Gah.  He’ll melt your heart.  

Next stop was Hershy’s cage, a small owl.  We swept everywhere, moved rocks around, scrubbed poop, and cleaned his water bowl.  After cleaning , we decided it was time to relax.  We took their two boa’s out that they use for education and sat with them in sun. They usually live in a small aquarium with no lights so I’m sure they were glad to warm up.   I got to work on my snake handling skills with the one that was a bit frisky.  I hate that a fear of snakes in ground into everyone at a young age.  It's not fair!  They are such neat animals.  Yes, it is probably smarter that you leave them alone but that doesn't mean they are horrible animals!

After lunch we headed out into the bush with the park manager to attend the “weaponry training" where we spent the whole afternoon. I learned quite a bit and gained some handy knowledge about guns!  The ride out there was the closest I’ve had to an amusement ride since Harry Potter World.  Rebecca and I bounced around the back seat of the truck and watched for animals.  We saw two giraffes and a duiker for the first time! 

In the bush we met two guys who worked at the park.  The manager gave us what I call a “death and destruction” speech about safety of weapons. Not only did I learn important points but it instilled a healthy amount of fear into me.  (It reminded me of the death and destruction speech at crow about tube feeding baby raccoons and opossums.)  We started out with a pellet gun, and then shot a 22 gauge,   2…. hundredish something gauge, and then a 375 gauge rifle.    The 375 was a powerful gun and it was so loud!  Guns are scary things! 

 We had a target set up and shot at it from a 15 meter distance.  After shooting each gun once (kneeling and then standing) we shot a gun lying down and then the guys did other exercises. In one they had to start at 20 meters and shoot, move forward to 15 meters and shoot, and end at 10 meters  within 15seconds.    So there I was sitting in a dried up river bed watching guys practice their gun skills with sayings like “imagine a rhino is charging you” or “this is a distance where you would be forced to shoot if something was charging you.”

 

My aim is horrible!!!  It’s a bit embarrassing.  I was told several times I’d be the one buying everyone a round of beer that night, but thankfully one guy had a shot worse than I did.  He he.  The guys were very nice.   Here they are checking out the target.

I’m really enjoying meeting people and hearing their stories. While riding back to game city with the park manager, we used our time to ask him about good travel destinations! I’ve done so many random awesome things at Mokolodi and it’s still only my second week!

I just finished a bowl of ramen noodles with some veggies cut up in it.  I need to take a shower, finish my book, and then start on a lab report.  Time to warm up the tea....

Until next time...