Cross Continent Travels and CCF First Thoughts

Hey everyone,
I am warning everyone now that I have never blogged before, and this is probably going to be a very rough process as I try to figure it out. I will try to post pictures approximately once a week, but am not going to guarantee anything due to spotty WiFi and depending on how busy I am day to day. Feel free to send advice through facebook. Don't be offended if I don't reply, I can only do so much in a day.
Nonetheless, here we go! :)

It has been over a week since I left Bend, and exactly a week since I arrived at the Cheetah Conservation Fund  (CCF) in Namibia. Traveling alone took me two days and five different flights. I took two quick flights from Bend, Oregon to San Francisco, California, an overnight flight from San Francisco to Heathrow, London, and from London to Johannesburg, South Africa, and a quick flight from Johannesburg to Windhoek, Namibia. It made my arrival all the sweeter! The one nice thing about the overnight flight was that it forced me into the right sleep schedule, and I, for the most part, avoided jet lag.

The driver who picked me up was named Cappi, he was very nice and patient with me, even as I forgot that the passengers sit on the left of the car, not the right here in Namibia (oops). Even a week later I have made that mistake several times. I will get it eventually! And then I will make the mistake when I get back, it'll be hilarious.

The drive took approximately 3 hours. During the trip, Cappi picked up a few things, and at one point stopped at a shopped and picked up some snacks which he was kind enough to share with me. One was a long thin strip of some kind of meat that kind of reminded me of jerky (I've been told it can be compared to a slim jim), and the other was some kind of bacon looking meat. I've been told it is called Diltong (this is probably misspelled), I don't know exactly what type of meat it was made out of, but it was delicious! The drive itself was otherwise uneventful. We saw a few baboons, that of course I didn't have a camera prepared for, and a few warthogs as they ran from the road. About 3/4 of the way to Otjiwarongo, I fell asleep. Even after sleeping on the plane, all the traveling tired me out!

Most of the drive was through the flat land of Namibia. It really is different from Bend, where we have mountains and buttes, with curvy roads. The roads here are relatively straight, and although I knew that they drove on the left side, it still threw me off. I woke up when we reached Otjiwarongo, from there we took a dirt road, which was approximately a 30 minute drive.











Since it was around 3:00 pm, or around 15:00 Zulu time, most of the interns were still out working on various tasks. I was brought around to fill out paperwork. From there I saw a quick video and explored the mini museum they have here about cheetahs and some of the things that CCF has done to help them through the education of the young people and the farmers of this region and around the world. It is amazing to see what CCF has accomplished in 20 years. They have accomplished quite a bit as well as helped not only the cheetah, but with some actions the human and animal community alike.
Exploring the mini museum pranced me through memory lane. Some things I remember, and other things I absolutely don't, of course it has been seven years, and I was only 13, so that isn't really surprising. I do remember the museum, that hasn't changed, and neither has Laurie's house or the barn where she houses her horses. Laurie Marker is the founder of the CCF. I saw Little C, who they were thinking back then would be an ambassador cheetah, and Smart man and Blond man, who were cubs that were brought in before I arrived in Namibia years ago. Now they are 7 years old, and have a large plot of land to run around and hang in all day long. Esha (probably misspelled), a dog I met as a puppy during my first visit, had a litter and one of her pups, Hercules, is kept around as a ambassador Livestock guard dog. He is a bit of a brat, but he is only 9 months old.

Otherwise, the day ended pretty calmly. Around 5 pm, I was shown my room, which I share with two other girls, Bridget and Erin. Bridget is another intern from OSU. Dinner was at 6:30, and I met all the other interns. Ironically enough, all of them are from America. To some extent, I was kind of surprised, but at the same time, I sort of expected it. SO many names to remember. By the end of the week though, I finally had them remembered.

The "Hotspot"

Hope everyone's summer is going well! And sorry for posting these so late! >.<