So Close!

Hey Everyone!
I hope you guys are enjoying summer as it starts to come to an end. Unlike in the northern hemisphere, where the weather is most likely starting to cool, the weather here in Namibia is getting hotter and hotter, and everything is starting to burn. Even at night, I barely need a sweater, where a month ago, I was bundled up in a big poofy jacket! It's like a switch was turned on.... We've been in the 80's for the last several weeks, and it only hits a low in the 50's at night. It's much different than a high in the 60's in the day without the extra wind chill, and a low in the 20's, brrr. . .




Regardless of the climbing temperature, this past week has been super busy, and I believe Mike, the head of tourism, mentioned that it was one of the busiest weeks on record, not for this year, but in general! It has been nuts! This past week may not have been super interesting, but it was certainly busy.

Also, this past week another couple of interns left, Whitney and Garrett. It was really sad to see Whitney go, as she has been here since I arrived in June. But even though she was leaving, all of the interns went out for dinner the night before they left. It was great! We ate good food and celebrated her time here, as well as played a good game that was entertaining to say the least.

It has been very interesting to see the flow of people through CCF. Some people only stayed for a week, while others have stayed for a month or longer. From the start of my internship to now, there is only 1 other intern who was here when I arrived, and all of the interns except one will have left before me. It's odd, getting to know so many people, but then to watch them leave shortly after. To an extent, it feels like time is an illusion. I can't believe that it has already been almost 10 weeks since I arrived, but at the same time, it feels like its been an eternity. Even with Whitney being gone only a week, it feels like much longer than that. With that in mind, I'm not sure if the next 1.5 weeks is going to go by quickly or slowly, probably a bit of both...

I am sorry that this one is so short, but most of my weeks has been working on the various tasks we have here at CCF. Have a nice week everyone!

Also, enjoy these pictures of a cheetahs and an adorable baby goat and me!

Senay being the queen of the hill!

2 Weeks Later

Hello everyone!

Before we start, yes, I am alive. During my last day off, I was trying so hard (in a sense) to have a relaxing day, that my blog slipped my mind. Plus, this past week has been insane!

Puppies waiting for food, adorable! 

During the last 2 weeks, it has been extra busy. Although we had a few people come in, by the end of two weeks, just as many people, if not more, left. Just yesterday, one of my dorm mates, Sara, left, and as she was only going to be here a month. Even though it is exciting that she is getting to go back home after two months in Africa, it's also very sad for us, as we have to say goodbye.

Although week 1 (Week 1 and 2 for the past two weeks since I didn't upload one for last week) wasn't the most interesting week, I have tried to push myself a bit. I finally decided try to move past my fear of speaking in front of groups. Although a small step, whenever I am on Center Feeding, I have started to at least give the Meat Speech, which informs visitors of CCF about what we feed the cheetahs, as well as some important factors about the meat itself. It is nerve racking every single time, but I like to believe that it is helping. Though the third time I did it, I managed to miss an important little detail, and I realized it about halfway through. Whitney, who does the rest of the speech, didn't even catch it! It was actually quite funny afterwards though. Currently, I am trying to learn the rest of it, which includes important information about each cheetah specifically, as well as important facts about cheetahs in general. This includes information about how they eat, and why females stay loners while males tend to join into coalitions.

On a random tangent, I managed to "catch" a Red billed Francolin that week as well. When bringing in the horses, we have to make sure there aren't any birds, including Francolins or Guinea Fowl, in the barn as one of the horses is very afraid of them. Now, these birds are far from smart, and in a barn where with one door open there is about a 6 foot wide by 15 ish foot (total approximation) opening, I have seen a Francolin fly right at the door, and then go 1/2 - 1 foot above it, and miss the opening entirely. The bird then managed to find some discreet and small opening in the corner and leave from there.... One day, while trying to get some Francolins out of the barn, there was one that kept running back and forth for about 5 minutes, and couldn't find any way out (I wonder why?) It finally tried to fit through a small space between a cement wall and a rock/cement sink, and got itself stuck. I was able to walk over, pick it up, which is rather sad, and then tossed it outside of the barn to run back to its buddies. These bird never cease to amaze me....

This past week (week 2), on the other hand, has been kind of insane. It was decided that we were to do 3 more 12 hour waterhole counts. Now, although I wasn't a fan of it, I do think that it has its own pro's and con's. For one, the game counts were on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday, we had some of the monthly Big Field Counts. Starting with Wednesday, on the Big Field Count, we didn't see too much beside a couple animals that were interesting. The first was a Bat Eared Fox, off in the distance. Although I did get to see one at Erindi, it makes it all the more exciting when it occurs in the Wild and by chance. Erindi is a enclosed area, and all the animals that aren't already there, are brought in so that people have a chance to see it, so it is a bit of an operation, but interesting and smart regardless. Also, Tarik, the staff member who was driving us, pointed out an Eagle. It was soo cool!! He wasn't exactly sure what type it was, and bounced between one type of eagle (which I can't remember the name of) and a Boot Legged Eagle (I think). Either way, I am glad that I got to see it.

Also on Wednesday, a veterinarian came out to check on and work on all the horses teeth here at CCF. It was really interesting, as all the vet interns came over to watch her work. She was very kind, and answered any questions people had. It was also very fun for me as she let everyone touch the horses teeth after they were sedated and had an item on the horse that kept them from closing their mouth and possibly injuring or hurting the vet as she worked. For the first one, we worked on Merlin, the horse I often ride while I am here, as he was the worst behaved the last time their teeth were done. In fact, compared to some horses, he was a little angel! It was kinda sad and funny though, after we were done, he just stood their looking a tad high, or out of it for about 20-30 minutes. He didn't even move! The second horse we worked on was smaller, but she didn't want to stay still, despite the sedation. We were having to hold her up a bit, and then hold up a pole because she was practically sitting on it! Poor thing didn't want anything to do with the rasp that was helping her. Third we did a horse named Calderon, or Cal for short. He was actually a really interesting case. He with the exception of one tooth, his teeth were normal.

As far as the water hole counts went, Tuesday was my day off, which meant I had the absolute pleasure of waking up, for two days in a row (Thursday and Friday), at 4 in the morning. Safe to say, I had issues with this, but I did it regardless.What I have realized during my time here at CCF, is that although I don't eat the healthiest of meals, I do have a better sleep schedule. Back at home, due to me being a bit of a night owl, mixed with school, I lived off an average of around 5-6 hours of sleep. Here on the other hand, I tend to get about 9-10 hours of sleep. Quite the difference honestly. On a normal day, I will wake up around 6:30, and I will go to bed at 8 at the earliest and 9 at the latest.

With the Waterhole counts, waking up two hours early, twice, was AWFUL. :,(
The first waterhole, was not even a waterhole. It was a circular trough that had fencing around it, and during the course of the day, we saw an incredible total of 12 animal groups (1 or more animals). It was a very boring day. At the very least, the working guest I was with was a trouper. She did not have to do this count by any means, but willingly did it any way, and was very good about not complaining much. Regardless, we had good discussions along the course of the day, and she was a great person to work with during the whole 12 hours. The next day, Thursday, went much better though. In this case, the third time was the charm. There were only two groups going out that day, one was a group that was supposed to go out on Thursday, but they managed to forget to set alarms and got to sleep in, so they took the place of a another group for Fridays waterhole count. The second group was composed of Sara and me, and we actually got to go to a REAL waterhole!! It was GREAT!!! XD

The day started out quite interesting, as our driver did get a bit confused on the directions. The first group was dropped off in the correct spot (though they did not have chairs) and we were initially dropped off at a rotting, VERY termite eaten hut. It was very sketchy.... Plus we could not see most of the waterhole (not very good if you need to see what is coming in and drinking) The driver returned after about 10 minutes, and we learned that our actual spot was actually down the hill and past a fence. Although we once again did not have a floor, we did have some time of covering over our head, and could see (sort of) the three waterholes (as the waterhole had dried up and shrunk into three sections). The other small issue is that we could not at all see the water of these spots, as they were behind grass and down a small area of dirt and mud. We were unsure what we were going to see, but honestly? We were just happy to have a true waterhole, plus we started our day watching the sun rise to the Circle of Life from the Lion King. Absolutely worth it!

During the waterhole count, we saw a lot of warthogs (no surprise there) and quite a few Steinbok! I actually hadn't seen one during a 12 hour count yet, and they are so cute! One even stuck around for 2 hours. We also saw quite a few Kudu, an Oryx, and even an Impala!!! It was amazing!!!! We saw the same one three times, as it had a broken horn, but I haven't seen one here at CCF at ALL since I have been here. I was SOOO happy! We ended spending the first part of the day watching, and worked on stuff various things. I mostly drew in my book and colored in some of my drawings. During the second half, we passed the time by watching some movies including How to Train Your Dragon 2, Indiana Jones 1, and Madagascar. What was cool was that we found, well Sara found, our own little discovery in the middle of Indiana Jones. This happened partly because we were kicked out of our hut by a large amount of large ants that were swarming and started coming it. We decided it was as good of a time as any to collect our stuff and move outside to enjoy the evening. Sara went off for a few moments, and stumbled across quite a few bones from an old leopard kill. We infer this as the bones were well chewed on. It wouldn't have been a Hyena, as they would just eat the bones entirely, and it wouldn't be a cheetah, because they can't chew through bone very well. So leopard was the next best guess. At the very end of the count, only about 5 minutes before we were picked up, we also got to see 2 jackals just pop out of the bushes, it was rather cute, as they popped in, and popped out, as if to say hello, and goodbye.

Saturday was entirely different though. During the first couple weeks of my stay, the farrier came to do the horses hooves. I learned then about an eventing show that was going to be held on the weekend of the 12th. Eventing shows, for those of you who may not know, are shows that have three different competitions. These competitions include Dressage, Show Jumping, and Cross Country. After the three days, the score people receive for each of these events are added and the person or group with either the highest or lowest (I do not know, as both Whitney and I were very confused by the scoring here) wins. Whitney and I were fortunate enough to be brought along when Laurie and Tess went to watch in the afternoon this past Saturday. I had a lot of fun watching, and both Whitney and I were excited to watch the Cross Country. I have never been to an eventing show, so this was also very interesting for me as well. Also, despite having more cake than I have ever eaten in my life at CCF, Whitney and I indulged ourselves in some of the cake being served. There was cheesecake and chocolate cake and a few others. I chose chocolate, and it was SO. DELICIOUS. There is no comparison with the cake from CCF, which is okay, to the delicious cake they had at the show. It ended up disappearing quite quickly. Besides that, both of us were chomping at the bit, so to speak. For those who have jumped horses before, and enjoy it, watching these competitions, and not being able to participate, is a tad frustrating. But we got over it once we left and continued our intern duties.

Anyways, I hope you are all enjoying the summer, and have fun in the time you have left.

Trip to Erindi

Man, at this rate I'm going to have to change the day of when I post these. The WiFi is not my friend. Regardless, last week was amazing!!!!

I cannot tell everyone how much fun it was to go to Erindi from Thursday through Saturday. The rooms were amazing, and we were lucky enough to see a variety of wild animals including Lions, Cheetahs, Rhinos, Elephants, and even African Wild Dogs and Spotted Hyenas! I got so many pictures and videos, and even one where you can here the Wild Dogs and Hyenas. But I'm getting way ahead of myself in my excitement.

The other interns, Becky, Bridget, Whitney, and I all left for Erindi Thursday morning around 9, and arrived in time for lunch. I wish I had gotten pictures of all the food, it was so good!! We all stuffed ourselves, and our plates literally had a little bit of everything. The pasta had a meat sauce made with Oryx meat that was delicious and there was white rice, and yummy fries, and wow was it all good! (Sorry, I am not enjoying the food at CCF, but when every week is the same, it gets to you) When we looked outside it turns out there is a waterhole right outside of the restaurant! There were crocodiles and hippos and a herd of elephants came up during lunch! It was Adorable! There was one small baby that was with the herd along with other juvenile elephants! It was really fun and funny to watch its antics with the water!

After lunch, we finally got to see our rooms! We got to sleep on real beds and they had a shower and a bathtub!  I honestly hadn't expected to get a bath at all once I left home. Regardless, the rooms were beautiful.

We had our first game drive that night, and were placed in a car with a older group from South Africa. They were very nice, and one older man had a good sense of humor. At one point he made me say, and learn how to say Pangolin in Afrikaans. It was actually really fun! The work is: Ietermago (not how its pronounced - The r is rolled and the "go" is a sound in the back of the throat)
I am proud to say that I did not entirely butcher the word.

Within the first 10 minutes, we came across two lions, a male and a female. They had apparently been around the area for about four days, and hadn't been hunting. I got several good pictures of them yawning. Man, those teeth are terrifying! Next we passed by a pair of Bat-eared Foxes. They were so cute! We were told that they were foraging for their prey (some bug), but they were usually nocturnal. Then we came across fresh black rhino tracks, and our guide decided we could bushwhack a little to find it. It turned out they were very fresh. The rhino was essentially right around the corner and charged us. It's certainly one way to get the heart pumping. The guide very quickly backed up into a thorn bush, but fortunately, there was a wall of acacia bushed that it did not pass. It quickly snorted and ran off. We were told that this was why he was not going to be going into the bush for rhinos, as he didn't really have an escape route if they decided to charge us. 

The drive continued and we drove past an area where animals are often given supplemental food since it's the dry season. There were four white rhinos there, all of which had had their horns cut off. White rhinos are all owned by Erindi, and it was decided that the horns would be removed in order to keep them from hurting each other, as well as take away a poachers reason to kill them. There was also a lone wildebeest and a giraffe. But we saw a more excited sight later in the drive. We came across two young male giraffes fighting each other. It was so cool! How often do you actually see giraffes fighting, usually they are eating or running away! I am glad I took a video.

Finally, we came across, incredibly, two previous CCF cheetahs that had been released into Erindi years ago, Obi-wan and Chester. We didn't even need to track them! (They have radio collars) It was really cool, Chester, came into CCF with a broken ankle (I think) with a 50% chance of ever walking again. He ended up with one of the best possible options! And both he and Obi-wan hunt prey, so it's not like Obi-wan is hunting for him either. After that, our guide stopped in an open area where we were able to get out and enjoy the sunset for a bit. It was beautiful.

The next morning was just as amazing as the previous afternoon honestly. We went to a large waterhole, where we saw a pride of lions. There were 2 adult females, 3 juvenile females, and 1 male. We could see that they had just finished eating, as they had quite a bit of blood on their faces and paws. I was able to capture several good pictures, and some that were quite adorable of the male. After watching him for a bit, we found the females, who were playing around with some baboons who were in the trees. When we drove over, two trees filled with baboons emptied and we watched as the lionesses chased them. It was really rather adorable to watch! They were unlikely to catch them anyway. After this, we stopped a bit to get out and stretch our legs. After we continued on, we came across another black rhino - which didn't charge us this time - and I captured another several shots that weren't across a thick wall of thorns. Then farther down the road we saw an absolutely adorable site! There was a mother white rhino right around the corner, and she had a tiny baby with her. It was too. Cute.

Speaking of cute, when we turned back to return to the lodge, we passed by the same waterhole we saw the pride of lions at. As we passed by, we saw a herd of elephants, with several young elephants and one baby. It was so cute!!!! It didn't really know what to do with its trunk, and it was quite cute to watch. I believe it was the same herd we saw previously at the lodge, it looked like the same group at least.

On the afternoon drive on Friday, we finally got to see the African Wild Dogs. It was amazing!!! There was also a set of around 8-15 puppies that were around 3 months old. There was a huge puppy pile, with one little one that decided to be a rebel. I couldn't get many good pictures, and I'm really sad about that, but I tried to get as many pictures as I could.

The next two game drives were not nearly as interesting as the first. I think it was because during the next afternoon and morning drive, we had another two people join us, but its probably just because we already got to see so much already!

Regardless, during dinner on Friday night, we were joined by the African Wild Dogs! We had unfortunately missed the Wild Dogs chasing and killing a Wildebeest, but the staff of Etosha had put out a Zebra corpse, and we were able to see the Wild Dogs eat it from where we were sitting. It was amazing! Plus, a hyena came over and tried to get in, but was quickly run off by the Wild Dogs, they got a few good bites to its leg. Later, when the Wild Dogs left to feed their pups, a total of four Spotted Hyenas ran over to the Zebra and started chowing down, plus quite a few Black-backed Jackals would come in and grab a piece of meat and run away. They looked SO proud of themselves! Then the hyenas were once again run off by the Wild Dogs who were not kind about it. It was really amazing!!!!

Finally, during our last breakfast at the lodge, there were three young Hippo's napping by the side of the water. It was actually rather sad because an adult bull elephant with a radio tracking collar, which was huge by the way, came over. When he got close, the smaller ones jumped away in fear, while the third was still napping, the elephant, confused why it wasn't moving, used his tusk to push it out of the way. The little guy was so confused!!! I felt bad for it. . .

This week has been amazing, and I have so many photos, I don't even know what to do with them!!! So many to choose from! I hope everyone is having an amazing summer!