Saturday, May 26, 2012

                We arrived at camp yesterday. I have my own tent that is right next to the dining area. I will wake every morning to a small lake with hanging trees. I have a bed , so I don’t have to sleep on the ground! Rachael took us to see the elephants. They are located about 0.5 km away from the main camp, so they won’t become accustomed to approach camp sites in the future.  These eles (Kafue) are older than the babies & are closer to be released into the park.  Technically they can leave whenever they desire. They are housed in the boma only at night to be protected from lions.

The scouts have seen lion tracks circling the camp recently, so they have started to keep a fire going near the eles. 

                There are 6 elephants at the Kafue camp: Chodoba, Chamilandu, Batoka, Tafika, Kafue, & Rufunsa.  Rufunsa is the youngest & is currently have gastrointestinal problems.  Rufunsa & Kafue are still bottle fed every 3 hours.  Kafue was the only elephant that was rescued in the Kafue National Park & he is now just under 3 years old.  In the wild, elephants will nurse to about 2 – 2.5 years old, but EOP has decided to continue the bottle feeding until around 3 depending on the need of the elephant.
There are also semi-wild Side-striped Jackals that stay near the camp. These were pups that where brought to the camp and were released, but still stay close to the camp.

Today, we woke at 6:30am to go visit the elephants.  The temperature was so cold! It was 37oF or 3oC.  Luckily it warmed as the sun rose. 

                We had a football team (aka soccer) from Lusaka come called the Mazungu FC (Mazungu is what they call Caucasian people).  The opposing team is a local team called the Leopards, which Liz (our very own Kafue supervisor) is the assistant coach.               

There was a HUGE turnout from the community. Dozens and dozens of kids played all around and on the back of the EOP truck during the match. 

                Jackie even got to be a side referee which we were told was novel for this area. 

                The local kids seemed very interested in us white folk.  They played with my hair and touched my skin. I even had one boy about the age of 10 claimed me as his girlfriend – oops guys, now you have to steel me away!   

                The game ended in a draw (4-4) – a good way to end.  The community cheered for both sides – they were just so excited.