Last days in Africa

So, I'm now a elephant observationist, personal elephant photographer, & personal elephant seamstress.  I made a poor attempt to sew 2 airplane blankets to a horse blanket trying to design a night gown for my little Bezi.  I'm sure not due to MY abilities, it fell apart during the night.  Bezi was sent to his own room last night because Suni keeps him up and night & Bezi is a screamer.  It took a loving keeper's presence to get Bezi use the idea, but all went well. 

Football (aka soccer for us silly Americans) is all the thing right now.  Zambia plays this afternoon and the keepers are arranging for a tv to be brought to the elephant boma.  This game determines if Zambia will go to the world cup -- it's a big deal.  All the keepers are in their zambian scarves - even though it is quite warm now at 1:00pm.  Our supervisor has also left me to go see the game live, so I'm in charge today! Heaven help us! :)  I can't believe I leave to return to the US tomorrow.

Nyanja

No charging elephants today, but I'm trying to learn a few words of Nyanja before heading home.  "Zikomo" = "thank you."  Monzi = water.  Mwakambwaji = good morning.  The pictures are of Suni with her new leg wrap & then the 2nd picture is of the 3 oldest elephants in the Lusaka location:  Maramba, Kavala, & Mucolole. 

Don't mess with elephants!

So I was charged by an elephant today & thrown across the path but I now have an exciting tale to put in my blog.  Luckily, it didn't hurt too much, but I think I will be sore tomorrow.  The fascinating life of a wildlife vet!

We also had one of the keepers give a speech since it is Jackie's last day & another keeper wrote a song for her.  Both were really touching.  It was a sweet sad goodbye & I still have a few days.  I love my EOP family, charging eles and all. 

Elephant observations

One new thing that I'm doing is starting an elephant observation study.  There are 2 types, one where I observe a single elephant & record his/her actions every 5 minutes & then there is a group observation study where I record the groups actions every 5 min.  It has been really interesting.  I have also gotten to interact with the keepers more.  I am also doing data entry for the elephants & it has allowed me to get to know more about the elephants. 

My Baby Eles

I love my baby eles! It was so good to see them again.  I did a little of everything - prepared the milk, fed, helped with wound treatment, helped a little with Jacki's research project.  We also had a lot of visitors, which is really good not only to educate the public but also to get donations.  EOP is operated only through donations.  Liz, says she is trying to set a record for donations!  Cross our fingers! 

Livingston

We headed out from the Bush on Thursday morning.  It was sad to say goodbye to all the keepers and staff. 
But we went to Livingston so the leaders could attend meetings.  And I got to do some sightseeing.  I got to go see lions, cheetahs, & other cats at this "walk with the cheetah" center.  I didn't actually walk with them though.  Rachael rescued one of our elephants with the manager of the facility.
I went on a "walk with the rhino" safari in the National Park and went to see the Victoria Falls.  We rode in another bumpy truck thru the park then we walked to hunt down the rhinos.  We found a mother and calf.
The Falls was beautiful!  But we got soaked! My favorite part was when we hiked down to see the bottom at a spot called the "melting pot". 
We did a little socializing that night.  I even met some medical students from the UK on a boat cruise!  Ooh la la :)

Saturday, we drove the long 7 hr + drive back to Lilyai (Lusaka).  I can't wait to see my baby eles this morning!