Drosty Hoff Sundowner

Last night John came by to take myself, Josh and Shukri to enjoy a sundowner.  We rushed off to try and catch the sunset.  On the drive up to a hill, I could hear Josh and Shukri in the back of the Land Cruiser laughing.  Their laugh was infectious and it made me smile.  Josh kept popping his head out of the covered back to say funny things to me in the front seat.  I am pretty sure that he was just trying to scare me again.

Backtrack: On the way back to camp from the waterfalls it started to rain, Josh's head immediately came into my peripheral vision and startled me as he started to sing Toto's Africa.

"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you

There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do

I bless the rains down in Africa

Gonna take some time to do the things we never had"

Just picture him squealing that through the window as we are driving slowly down a super bumpy road!  It was utterly fantastic.  It was a lot like "unexpected juice".

Let me explain unexpected juice.  So Josh, Shukri, and I were out on Saturday morning in the sun.  Reading, listening to music, soaking up the vitamin D.  We were just at the point of sweating.  That dry parched feeling in my mouth crept in.  I suddenly wanted some juice.  So I went into the kitchen and poured myself some juice, and also poured 2 other glasses of juice.  There was a piece of pineapple left over from my breakfast.  I was feeling fancy and attached bits of the slice onto all three rims of the glasses.  I then made my way back out into grass feeling quite like a server at a resort.  Josh and Shukri described the juice as "unexpected juice".  They said it was the most perfect thing that could have happened to them at that exact point.  So we have kept this saying of a perfect unexpected situation.  

Back to Sunday night : 

We made it atop of a hill fairly quickly and I rushed to pour the wine!  You cannot have a sundowner without wine!  We then climbed to the side of the hill to watch the sun go down.

Drosty-Hoff….the finest of boxed wines :) 

The view was breathtaking.  It was such an amazing feeling to be surrounded by such good people in such a beautiful place.  

There is something about having a view as beautiful as this.  It can make a long hard day seem like nothing.  You feel so small, so tiny in this world….but at the same time so significant.  Maybe those feelings were influenced by a glass of wine at 6000 feet.  

What an utterly perfect end to a perfect weekend.  It was the perfect send off for Shukri and Josh.  They are both teaching in different schools close (1.5 hours ? ) from Lewa.  They have been staying at Lewa on weekends, but then going and staying with a host family close to the school where they are teaching during the week.  They will not be coming back to Lewa as they both head to Nairobi on Thursday.  

Dianne made us chapatis and a coconut sauced chicken dish.  Chapatis are the most delicious things in the world, and as a bonus they eliminate the need for a fork.  Carol made me chapatis on my arrival night at Lewa.  She remembered how much I loved them!  I am going to have a chapati making lesson before I go! Josh, Shukri and I sat outside and ate our dinner.  It is so nice to have met new friends and  I am sad to see them go.  

This morning (Monday), we went out to try and find a pregnant black rhino who has been reported as lame.  We just wanted to assess her condition.  We really can't do anything to help at this point, as we will harm the baby or cause premature delivery.  We didn't find her.  You would be so surprised as how hard it is to find such a large animal in the bush.  For example in this picture, taken with a lens at 72mm, there are two white rhino in it and 3 elephant.  Try and spot them.  It is much easier with binoculars, but sometimes it is still difficult.  

Once back in the office, I have been busy writing up the reports for all of the animals that I have seen this weekend.  Reports are extremely important.  For example, Elvis (the rhino who went into the hut).  We didn't treat him, but we knew he had a problem.  If we don't report that he had a problem that we examine, we may forget in a years time that he had had this problem.  We can monitor his progress for years and years…so having a general idea of his health is very important.  We will be able to pick up on chronic problems vs acute ones.  

I also had some visitors late this morning.  I think they saw their reflection in the window.  For about 45 minutes, they would both jump up on the window sill and knock with their beaks.  I kept thinking that it was Zazu coming to give his morning report.  

I now will be working on my Hartebeest project by reading up on some materials.  Back to work for me….