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| 2 of the 7 Northern White Rhinos left in the World - Ol Pejeta |
So there are many things that I packed for
my trip here. Each of them, I had a
reason for packing. However, I thought I
might share some of the alternative uses that I have found myself using.
Sunglasses:
Purchased to protect my eyes from the hot and powerful African sun.
Alternative
Use: Windshield in the darkness.
The Mobile Vet Unit vehicle is a Toyota
Land Cruiser truck. It has the cab up
front, which can tightly fit 3 people.
In the truck bed is a bench seat that can fit 3 people comfortably. There are roll bars over the truck bed, and a
canvas covering. The “windows” can be
rolled down. However, one of the
“window” coverings had become damaged, and was taken off about 2 weeks ago to
be repaired. This leaves one side of the
truck bed unprotected. When we fly down
a road at 100kph, it gets very, very windy in the back. So despite the time that we are driving, I
always have my sunglasses on. I
constantly find myself singing “I wear my sunglasses at night” in my head.
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| Northern White Rhino saying hello |
Rain
Jacket: Brought to keep my body dry if it rained.
Alternative
Uses: Wind Shield. Makeshift “window” cover on the Land Cruiser
This item is one of the best things that I
have brought. Not only does it help
reflect the crazy wind (see above), but also yesterday when the heavens opened
up, it was used as a makeshift window cover.
This partially protected us from the monsoon rain!
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| Northern White Rhino, so close that you can see his skin! |
Phone: cheapo purchased to keep in touch whilst here
Alternative
use: alarm clock, calculator, torch (when I have forgotten my useful head torch)
and radio
I purchased a phone. Who knew that it would be so useful for all
of the other things that this 7 £ phone had to offer!
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| Grevy's Zebra 1st treatment from last week |
Leatherman: Just always handy to have:
Uses: screwing the dart onto the tranquilizer drug,
cutting sandwiches,
I never would have thought to leave my Leatherman
at home. PS this is also another one of
Mum’s perfect gifts. I was given this Leatherman
in 2004, when I moved into my first apartment.
It has always been useful, but I would not survive without it here. I am constantly using it for common
uses. However, on this trip, it has been
invaluable to screw the actual dart onto the syringe containing the
immobilizing drugs. Also, when a packed
lunch has been given, it easily and gracefully makes my sandwich sharable with
Tim.
Hat:
To shade from the powerful African sun.
Alternative
uses: Wind shield, and also to keep my hair from turning into one big knot on
the road
Again, another wind shield. It also came in
handy as protection from the rain the other day. If I didn’t have it, there would be no amount
of conditioner that could untangle my hair!
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| 2nd visit to the 3 orphan black rhinos on Lewa |
Now all of these things came into use
yesterday. We were at Ol Pejeta,
retreating our Grevy’s Zebra. She had
markedly improved, but we needed to give her a drug to treat the two blood
parasites that we had found on diagnostics.
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| Skinny Grevy's, avoiding us |
Darting an animal the first time is
easier. The animal has no idea of what
is happening when the truck pulls up next to her, and a big metal gun barrel
comes out the window. However, second
immobilizations are much more difficult.
The animal remembers. We found
our Grevy’s and she definitely wanted nothing to do with us. We went on an off road adventure to try and
get the right angle to dart her. We were
finally presented with the perfect angle, but the wind took the dart. The dart ended up hitting her in a less
muscular area, meaning the drug would be more slowly absorbed, and the effects
of immobilization would take much longer.
She took off into the brush and we slowly pursued. It was evident that she had gotten some
effects of the drugs, as she wobbled through the brush. However, it was clear
that she would not be fully immobilized.
Everyone hopped out of the truck.
A large rope was pulled from the back.
People encircled her. Mutinda and
Methenge were running off with the rope between them. I couldn’t quite grasp what they were trying
to accomplish. I held my position, and
suddenly everyone but Tim disappeared.
They were all running around, trying to keep the Grevy’s contained.
I saw an opportunity, and started the Land
Cruiser. I am ever so thankful to EB and
Justin’s patience when they taught me to drive off road last time I was in
Kenya. Without that training, I doubt
that I would have been as flawless as I was driving around in the brush. I went over shrubs, squeezed between acacia
trees, and navigated bumps. If only
there was a picture of the determined look in my eye. My opportunity was to head off the Grevy’s,
who was stumbling and making a quick escape from the circle of people. I drove in front of her, and she reversed her
direction. It was perfect. I hopped out of the car, and I then tried to
get her to go in the direction of the rope.
It was still not clear to me what they were going to do, but I knew she
needed to be near the rope. Every time
she changed her direction, I ran ahead of her to keep her going in the right
direction. Finally she saw her
opportunity to escape this circle of people.
She trotted through what looked to be an opening. It was not until she got closer to “her
escape route” that she noticed that there was a rope, strung between 2
people. She feebly attempted to jump the
rope, but was tripped up.
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| Holding the Grevy's down |
Mutinda rushed to me and said, what is your
priority. I flawlessly stated my
physical exam, authoritatively, but not brash. “I’m not happy with her breathing, she needs
to be reversed. Her mucous membranes are
pinker than last time, less ticks noted, swelling down in her joints, coat
looks better. We are never going to get
her again, I say lets give her another antibiotic injection and multivitamin
injection and reverse her.” Mutinda
concurred. Tim quickly drew up the extra
injections, and the reversal was given. Three seconds after the reversal was
given, she was on her feet, walking away from us, still a bit unsteady on her
feet.
I continued to watch her, as the treatment
for the blood parasites has been known to cause anaphylaxis…to which I had the
treatment for in my bag. She seemed in
good form, wet from the water poured on her to keep her from overheating, and
slightly out of it from the drugs and experience.
Damn! The adrenaline rush from that whole
experience left me smiling. I was so
proud that I made quick, accurate decisions. And we were off to find a lioness at another
part of the conservancy whose tracking collar was not accurately
transmitting.
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| Looking for the lioness - Well I was holding the equipment, but had no idea how to use it! |
On the way there, the heavens opened
up. Thunder rattled my bones. Everyone from the back of the other
truck (with no cover on it) ran into our truck bed. Suddenly the truck bed was filled with 8
people. We were all laughing. Methenge and Mutinda quickly called off the
search for the lion. The soil where we
were is called Black Cotton. It’s lovely
to drive on when it is dry, however as soon as rain hits, it becomes a
nightmare.
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| Makeshift "window" cover |
Methenge worked quickly to get us out of
there so we wouldn’t get stuck. Within
minutes of the rain starting, we were fishtailing and getting very close to
getting stuck. Methenge is
magically. He got us out of there. There was one stretch, right before arriving
at the partially graveled road that we fishtailed. We all leaned in the car to avoid from
rolling. I must say, in that instance, I
was very scared. I envisioned the truck
rolling, and all 8 of us bouncing around, unrestrained in it. Methenge corrected and smoothly reached the
safer road. I think my “mudding” days
are over.
I can remember when I was young, and good
southern girls go mudding. It was an
adrenalin rush to get the car to fishtail.
No more for me. I felt the danger
in it at that instance. I was happy to
be back on safer ground.
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| Nothing to obstruct the weather patterns. You can see further off in the distance, there were no rain clouds, however right over us were dark, stormy clouds |
We dropped everyone off at headquarters and
made our way back to Nanyuki for some supplies.
It had not rained at all in Nanyuki.
I ran into my friends Sammy, Hagen, and Susan. It was good to catch up for a bit. We were then off, heading to Lewa.
Tim and I continued my Swahili lessons in
the truck. I asked how to say, “I
want”. Nataka. I then decided to
say a phrase. Nataka coffee. Tim burst out
laughing. It turns out that coffee sounds like the Swahili word kofi.
Kofi means to slap. I had
gracefully said I want to be
slapped.
I could not stop laughing. I was soaked and
it was cold. I strung my jacket up as a
makeshift wind protector and we flew back to Lewa.
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| Soaked to the bone, but so happy! |
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