july 9 updated

July 9, 2016

Today was a relatively quiet day. I was assigned to the antelope.  In the mornings we have to take out branches from the day before and then get new ones for the animals.  Sounds like it should be easy enough and quick?  Nope!  They have machetes for cutting the branches and some of the branches are pretty thick so it takes a while to cut through them.  Again, it’s such a contrast from here.  We would have chainsaws and be done in about 5 minutes.  

Richard wanted  Zoe and I to climb this ladder,  umm. . . No thanks Richard!  We will stand down here and catch you when you fall off!

I am coming up with more and more ideas that I can bring back and possibly do with my students.  I want to try and work on a walking audio tour of the park.  I was thinking that my students would be able to research the various animals and come up with general information on them, and then talk about the specific animals that are here and tell their stories.  Then someone could get the audio on the website to allow people to learn more about them and possibly have a way that visitors can tap into the information as well…I have to talk to Nicky more about the logistics of this project and see how we can make it work!

During animal time I spent time with one of the leopards.  She was rubbing all over my hand and purring and drooling everywhere!  She even started licking my hand. Their tongue feels just like our house cats!  She is a beautiful animal and I feel so lucky to be able to get that close to her.  Their eyes are beautiful and so full of intelligence. 

Later on in the day, there was a group of about 120 students from a local school that went on a tour of the park so I helped with that.  One of the workers does the tour and the volunteers help keep them all together and moving through the park.  The girls sure do take a lot of selfies!  And they love to take pictures with white people!  After they left, I asked one of the workers why they were so excited about taking pictures with the volunteers and he told me that some of them have never seen white people but the more common reason is because most white people are not nice to them.

Tomorrow I am going to Victoria Falls for three nights!  While we are there I am going to go on a safari in Chobe and also go on a horseback-riding safari!  Victoria Falls is one of the 7 wonders of the world!  So, tomorrow will consist of about a 6-hour bus ride to our destination and then two full days and then a return bus ride back here on Wednesday.  I will be able to get unlimited Wifi for $3 while I am there so I am super excited about that and will not have to worry about using up my allotted Wifi posting pictures on Instagram and Facebook!!!  I have many  pictures on my camera but there are also many more on my phone, so I will post what I have!!!

I have been using what’s app messenger if anyone wants to download it and message me!!! 

I probably will not post anything tomorrow as all I will be doing is traveling so nothing really exciting to report!