The job hunt continues
So after months of working for free, I have finally found a paying job. That's if I pass the 3 month probation period and the manager likes me. The position is "wildlife monitor" for WildlifeACT in an area called Chobe Enclave which is between the Chobe Forest Reserve and a concession where people farm with cattle. I'm very lucky to have been given this opportunity, because many of my uni friends haven't found a job they love yet.
So after another shopping trip (urgg), I was ready to head back to Botswana. I was also lucky enough to catch a lift with someone who was heading to Maun and was a friend of the lady who was going to train me. After first flying to jhb, forcing my cousin to drop me off (thanks Kev), I finally met Keren and the long trip to Thabasimbi commenced. We slept over at friend's of hers since she had just flown back from Europe and needed the rest before driving another 1000km to Maun. Although I was a little apprehensive of meeting more strangers and not in the mood for awkward encounters, it was great meeting them since the fiance is a wildlife vet and asked me to join him the next day to dart a whole lot of antelope. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be doing that everyday. It was great fun, but my thighs were not happy chappies after we had to run up a mountain to go fetch a darted klipspringer! They were made to hop around in that terrain, definitely not me;) We also had to endure standing at the back of the bakkie while one of the farmer's drove like a mad man to get to the darted antelope before they stopped breathing. I think I came across a little strange (or stranger than normal)when I had a fat giggle every time we became airborne. The least favourite part about the darting was having to spend 6 hours chasing after steenbok. They're so shneaky (I've gotten into the habit of adding an 'h' to every 's', thanks Tyla haha. I switched between being curled into a ball half asleep on the back of the bakkie to standing up and leaning against the railing because my bum was going numb. So finally at 2:30am I crawled into bed, only to have to wake up before 5 to leave for Maun. Nothing beats waking up puffy eyed after a 2 hour nap. Oh and of course still covered in all the dirt from the previous day. A little unladylike I know, but I'd much rather get a little more sleep then go to bed clean.
Although everything had been going fine on the way to Maun, things stared going haywire the moment we crossed the Botswana border, and what would an African roadtrip be without a breakdown? Ironically though, Keren left her landie at the mechanics to be repaired for the 2 weeks that she was away, We managed to carry on driving without anything major breaking or falling off, but when we just 300km outside of Maun, the landie's fan came completely loose and the radiator fluid start bubbling. To top everything off, we were in an area that had no signal. We eventually convinced a police officer to tow us to the nearest signal spot, he wasn't too keen at first since we didn't have the proper tow equipment. Wow - a police officer abiding by the rules, say what now?!
After what felt like hours, a lady from Maun kindly offered to tow us to a safer place just before sunset so that it was closer for Keren's friends to tow us home.
After waiting another hour at the police station, her friends finally arrived. I had the honour of riding with the father of the friend, and oh what a trip it was. After covering the basic pleasantries, I started speaking about my love for elephants. He clearly saw that as an opportunity to tell me about his "management techniques" for problem elephants at his farm. He's farm is situated RIGHT NEXT TO THE RIVER and yet he gets angry about the ellies destroying his fence to get to the water. I'd like to see what he'd do in that situation. He manages the ellies by shooting a few random ones which he hopes would teach them that it's not a safe area for them to come to . He even had the nerve to tell me that he was told to shoot a bull in the back so that he matriach hears the screams and makes the heard move away. Seriously dude! He clearly has no conscience, it just makes me sick that he thinks he has the right to shoot wildlife while it's actually illegal unless your life is in danger. He even shoots leopard. And then he actually makes money off wildlife since he's in the tourism business as well. How ironic. I wanted to punch him, but since he was doing us all a favour and I was the random person in the equation I just sent a prayer to the big man to make this person see his faults. Makes me angry all over again just thinking about it. If he actually tried other methods of getting the ellies away from his properly I could sympathize but no, it's always the easy way out.
After that ordeal, we finally make it home and I'm able to crawl into bed just after 12am.
Let's hope tomorrow is better....but I'm in Botswana, that's already a great start
So after another shopping trip (urgg), I was ready to head back to Botswana. I was also lucky enough to catch a lift with someone who was heading to Maun and was a friend of the lady who was going to train me. After first flying to jhb, forcing my cousin to drop me off (thanks Kev), I finally met Keren and the long trip to Thabasimbi commenced. We slept over at friend's of hers since she had just flown back from Europe and needed the rest before driving another 1000km to Maun. Although I was a little apprehensive of meeting more strangers and not in the mood for awkward encounters, it was great meeting them since the fiance is a wildlife vet and asked me to join him the next day to dart a whole lot of antelope. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be doing that everyday. It was great fun, but my thighs were not happy chappies after we had to run up a mountain to go fetch a darted klipspringer! They were made to hop around in that terrain, definitely not me;) We also had to endure standing at the back of the bakkie while one of the farmer's drove like a mad man to get to the darted antelope before they stopped breathing. I think I came across a little strange (or stranger than normal)when I had a fat giggle every time we became airborne. The least favourite part about the darting was having to spend 6 hours chasing after steenbok. They're so shneaky (I've gotten into the habit of adding an 'h' to every 's', thanks Tyla haha. I switched between being curled into a ball half asleep on the back of the bakkie to standing up and leaning against the railing because my bum was going numb. So finally at 2:30am I crawled into bed, only to have to wake up before 5 to leave for Maun. Nothing beats waking up puffy eyed after a 2 hour nap. Oh and of course still covered in all the dirt from the previous day. A little unladylike I know, but I'd much rather get a little more sleep then go to bed clean.
After what felt like hours, a lady from Maun kindly offered to tow us to a safer place just before sunset so that it was closer for Keren's friends to tow us home.
After waiting another hour at the police station, her friends finally arrived. I had the honour of riding with the father of the friend, and oh what a trip it was. After covering the basic pleasantries, I started speaking about my love for elephants. He clearly saw that as an opportunity to tell me about his "management techniques" for problem elephants at his farm. He's farm is situated RIGHT NEXT TO THE RIVER and yet he gets angry about the ellies destroying his fence to get to the water. I'd like to see what he'd do in that situation. He manages the ellies by shooting a few random ones which he hopes would teach them that it's not a safe area for them to come to . He even had the nerve to tell me that he was told to shoot a bull in the back so that he matriach hears the screams and makes the heard move away. Seriously dude! He clearly has no conscience, it just makes me sick that he thinks he has the right to shoot wildlife while it's actually illegal unless your life is in danger. He even shoots leopard. And then he actually makes money off wildlife since he's in the tourism business as well. How ironic. I wanted to punch him, but since he was doing us all a favour and I was the random person in the equation I just sent a prayer to the big man to make this person see his faults. Makes me angry all over again just thinking about it. If he actually tried other methods of getting the ellies away from his properly I could sympathize but no, it's always the easy way out.
After that ordeal, we finally make it home and I'm able to crawl into bed just after 12am.
Let's hope tomorrow is better....but I'm in Botswana, that's already a great start
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