This is Africa

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I am sweating and tired and completely satisfied. A cool drink in my hand, the fire is on, dinner is prepped and I am surrounded by the sound of laughter. I don't even know where to begin. My senses have been over-loaded, my hands worked to the bone but my soul is bursting with life. The call of the hyena regailed me at 5 am as the camp stirred to life and the adventure began in earnest. Every morning at 5:30 am we gather at the game tower to scan for rhinos using radio telemetry. Each rhino has a chip in its horn and a collar around one foot which sends out a radio signal which we can pick up and locate their position using an antena. The frequency of the signal indicates whether the animal is moving, resting or a mortality signal. Volunteers and interns then pile into a landrover and we bounce around the two tracks searching for secondary signals and return to camp for lunch. Around 4 pm the group gathers again and its time for a game drive, traversing the reserve looking for wildlife. The focus is elephants, gathering data on how many, herd dynamics and location. We are instructed to take photos of their ears and tusks to identify the different herds. It started raining on Tuesday and then the apocolypse hit. Half of the average years rainfall poured down in under 36 hours. Roads were obliterated, game lodges flooded out and vehicles were washed away. This is Africa.

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Photos

Zebra
How can you tell a female zebra from a male zebra? Females have white stripes....

Elephant
This little guy is only 12 or so. Not impressed with us looking at his ladies.