This week has been crazy, yet unexciting. We have had two
large groups of people here: National Geographic Student Expeditions and Earth
Expeditions. Because they like to take big groups out to Bellebenno, it means
interns get left behind, which means me. Basically I gave a short talk about my
research to the two groups (across two days) of Nat Geo kids (high school students)
and then they took off to Bellebenno whilst I stayed behind to pick up poop in
Elands. Then there was a 12hr waterhole count, 6am to 6 pm, sunrise to sunset,
during which obviously I also did not get to do anything except sit and watch a
water trough. The most exciting thing we saw all day was a giraffe at 8am.
I
was also a nervous nelly when a female kudu made it very clear she could see us
and would mess us up if we came close to her family. She was a beast. I had no
idea they could make that kind of noise and if I hadn’t already taken a poop in
the bush myself (yes… thanks for the chili the night before the 12hr count), I would
have gone in my pants. We had a 6.5hr stretch during which all we saw were
warthogs, and a 1.75hr stretch during which we saw absolutely nothing. Luckily,
my waterhole buddy, Rachel, a working guest, was good company, otherwise we
would have gone insane. Luckily, I got to go to Bellenbenno with the Earth
Expeditions groups after three days away, which recharged my batteries. I
rocked a cheetah stick with confidence and did not get attacked while opening
the gates in front of all those other people. Winning. It allowed me to enjoy
more of the little things again like African sunsets...
and the view of the Waterburg Plateau. I really want to get on top of there...
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