Hello everyone! I am so sorry I haven't posted in a while. I ran out of internet and had to wait a while to be able to go buy some! Oh the things I take for granted back home! Like Trixie. Oh Trixie! I really miss my Honda Civic and how I have the freedom to drive places and not have to worry about getting a ride or being stranded somewhere. I miss Chick Fil a. Thats really sad...but I do. Also having constantly something to drink or eat, just having the freedom to go get something if you are out, here its important that I plan ahead. All these things, and much more, I take for granted at home, now I really appreciate them.
So the past few days. A few days ago I had the day shift. When I got there, it was a bit chilly but ok. We are trying to get him up and going because he would be up exploring if he was in the wild. He is a spoiled brat. He loves his nice warm lamps and comfy room. We joke and say he isn't a morning rhino. He likes to sleep in, which is fine by me, I like to sleep in too. After a lot of coaxing and pushing and shoving we finally got the big boy up! It was a hassle t get him out of the room, but as soon as we did we shut and locked his door. He did not appreciate that one bit. Starting ramming the door, me, and anything he could. After his black rhino temper tantrum he decided that since that isnt working he will try a different angle. He then started whining and rubbing his head gently against me. I said "listen buddy, trust me I would rather be nice and warm too but its for your own good." After a little more whines he finally gave in. Stubborn boy.
So this might be a lithe weird but when you are caring and love such an animal things like I am about to say don't really matter...please don't think weird of me...but my sweet baby boy and I are relaxing in the sun and I notice something weird on his...private area. As I was was doing this the poor boy let loose some diarrhea. Well...then he decided the swing his tail...therefore flinging his poop right in my face...thank you so much boy. After I cleaned off the best I could I went to go take a sip of my drink. As I am chugging away I feel something hit my lip. I looked down and noticed there was a bee taking a swim! yuck! Soon after I decided to disinfect his room with a veterinary disinfectant. First I removed his mat. I guess he had pooed in there on his bed beforeI got there and no one noticed. Well I noticed as it swiped all over my clothes! Great! I then later continued cleaning. Scrubbing the walls from his poo that had gotten on there. He came in and helped. Watching me closely. I scrubbed the floors and also put fresh garbage bags over his bed.
During the day he had some diarrhea like usual, but other than that he played and sunned.
The next day I had the night shift. He had some more diarrhea and had a very upset stomach. He began to cry. He just couldn't get comfortable. So I went down and laid with him until he stopped crying and went to sleep. He is just like a human baby. That night was particularly cold and windy. So we snuggled and had a pretty good rest of the night. The next day we were busy trying to figure out how to stop the diarrhea and are also really nervous that he might have a stomach ulcer. He is drooling excessively and grinding and chewing a lot, which are signs of a stomach ulcer, but good news the plan is to take his sutures out on friday. Thats going to be a crazy day. Everyone will be watching him so closely. Once I left him I desperately needed todo laundry. So I went to Pete and Lisa's house todo laundry. It was a really nice time spending time with Lisa. She is from Ireland. I love her accent. She is a great lady. Pete came home. Tyrone, who I spent some time with at the beginning stopped by with his wife and daughter. Seriously his daughter could be twins with my cousin Mack. I showed them a picture of him and they were amazed how similar they looked. We said Tyrone have you been to America recently. Haha but seriously they look so similar it was scary. They asked for me to stay for dinner and Pete made a delicious meal. Sausage where he cut down the middle, but not all the way through and we but cheese and onions in it. Seriously delicious. I had a great evening with them.
Yesterday I had the day shift with him again and had a pretty nice and peaceful day. Besides some diarrhea it was nice. Giraffe came really close and of course I went to check them out and take pictures. Beautiful. Later I went along to feed Mike and Nana, the adult White Rhino, Nyala, Impala, and the Warthogs. These white rhinos are beautiful and so amazing. When I got out of the vehicle and went to the bag to get the other bag of food i get something sharp scrap my hip. I look down and there is Nyala bull walked by with his horns down. Ouch. It was really sharp and if he was attacking wow that would easily be a day ruiner. Luckily I just have a scratch, but I have to say its stinking cool. I poured some food in on of the food bowl things and he came back over. I could sit there and touch his horns and he just sat there. It was amazing. I walked around filling as many as I could so that they could spred out. The rhino couple thought they owned it all and went back and forth. Theses animals are so beautiful. Every single one. The warthogs on their knees trying to sneak as much food as they can with out being noticed. It was indescribable.
I miss you all! Thank you all for everything.
Cheers!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Another Good Day!
The little guy is doing much better. No more diarrhea so far. We were all discussing and came to the conclusion that it was probably a bacterial infection. Poor guy. Yesterday when he woke up, he was in such a great mood. Me started running around and playing. It was soooo cute. He was pushing his ball around with his head. Really was feeling much better. Even though I had the night shift, I stayed with Yolandi, an Employee of Arrie's. We had a great afternoon talking about yummy sweets. They don't have reese's here...wow! haha
Side note-here they have long lived milk. So in the stores, their milk sits on the shelves and it doesn't have to refrigerated until its open......isnt that weird? haha Alana and I talk about it all the time how weird it is, but it taste good, so no complaints. We just were a little apprehensive to try it at first. Also at the stores the eggs sit on the shelves as well. Isn't that crazy! South Africans are seriously addicted to their meat. Edwin, Arrie's nephew, walks up eating packaged bologna! They have dried meat that are a popular snack. I would put the name of the snacks...but spelling them is quite difficult, well one is biltong.
Back on track now. Rhino is doing much better, getting into mischief. Wants to get into the snake enclosure to get the sand in there, chews on the shade cloth, just wants to put everything in his mouth. Typical baby.
Yesterday, after I left, I went to the training school with Alana. The training school, don't know if I clarified, is a school where people can come and learn about the environment or learn to become a ranger to take people on game drives. It is a really cool place. Really great people. The students are great and of course JP is fantastic. He takes good care of Alana as well as myself, even though I am not staying there. Always giving us yummy chocolates and snacks and making sure we are well fed and comfortable. He is running it and doing a great job. You can tell he cares for the students. He loves to joke around but is serious when it comes to school work. Well we went on another game drive. It was a lot colder than the other night, but worth it. We came upon these subadult lions. They were just hanging out. One was chewing on a warthog leg, which later became a toy. One would set it down and the another would grab it and run, the others chasing. They were too young to hunt, but were in training. They were practicing on each other. Crouching down and sneaking up on each other, then pouncing. It was amazing to watch. Then we continued on and came up onto the 3 adult females and the huge male making his way over to them. We sat and watched them. JP said that usually the male lion is boisterous at that time of night and was guessing they were planning a hunt. Lions are pretty fast, run about 95 kph, but only in short spurts. So they rest around until it is time to hunt. While they were resting, we see the White Rhino bull making his rounds and marking his territory. He spots the lions and charges at them. Running them all off. What a site! I mean its amazing, lions will eat young rhino, but once they are bigger and have the priceless horn on their heads, who would mess with that, not these lions. The fled! We all laughed so hard. It was great. We followed the big cats. Now it was pitch black dark. They were beginning to set up position. We could not tell what they were after but knew they were setting up. Two lionesses went off far to the right, the other swung around. The plan, she would chase the prey right into the two waiting. We looked around with a spotlight, and saw some Impalas minding their own business. That must be their target. They, as well as we, patiently waited. The male lion started walking up...in the middle of their whole operation. The lone lioness moved in and the impala ran right to wear the other lionesses were...supposed to be. They kept moving. Operation fail. They can't get them all. Even though we didn't get to see the kill it was still really cool to see them set it up. The drive was nice because the woman who writes the tests for the school, her mother and her son went along for the ride. The boy was such a flirt. He laid on Alana's lap. Too stinking cute.
After the drive we went back and had dinner with the students and then headed back. It was a great day. Miss everyone though and wish everyone was here with me. Thank you for everything.
Cheers!
Side note-here they have long lived milk. So in the stores, their milk sits on the shelves and it doesn't have to refrigerated until its open......isnt that weird? haha Alana and I talk about it all the time how weird it is, but it taste good, so no complaints. We just were a little apprehensive to try it at first. Also at the stores the eggs sit on the shelves as well. Isn't that crazy! South Africans are seriously addicted to their meat. Edwin, Arrie's nephew, walks up eating packaged bologna! They have dried meat that are a popular snack. I would put the name of the snacks...but spelling them is quite difficult, well one is biltong.
Back on track now. Rhino is doing much better, getting into mischief. Wants to get into the snake enclosure to get the sand in there, chews on the shade cloth, just wants to put everything in his mouth. Typical baby.
Yesterday, after I left, I went to the training school with Alana. The training school, don't know if I clarified, is a school where people can come and learn about the environment or learn to become a ranger to take people on game drives. It is a really cool place. Really great people. The students are great and of course JP is fantastic. He takes good care of Alana as well as myself, even though I am not staying there. Always giving us yummy chocolates and snacks and making sure we are well fed and comfortable. He is running it and doing a great job. You can tell he cares for the students. He loves to joke around but is serious when it comes to school work. Well we went on another game drive. It was a lot colder than the other night, but worth it. We came upon these subadult lions. They were just hanging out. One was chewing on a warthog leg, which later became a toy. One would set it down and the another would grab it and run, the others chasing. They were too young to hunt, but were in training. They were practicing on each other. Crouching down and sneaking up on each other, then pouncing. It was amazing to watch. Then we continued on and came up onto the 3 adult females and the huge male making his way over to them. We sat and watched them. JP said that usually the male lion is boisterous at that time of night and was guessing they were planning a hunt. Lions are pretty fast, run about 95 kph, but only in short spurts. So they rest around until it is time to hunt. While they were resting, we see the White Rhino bull making his rounds and marking his territory. He spots the lions and charges at them. Running them all off. What a site! I mean its amazing, lions will eat young rhino, but once they are bigger and have the priceless horn on their heads, who would mess with that, not these lions. The fled! We all laughed so hard. It was great. We followed the big cats. Now it was pitch black dark. They were beginning to set up position. We could not tell what they were after but knew they were setting up. Two lionesses went off far to the right, the other swung around. The plan, she would chase the prey right into the two waiting. We looked around with a spotlight, and saw some Impalas minding their own business. That must be their target. They, as well as we, patiently waited. The male lion started walking up...in the middle of their whole operation. The lone lioness moved in and the impala ran right to wear the other lionesses were...supposed to be. They kept moving. Operation fail. They can't get them all. Even though we didn't get to see the kill it was still really cool to see them set it up. The drive was nice because the woman who writes the tests for the school, her mother and her son went along for the ride. The boy was such a flirt. He laid on Alana's lap. Too stinking cute.
After the drive we went back and had dinner with the students and then headed back. It was a great day. Miss everyone though and wish everyone was here with me. Thank you for everything.
Cheers!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Adventures
Yesterday I got to go along with Rian (haha not RianD, Rita) and other workers to go feed the big cats. I was so excited. They pull up and where do I get to ride? OH YEAH! with the food...haha pee yew! The guy sitting with me in the back says (if you have a queazy stomach you might not want to read the next few sentences! ) "Watch out for that one, its about to burst!" I said what?!!! He was talking about the...what he says was a zebra (sorry Meghan!) It was really nice and bloated and one wrong bump or touch, its insides were goining to burst! I was like, Oh great! Thats exactly what I want to happen. Have guts blown up in my face. But we reached one of the lion's islands in time and it didn't burst, luckily! Phew! We rode around to the next island of 2 lions. Ma Pim Pan, Which is Arrie's boy. His name means little one, because when they got him he was....well a little one. On the reserve, Ma pim pan's uncle fought Ma pim pan's father for the thrown, which happened all the time. Unfortunately, this time the uncle won. (He is the Lion at the bottom of the pictures below sitting in the trees.) Well, to get the lioness to get back into heat, he kills her cubs. This includes Ma Pim Pan. He was brutally injured, but as a still blind young cub somehow he managed to make to the road where someone found him. He then was under the care of Arrie, lucky lion. Now he is huge and hasn't had human contact in years. Hopefully ready to release into the reserve in a few more years. They have to feed him and his girlfriend separately because he is a brat. They would normally give them 2 pieces but in the same area, but Ma Pim Pan takes hers, sits on his, eats hers so she can't have either of them. BRAT! haha I am so amazed but each animals personality.
We then moved on to the two cheetah brothers. Quaman, his name which means Grumpy man, comes up to the fence and hisses and pounces. His little brother joins. What a site it was watching them pounce and hiss. Rian says that their previous owners were not nice to them. Normally that wouldn't happen, the hissing and pouncing, but since their previous owners were cruel to them, they act this way. Really sad, but I have to say it was quite entertaining for me.
The 3 lion "cubs," they call them cubs because they are younger, but their size suggests otherwise. They each get a Kudu leg. Fresh kudu legs. One picks hers up and takes it away from the others, smart girl. They others sit near each other nicely. One gets up just for a second because she sees something, and the other snatches her leg and sits on it. After a bit of tussle, the lioness who walked away was able to reclaim her lunch. These cats won't eat for another 5 days. They try to feed them like they would eat in the wild. It was really cool to watch.
The rest of the time I was with my precious boy. (Im sorry again if you have a weak stomach) My poor boy continues to have diarrhea. And I don't just mean every once in a while. CONSTANTLY. So we are constantly picking it up and cleaning his bum. I wish they made rhino diapers. He is so gassy. A smell I have never smelled in my life. I can handle a lot of things, but this poo is something else. peeeee yewww! Rank! Arrie says he has the worst farts he has ever smelled! haha That means something! We are trying him on a few more things to get his stomach settled. Electrolights and everything. We have called his vets and they have no fresh ideas. So we are waiting it out. Poor boy...and poor us. haha it is all worth it though when he whines until you come lay down with him. Last night he just wanted to suckle on my fingers. They suckling action calms them down. I had to hold my hand in his mouth until he was sound asleep. Then I was able to have my fingers back. He is the sweetest thing on this planet.
It is like a baby. He cries and you don't know whats wrong. You try everything to try to make him happy. Yesterday he urinated on his mat in this room, so I set it outside to dry. That night we are in his room and he's crying. I try his bottle, nope. I thought maybe it was his stomach, but I put his mat down with a nice comfy blanket. He lays right down and stops crying. He just wanted to be comfy. Alana stays at a training school. She had come originally with a class from school to stay there. They all left but she stayed to care for the baby. I went over to the camp on my night off. Went on a nice sunset drive with the new trainees. It was beautiful. When we got back, JP, who is a leader at the school and is really close with Alana was talking to us. He put things in a perspective I never thought of. He said this experience will change our lives. We came here, and became mommies. Constant care for a helpless sick baby. We learned how to live for something other than ourselves. These words are so true. This little creature is so special. I mean Alana and I joke all the time that he's our baby. We say that I am the fun one and she's the one who takes things from him, but he will come to her when he has problem and will come to me when he wants to hang out with friends on a school night. haha but it never really hit me this way. We have been his caregiver, his replacement mommy. He needs us. The way he was nudging me to sit by him and suckle my fingers just so he can be comfortable and relaxed. The way he will come and lay down next to us and put his head on our lap. The sweet sweet kisses he gives with his cute little lips. This little rhino doesn't know how much he has touched our hearts, my heart.
I can't wait to show you pictures of him. As soon as I can you better believe they will be up! Oh, and his bum is actually looking really good. His stitches are still in and nothing is inflamed. That part of him is doing really well. We just need to get him wittle tummy back to normal. Hope you all are well and I will post soon. Miss you and love you all!
Cheers!
We then moved on to the two cheetah brothers. Quaman, his name which means Grumpy man, comes up to the fence and hisses and pounces. His little brother joins. What a site it was watching them pounce and hiss. Rian says that their previous owners were not nice to them. Normally that wouldn't happen, the hissing and pouncing, but since their previous owners were cruel to them, they act this way. Really sad, but I have to say it was quite entertaining for me.
The 3 lion "cubs," they call them cubs because they are younger, but their size suggests otherwise. They each get a Kudu leg. Fresh kudu legs. One picks hers up and takes it away from the others, smart girl. They others sit near each other nicely. One gets up just for a second because she sees something, and the other snatches her leg and sits on it. After a bit of tussle, the lioness who walked away was able to reclaim her lunch. These cats won't eat for another 5 days. They try to feed them like they would eat in the wild. It was really cool to watch.
The rest of the time I was with my precious boy. (Im sorry again if you have a weak stomach) My poor boy continues to have diarrhea. And I don't just mean every once in a while. CONSTANTLY. So we are constantly picking it up and cleaning his bum. I wish they made rhino diapers. He is so gassy. A smell I have never smelled in my life. I can handle a lot of things, but this poo is something else. peeeee yewww! Rank! Arrie says he has the worst farts he has ever smelled! haha That means something! We are trying him on a few more things to get his stomach settled. Electrolights and everything. We have called his vets and they have no fresh ideas. So we are waiting it out. Poor boy...and poor us. haha it is all worth it though when he whines until you come lay down with him. Last night he just wanted to suckle on my fingers. They suckling action calms them down. I had to hold my hand in his mouth until he was sound asleep. Then I was able to have my fingers back. He is the sweetest thing on this planet.
It is like a baby. He cries and you don't know whats wrong. You try everything to try to make him happy. Yesterday he urinated on his mat in this room, so I set it outside to dry. That night we are in his room and he's crying. I try his bottle, nope. I thought maybe it was his stomach, but I put his mat down with a nice comfy blanket. He lays right down and stops crying. He just wanted to be comfy. Alana stays at a training school. She had come originally with a class from school to stay there. They all left but she stayed to care for the baby. I went over to the camp on my night off. Went on a nice sunset drive with the new trainees. It was beautiful. When we got back, JP, who is a leader at the school and is really close with Alana was talking to us. He put things in a perspective I never thought of. He said this experience will change our lives. We came here, and became mommies. Constant care for a helpless sick baby. We learned how to live for something other than ourselves. These words are so true. This little creature is so special. I mean Alana and I joke all the time that he's our baby. We say that I am the fun one and she's the one who takes things from him, but he will come to her when he has problem and will come to me when he wants to hang out with friends on a school night. haha but it never really hit me this way. We have been his caregiver, his replacement mommy. He needs us. The way he was nudging me to sit by him and suckle my fingers just so he can be comfortable and relaxed. The way he will come and lay down next to us and put his head on our lap. The sweet sweet kisses he gives with his cute little lips. This little rhino doesn't know how much he has touched our hearts, my heart.
I can't wait to show you pictures of him. As soon as I can you better believe they will be up! Oh, and his bum is actually looking really good. His stitches are still in and nothing is inflamed. That part of him is doing really well. We just need to get him wittle tummy back to normal. Hope you all are well and I will post soon. Miss you and love you all!
Cheers!
Some photos may not be suitable for some viewers, viewers discretion is advised
Monday, July 9, 2012
Amazing Drive
Hello all!! I hope you are all well. Here in South Africa, weather is nice, in the afternoon. Mornings and evenings are a bit cold but when the sun is out it is heavenly. Mr. Rhino agrees. Now, as I am trying to type this, he is having a sample taste of apple... apple computer. Silly boy, so curious.
He has had a rough few days with massive diarrhea. Black Rhinos have sensitive stomachs already, but his rare subspecies and specific diet that he is supposed to have makes it really difficult to satisfy his nit picky stomach. Because of the prolapse it is really hard to give him the right diet for is colic, and because of his colic its hard to treat the prolapse. Today he is being much better. No diarrhea yet...touch wood (which is what they say instead of our "knock on wood")
He loves attention and is spoiled rotten. Yesterday morning, after my night shift, it was time for his breakfast at about 7. It was particularly cold that morning. I called him out to come get it...he stood in the door and whined. When I came to him he sniffed the bottle and went back inside. He wouldn't take his milk until we were fully under the heat lamps. Brat. Smart brat that is. Today we sunbathed. I read while he slept with his heavy head on my lap. He is being so sweet today, giving tons of kisses. I love him to pieces.
The other day was Karen, the rhino expert's birthday. She didn't tell anyone...but Arrie knows all. We all surprised her with some leaker (nice) desserts. Cooksisters, very sugary sweets, milk pie, cinnamon custard pie, both very South African munchies, and cupcakes. All soooo good. Coffee, tea, and a nice sparkling fruit juice. She was very surprised.
Yesterday on Alana and I's day off, we went on a game drive. For 3 hours. We ran into the gorgeous White Rhino Bull, Wildebeast, Zebra, Warthog, and so many birds. Then we were looking for the Elephants. We couldn't find them...but after awhile we drove right on them. We first saw the one. Then saw the baby in the bushes, soon we say the other 8 huge elephants, ears up to give a warning headed toward us. SO we backed up a bit. haha. Keeping a close eye on us, they continued grazing. One youngster was really relaxed a rolled around. We were by a pond. Many drank and the young elephants blew a lot of bubbles. After about an hour of adoring them, they slowly started walking away. The 2 youngsters lagged behind. Playing nicely, but the play quickly turned to fighting. Amazing! They fought and fought, then the smaller one let out the famous elephant trumpet sound. They contunied fighting, but the grown-up elephants came running. The leader, the oldest female, got in between them. Keep in mind, now we a driving away. Once we saw all 8 mad females headed our way we took it as a que to get out. But we watched as the leader literally got in-between them like a mommy would between two kids fighting. Then they all stood around the bigger of the fighting youngsters and gave him the business. Truly a site to see.
We continued driving and came up on 2 huge giraffes eating from a tree, in the road. They didn't seemed bothered by us, since they didn't move. They stood there forever, but it was nice watching them. After they moved we continued on our way. We saw the "king" male lion sunbathing int the trees, more zebra, and a crocodile. I couldn't resist saying, "crocy, thats a big one. Lets go down and check him out," in my best Steve Erwin voice...which isn't very good. Alana has truly seen my crazy side, poor girl.
I have to say I miss my friends and family, but my time here has flown by. I can hardly believe it. Ok, Im off to go snuggle with my boy. I am also running out of battery. Ill post pictures later today when I get back to my room.
Cheers for now!
He has had a rough few days with massive diarrhea. Black Rhinos have sensitive stomachs already, but his rare subspecies and specific diet that he is supposed to have makes it really difficult to satisfy his nit picky stomach. Because of the prolapse it is really hard to give him the right diet for is colic, and because of his colic its hard to treat the prolapse. Today he is being much better. No diarrhea yet...touch wood (which is what they say instead of our "knock on wood")
He loves attention and is spoiled rotten. Yesterday morning, after my night shift, it was time for his breakfast at about 7. It was particularly cold that morning. I called him out to come get it...he stood in the door and whined. When I came to him he sniffed the bottle and went back inside. He wouldn't take his milk until we were fully under the heat lamps. Brat. Smart brat that is. Today we sunbathed. I read while he slept with his heavy head on my lap. He is being so sweet today, giving tons of kisses. I love him to pieces.
The other day was Karen, the rhino expert's birthday. She didn't tell anyone...but Arrie knows all. We all surprised her with some leaker (nice) desserts. Cooksisters, very sugary sweets, milk pie, cinnamon custard pie, both very South African munchies, and cupcakes. All soooo good. Coffee, tea, and a nice sparkling fruit juice. She was very surprised.
Yesterday on Alana and I's day off, we went on a game drive. For 3 hours. We ran into the gorgeous White Rhino Bull, Wildebeast, Zebra, Warthog, and so many birds. Then we were looking for the Elephants. We couldn't find them...but after awhile we drove right on them. We first saw the one. Then saw the baby in the bushes, soon we say the other 8 huge elephants, ears up to give a warning headed toward us. SO we backed up a bit. haha. Keeping a close eye on us, they continued grazing. One youngster was really relaxed a rolled around. We were by a pond. Many drank and the young elephants blew a lot of bubbles. After about an hour of adoring them, they slowly started walking away. The 2 youngsters lagged behind. Playing nicely, but the play quickly turned to fighting. Amazing! They fought and fought, then the smaller one let out the famous elephant trumpet sound. They contunied fighting, but the grown-up elephants came running. The leader, the oldest female, got in between them. Keep in mind, now we a driving away. Once we saw all 8 mad females headed our way we took it as a que to get out. But we watched as the leader literally got in-between them like a mommy would between two kids fighting. Then they all stood around the bigger of the fighting youngsters and gave him the business. Truly a site to see.
We continued driving and came up on 2 huge giraffes eating from a tree, in the road. They didn't seemed bothered by us, since they didn't move. They stood there forever, but it was nice watching them. After they moved we continued on our way. We saw the "king" male lion sunbathing int the trees, more zebra, and a crocodile. I couldn't resist saying, "crocy, thats a big one. Lets go down and check him out," in my best Steve Erwin voice...which isn't very good. Alana has truly seen my crazy side, poor girl.
I have to say I miss my friends and family, but my time here has flown by. I can hardly believe it. Ok, Im off to go snuggle with my boy. I am also running out of battery. Ill post pictures later today when I get back to my room.
Cheers for now!
Friday, July 6, 2012
hello
The last few days have been good. During night shift, I could hear the lions roar! It was so cool! They are so loud and majestic. I couldn't believe it when I heard it! They roar like that all the time. So cool to hear! I went around to see them again the other day to take a few pictures. They are breathtaking. The few white lions that they have are just so special. The reason they are so rare is the fact that in the wild they can't camouflage as easy as the others to hunt. So many times they go without food. These have the most amazing eyes.
There are 3 "teenager" lions in their own enclosure. As I was walking I saw one crouch down. She was hunting me. haha. The others came to help. I must of smelled delicious. I set my jacket down next to the enclosure... the lion decided she wanted it. Luckily I pulled it away just in time. haha. When I was walking I came up on the "family" of giraffe that roam free. So stinking cool! There is bull who is so old his "spots" have gotten so dark over the years.
Yesterday my sewing skills came in handy. We have shade cloth coving the ground in the rhino's enclosure so he won't eat his favorite snack...sand. He has found the few spots where it lifts up and he can lick the sand underneath. So yesterday I sewed them all together. Mr. Rhino didn't really care for me doing that. He tried ramming me at first, sometimes pinning me to the ground. Silly rhino. After a while he went for a different approach. He came up, laid by me and laid his head where I was stitching. haha. Arrie said that he was watching so he knows how to unsew it later. haha He got up after a while. I moved to another spot, there he stepped up his game, He came and laid down and put his head on my lap....impossible. I couldn't see what I was stitching. It worked. I stopped sewing and loved on him. I ended up falling asleep. Just me and him, sleeping in the sun. I didn't even hear Karen and Arrie walk up. haha He would have stayed there if his tummy wouldn't of acted up...spoiled rotten boy.
The day before, after my night shift we went to town, Edwin (arrie's nephew), Alana, and I to run errands. Went to a butcher...so sad. It was nice to get out a bit.
Many people have been asking my mom what I have been eating. Well, Arrie's wife, (who is fantastic) has bought groceries for me and even made me dinners to heat up later on. So amazing. But I have become addicted to Coffee. Never thought I would ever say that. Also, peanut butter and nutella sandwiches. TO DIE FOR!! haha. Here they eat a lot of toasted sandwiches. They are served everywhere. They are good as well. From toasted cheese and tomato to bacon egg and cheese. So good. I cooked spaghetti the other day for me and Alana...it was ok. I burned the meat a little but I think it was a pretty good attempt. Their soda here is way better than ours. I don't know why, but I looked on the ingredients and they don't have high fructose corn syrup. Maybe that is it.
They also have a difference between pancakes and flapjacks. Flapjacks are for breakfast. One of my friends at the animal hospital made us some...delicious. They put butter, shredded cheddar cheese, and syrup. Sounds gross right...nope! Delicious! The pancakes are thin and for dessert. With cinnamon sugar on it! Seriously amazing. They also eat a lot of meat here. There are meat pies that are pretty good too. I can't think of all the food I've eaten but so far its all really good. Well pete did try to set me on fire one night. He fixed me curry chicken. Seriously I was sweating. He started laughing and gave me yogurt to put in it...it actually settled it a bit. haha Not much though. They also put bbq sauce on their hamburgers. Maybe people back home do that but I haven't and it was really good.
There has been many fires on the farm. They think its arsen. There are many workers on strike on the road and they believe that maybe they are starting the fires. (they want a 30% increase) crazy right!
Ok I will post soon! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
Few prayer requests:
Arrie and his wife-management and health issues
Rhino-of course
Strikers
Sunai and her family-father battling health issues
Rian-a cracked his ribs badly from a buffalo
There are 3 "teenager" lions in their own enclosure. As I was walking I saw one crouch down. She was hunting me. haha. The others came to help. I must of smelled delicious. I set my jacket down next to the enclosure... the lion decided she wanted it. Luckily I pulled it away just in time. haha. When I was walking I came up on the "family" of giraffe that roam free. So stinking cool! There is bull who is so old his "spots" have gotten so dark over the years.
Yesterday my sewing skills came in handy. We have shade cloth coving the ground in the rhino's enclosure so he won't eat his favorite snack...sand. He has found the few spots where it lifts up and he can lick the sand underneath. So yesterday I sewed them all together. Mr. Rhino didn't really care for me doing that. He tried ramming me at first, sometimes pinning me to the ground. Silly rhino. After a while he went for a different approach. He came up, laid by me and laid his head where I was stitching. haha. Arrie said that he was watching so he knows how to unsew it later. haha He got up after a while. I moved to another spot, there he stepped up his game, He came and laid down and put his head on my lap....impossible. I couldn't see what I was stitching. It worked. I stopped sewing and loved on him. I ended up falling asleep. Just me and him, sleeping in the sun. I didn't even hear Karen and Arrie walk up. haha He would have stayed there if his tummy wouldn't of acted up...spoiled rotten boy.
The day before, after my night shift we went to town, Edwin (arrie's nephew), Alana, and I to run errands. Went to a butcher...so sad. It was nice to get out a bit.
Many people have been asking my mom what I have been eating. Well, Arrie's wife, (who is fantastic) has bought groceries for me and even made me dinners to heat up later on. So amazing. But I have become addicted to Coffee. Never thought I would ever say that. Also, peanut butter and nutella sandwiches. TO DIE FOR!! haha. Here they eat a lot of toasted sandwiches. They are served everywhere. They are good as well. From toasted cheese and tomato to bacon egg and cheese. So good. I cooked spaghetti the other day for me and Alana...it was ok. I burned the meat a little but I think it was a pretty good attempt. Their soda here is way better than ours. I don't know why, but I looked on the ingredients and they don't have high fructose corn syrup. Maybe that is it.
They also have a difference between pancakes and flapjacks. Flapjacks are for breakfast. One of my friends at the animal hospital made us some...delicious. They put butter, shredded cheddar cheese, and syrup. Sounds gross right...nope! Delicious! The pancakes are thin and for dessert. With cinnamon sugar on it! Seriously amazing. They also eat a lot of meat here. There are meat pies that are pretty good too. I can't think of all the food I've eaten but so far its all really good. Well pete did try to set me on fire one night. He fixed me curry chicken. Seriously I was sweating. He started laughing and gave me yogurt to put in it...it actually settled it a bit. haha Not much though. They also put bbq sauce on their hamburgers. Maybe people back home do that but I haven't and it was really good.
There has been many fires on the farm. They think its arsen. There are many workers on strike on the road and they believe that maybe they are starting the fires. (they want a 30% increase) crazy right!
Ok I will post soon! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
Few prayer requests:
Arrie and his wife-management and health issues
Rhino-of course
Strikers
Sunai and her family-father battling health issues
Rian-a cracked his ribs badly from a buffalo
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