Safari :-)

So we went on our first safari on Sat. There is a game reserve just south of Gabs called the Mokolodi Game Reserve. We initially wanted to do the rhino tracking, but friends who were going with us decided to do the cheetah petting/game drive, so off we went. The cheetahs were orphaned as cubs when a farmer shot their mother. The initial plan was to release them back into the wild, so the reserve workers tried to teach them how to hunt. They would throw live chickens into the enclosure for the cheetahs to hunt, but as soon as the chickens would start making noise and flapping their wings, the cheetahs would get scared and run and hide. Same thing with goats. So.... they eventually gave up and now the cheetahs are there to stay. So when you go to pet the cheetahs you enter a gated enclosure with the guide and the instructions to "go and find the cheetahs". Even though they are tame, it kinda makes you nervous to go looking for a large wild cat. When you finally find one, as soon as they see you they start to purr. They sound like a diesel engine. One of them doesn't like to be petted as much and just walks away after a while. The other one let us scratch behind his ear for the longest time. He even started to "play" with Becca (I don't think it was appreciated). When they saw an impala outside the enclosure, they ran to the fence and acted just like my dogs do when they see something out the window. :-) The rest of the drive was a lot of fun too. We saw a herd of impala (including rutting males), 2 giraffe, 4 elephants (tame), lots of warthogs (including 2 babies), baboons, two hippos in the water, ostriches, and hartebeest. Becca got some great shots with her long range camera. Glad we didn't do the rhino tracking since even the rhino tracker didn't find the rhinos. The rest of the day was pretty lazy, had lunch at Sanitas (a local restaurant in a garden center), took a nap, and went out to the Riverwalk at night for pizza and a movie. (We saw Holiday since we figured the guys would never go with us).

I started in the hospital today. More of the same inefficiency. It took me less time to find materials (in the clinic not in the hospital) and draw blood than it did for the nurse to enter the order in the computer. Botswana has fairly socialist policies, so they try to employ as many people as possible. The result is 5 people for one job. Thus everyone has the attitude of "someone else will do it." Things are very difficult to get done, and most people find it easier just to say they can't do something or something isn't available than to actually go and look. Which reminds me I should go back over and check on something. Will post pics when done with the hospital. Unfortunately today you will only get the pics from my camera. Tomorrow we are going to bring Becca's long range and see if her memory card works in my camera.