Game Drives and Big Fives

We pick up the students tomorrow! Jordan, a PhD student at UCT will be joining me in Skukuza tonight and together we will head up toward Acornhoek to pick up the students and bring them to our first stop: Wits Rural Facilities. Wow, planning has been hectic. I never thought about how many little details need to come together for a program to run smoothly. Not only that, but a new program, without any history to look back on or instructions to follow. My "To Do" list (now almost entirely crossed off... whoo!) was three pages long. One of the only things not crossed off yet was "write blog post." So unfortunately a lot of my days have been spent in a small trailer/office space with slow internet and no windows, looking at a laptop.

I've had more than one stress breakdown, but I keep reminding myself that once we have the students with us and begin the program, I'll be too busy to be stressed. I'm sure it's going to go by way to fast and I'll be sad when it's over. I'm definitely going to write in a suggestion for next year to have more than one single person planning the project because it has been overwhelming. Even though this place is familiar, I'm seeing it from a different side and it's hard to plan logistics in a place and with people that you are unfamiliar working in this capacity with. I don't know how everything works and it's been an extremely steep learning curve.

It hasn't been ONLY work though... I've definitely taken some days to enjoy my time in another country. One day a couple weeks ago, a few researchers and I decided to go on an all day game drive. Being out there for a long time isn't always a guarantee that you will see a lot, but it certainly does help. We ended up seeing the "Big 5" in one day: elephant, rhino, leopard, lion, and buffalo. The best part was that we almost ended up seeing all of the big five in baby form! Baby rhinos and elephants are unbelievably cute.

Okay, so baboons aren't part of the Big 5... but they are still undeniably adorable. In a sort of creepy, Benjamin Button type of a way.

Nothing is cuter than an elephant pretending to be a submarine and having a blast while doing it!

So I'm off tomorrow! Into the unknown! Hopefully I'm ready and hopefully I've done all the planning that needs to be done, but even if something does go wrong, I know it will just help us learn for the future.