Straight from Sunny South Africa

  

So I've been a little behind on updating the blog. For this I apologize.  The fact that I actually have people asking me to update and whatnot makes me feel pretty special though.

My first week is officially finished and it's been quite the experience so far!

After Tuesday's game drive, I visited another on Thursday, this time the Nyaru Game Lodge, where you were allowed to drive your own vehicle and go through the lodge at your own pace.  It was fantastic chasing down wildebeest and giraffe and zebra.  I saw a couple more baby giraffes and their proud poppa, a huge giraffe who didn't want to take his eyes off of us.  So much fun getting to watch all the animals again.  So very surreal; absolutely loved it.

Friday morning I headed out with some of the oceans research interns on their sea dolphin research and spent the first half of the day out at sea.  That was an absolutely stunning morning; we found a pod of dolphin about fifty large who were incredibly active heading out to the open water.  Timing was perfect.  I hadn't ever seen so many dolphin before in my life; I couldn't believe how lucky we got!

 

Today was spectacular.  Never in my life would I expect to do what I did today: walk with lions and ride an elephant.  All in the same day even!  Walking with lions has got to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. And riding an elephant was simply fantastic; the view from up there is incredible.  The sheer power of these animals is amazing.  I'm so lucky to have this opportunity in my life.

Additionally, I finally bought sun screen, so that's a good thing.

-K.

PS. There's a bird here that makes awful noises because it's afraid of heights.  What a life!