South African Internship Updates

Internship Updates

January 5, 2022: Application submitted, internship accepted for September 17, 2022

January 5, 2022: GoFundMe page was shared, donations accepted

January 9, 2022: 3 donations acquired, a little over 1/3 of the way to the $3000 goal set.

January 11, 2022: 7 donations acquired, almost halfway to the $3000 goal. This fundraiser will help pay for the program, medical insurance, or airline tickets needed to get me to Limpopo South Africa

January 17, 2022: 75% to my GoFundMe goal of $3000! Now just looking at flights and figuring out medical things.

January 19, 2022: Both flights booked and paid for! The internship is slowly becoming a reality!

July 22, 2022: 54 days before I leave for the internship. $50 dollars was donated to GoFundMe, which is still running. Beginning to check the packing list for what's still needed.

August 10, 2022: 35 days before I depart for Africa. 4 weeks before I am officially on Leave of Absence from work. Paperwork finished and okay to travel given!

September 4, 2022: 11 days before my departure date! I am so excited and doing last-minute checks on all my packing stuff.

September 17, 2022: Arrived in Hoedspruit, South Africa, before driving approximately 1 hour to base on Karongwe Private Game Reserve. I got a quick tour of the base before having dinner and settling in for the night.

September 18, 2022: I got a more in-depth tour of the base before having our first duties talk as everyone for drives can have a duty (vehicle check, data, telem, spotlight/spot, phuza, vehicle tidy) before we got to go on our first ever game drive that night. We saw the male lion, two large-spotted genets, and more!

September 20, 2022: A small group of us went to the Hoedspruit Reptile Center to get our Reptile Orientation done. Gotto see a cobra, a Boomaslang, and more reptiles too!

September 25, 2022: We got every Sunday off, so a small group of us went to go on the Panorama Route Tour for the day, seeing spectacular sights and river views before going to Henry's Pancakes for lunch (amazing pancakes by the way).

September 27, 2022: Around this time, my third week on base, my morning drive was nowhere near normal. We were heading out to do research, and all we saw was something on the road. When we realized it was a Rhino, we were confused... it was just standing there. Then the air was pierced with squeals and grunts and a flurry of movement. One of the Rhinos, ID'd as R21 later on, was stuck on her side. While we tried to figure out what was happening, we realized she couldn't get up, and other rhinos were trying to push her up - but not helping at all. We called Anti-poaching and were requested to stay put. One hour passed, and no car showed up. Finally, the anti-poaching unit head and head ranger approached, and we left to get water for R21. When we got back, the rest of the staff were out of the car, and we were told to listen to the veterinarian on the scene. Together we helped R21 get to her feet and thus save her.

September 30, 2022: As every two weeks comes to a close, we say goodbye to some people and (almost) always have a fun Phuza stop with all participants so we can say goodbye.

October 3, 2022: My first encounter with elephants involved the herd walking in front and behind the cruiser and sniffing the two participants in the back seat (along with our phuza bag). Such incredible animals being so close, it almost feels like a dream. We also got to see some of the lions and then we had to check on the female cheetah, so we got to see the small little cheetah fluffballs.

October 4, 2022: The morning drive made my day with us seeing our coalition of three cheetah males at a watering hole. And then we found the elephants yet again and got to see them up close once more.

October 5, 2022: The most memorable part of this day was our ant survey and, of course, one of the staff members making a memorable impression of a Klaas's Cuckoo.

October 7, 2022: The cheetah coalition took down a kill, and we got to watch them finish eating before witnessing the vultures coming into the kill.

October 10, 2022: We went to Kruger National Park for the Elephant Conservation talk. Saw lots of elephants and even some Buffalo on our trip this day. It was really amazing to learn about elephant conservation.

October 11, 2022: Our evening drive was the most memorable as I finally saw a Leopard. He was along the fenceline as we drove back to base. Did you know every leopard has different patterns along its fur? That's how we ID them.

October 12, 2022: Our drive in the morning had us witness two of the sub-adult lionesses hunt and kill an impala. We were just at the right place at the right time. It was incredible to see the planning that went into the hunt.

October 17, 2022: We saw the cheetah boys again, crocodiles, a large herd of buffalo, and much more.

October 19-21, 2022: After 4 weeks of work, you got 4 days off. A small group of us decided to go to Kruger National Park and stay at one of the camps down south. We did 2 game drives and also did a walking safari. We saw Kudu, Lions, Leopard, Buffalo, Elephants, Hyena, Sable, and even an African Wild Cat!

October 23, 2022: Getting back from our game PM drive, the heavens opened, and the monsoon season started. Lightening and thunder shook the skies as we all celebrated the coming of summer in the bushveld by dancing outside in the pouring rain. This, of course, resulted in some fun friends coming into the base that night. Scorpions, Baboon Spiders, even a Red Roman.

October 28, 2022: The saddest night I ever had here in Africa was saying goodbye to one of my best friends, Isla. Bunny Chow was amazing, but that night was filled with tears and memories to remember.

October 31, 2022: Happy Halloween from Africa. We don't celebrate here, really. Instead, we celebrate in November. October 31 was fun as we did find the lions on our evening drive and almost got lost in the bush - but hey, it was Halloween, right?

November 3, 2022: We were driving to try and find the male lion whom we heard call. As we drove on a road, all of a sudden, we slammed on the breaks, and suddenly, we were face-to-face with the one sub-adult whom we knew didn't always hang with the whole pride. She was 2 feet away approximately. We startled her as much as she startled us.

November 5, 2022: Halloween party at one of the other reserves. We had so much fun just dancing and singing and sitting outside. As we left, a storm hit and surrounded us with lightning. We had it all around us. Of course, we got to the base right on time. Right when we got into the base, it began just to pour rain. This night was so special and fun.

November 12, 2022: This was my last day on the base. Having so much fun as we all just enjoyed the evening drive and a long phuza stop. The next day had me in tears as I said goodbye to everyone and left for the guest house I was staying at for the night until my flight.

November 15, 2022: Finally home after 2 days of flying. Being back in a city after 2 months in the Bush - without any city noise or lights, is a hard adjustment. It is good to be home, though I miss all my friends back in Africa.