AFRICA!!!!

23 Aug 2013

Work and Play in Swaziland

While in Swaziland we got the opportunity to trap a few small mammals and a few bats(which I'll talk about another day :)).  The Mbuluzi Game Reserve has a small research site (which is where we camped) and they were very helpful in helping us set up traps and identifying what we caught.  Every morning we would go check our traps around 7am.  Here's a few things we caught:

  

Our first catch!!  Forest shrew (Myosorex longicaudatus)

We caught several Natal multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis)

Me holding M. natalensis.  

South African Pouched Mouse (Saccostomus campestris)

And my favorite.. The African pygmy mouse (Mus minutoides).  We also caught several of these :)  They were so small most of them only weighed around 1 g!

I want to give a shout out to my team, TEAM TINY (Audrey, Hannah, John, Kate, Pumlilay and Mdu)! ..I guess I should take the time to also mention why were were Team Tiny.  On the first day our guide decided he would call me Tiny, and it stuck, and by the end of the trip everyone was calling me Tiny.  And that's how we became Team Tiny!..  I love you guys- we had a great time setting and checking traps together.  Our guide, Mdu, also made things exciting and fun!  And Pumlilay who was amazing helping us out!  One day a mouse jumped out of the bag and she tried to catch in with her bare hands and juggled the mouse for about 5 seconds as it flew from one hand to another... it was very funny!!

When we weren't trapping we were going on game drives (which were always fun and relaxing).  We also went on hikes, one day we visited a village, and on another day visited a National Park.  One of the first days we were in Swaziland, Mdu told us we were going on a short "walk" at Malolotja.  When people in Swaziland say "short" walk they really mean a 3-4 hour excursion.  At times I felt winded, but I would do it over again in a heartbeat.  Here's some photos I snapped along the way:

A little piece of greenery.

No pictures will do justice to just how beautiful this place is!

Just another beautiful day in Swaziland.

Soaking up the view.

I still can't believe I was in Africa!  This was truly a dream come true!

22 Aug 2013

Life In Swaziland

Now that I'm back in the states things are starting to settle down and I'm starting to get back on my normal daily schedule.  And now I have the chance to talk about my time in Swaziland.  I'll probably talk a little about the work we did, the landscapes, the animals, and other things I enjoyed while being there.

Luckily the trip is pretty well documented (thanks to Dr. Best and those field notebooks :))

I guess I'll start with our first hiccup after meeting up with everyone.  Everyone met up in Johannesburg on 2 Aug 2013.  The next morning we were suppose to leave at 8 am, but our ride didn't show up (until 8 hours later).  There was a slight mix up on our pick up date.  But, after the 8 hour delay we eventually made it to Swaziland around 8:30ish.

We stayed at Lidwala Backpacker Lodge for two nights before heading to Mbuluzi Game Reserve were we spent the next 12 or so nights.  And camp far exceeded my expectations. When we all signed up it seemed like we would be lucky if we had a chance to even take a shower.  Well we had: hot showers, running water and working toilets, a nice "conference" center where meals were prepared, presentations were given, and a great place for socialization.

Here's some photos of camp:

Girls bathroom

Where Hannah and I lived for the next 2 weeks.

View from our showers and bathrooms.  It was a little weird at first, but everyone eventually learned to enjoy it.  I mean, when else will you be able to take a shower under the night sky of Africa...

I guess I'll leave with that today.  Next I'll talk about some work we did and some things we trapped and talk about one of our "walks" as our guide likes to call them.  And when the people of Swaziland say "walk" - they really mean 3.5 hour hike in the mountains...

Trip to Africa!

Well, I'm back in the USA!!  And I wish I was still in Africa, and I cannot wait to go back!  Sadly, while we were in Swaziland we only had 2 chances to get wi-fi and both times the connection was very poor and slow :(  So.. no blogging.  But to be honest, it was nice to be away from all the distractions of the real world and the American way of life!

Africa was the most amazing experience of my life.  It's so hard to put this experience into words, but as silly as it sounds, it really refreshed my soul.  I hope everyone gets the chance to experience things outside of their daily norm.  I love nature, but I had never done anything like this before.  I pushed myself to do things I thought I wouldn't be able to do, and it's a great feeling knowing I accomplished something great in my life.  I saw so many beautiful things and meet some of the greatest people on this trip that I will always be thankful for.  I got to see so many awesome birds, and really cool wildlife, but my favorite moment of the trip was getting to visit a local village.  These kinds of things really help you to remember what is important in life.  I can't wait to share more stories and share my pictures!!  

Swaziland!!!

Well, we've been in Swaziland for for about 14 days and only had the chance to get wi fi for the second time!  But, it has been nice to get away from all the distractions.  I can't wait to share all the pictures and tell everyone about everything I've seen!  This has been such a great trip and life changing for sure!

30 July 2013

Trip to Robben Island

Hey everyone back home!  Today I had the most amazing opportunity to go to Robben Island! As most people know this is where Nelson Mandela was prisoned for many years.  As always my good photos are are on my camera, but here's what I got on my iPod! 

On the ferry ride from Cape Town to Robben Island! What a view of Table Mountain! 

Pit stop on part of the bus tour.  Our tour guide was great and this view is georgeous.  My inner biologist also got the best of me and I saw lots of beautiful water fowl pictures that I can't wait to share with everyone!

And now for the best part of the trip...Mandela's jail cell.  Unfortunately, they don't let people stand inside (unless your the president ;)).  I can't even explain in words what it was like getting to visit Robben Island! It was also such an inspiration to go on this tour guided by a previous prisoner- his outlook on life was so great even though all the hard times he went through.  It reminds me to find the positive in everything and realize I don't have it that bad!  It definitely is a lifetime experience I will never forget.  It is probably one of the most powerful experiences in my life thus far!  I hope everyone gets the opportunity to have these experiences in their life! 

That's all I got for now- another better part of my day was free wi-fi and everyone in Cape Town says it is unusual to have these sunny pretty days this time of the year!  

I also apologize if there are grammatical errors or typos as I am on my iPod and I promise you'll get to see all the wonderful photos sometime soon!  I can't even describe how beautiful it is here! 

29 July. 2013

I'm in Cape Town

Hello, hello from Cape Town!  I arrived in Cape Town last night around 11 pm (so 4 pm Alamama time).  Surprisingly the flight wasn't bad (for a 14 hour flight) and airplane food was a lot better than I expected!  But we had no TVs = no entertainment! Annnnd... South African airports are very relaxing, not very busy, and easy to work with!  Today we just kind of relaxed and visited the V&A Waterfront.  The people are very relaxed and are never in a rush to do anything!  Portion control here is a lot different too( I've included a picture of how small the rolls are- haha). I'm posting from my iPod so the better pictures I took today are on my camera which hopefully I can post later.  So that was my day, and I am really enjoying Cape Town :) 

V&A Waterfront- Table Mountain in the left (we will be hiking that soon!)

Tiny rolls- so cute!! 

Of course a plane picture over the Atlantic Ocean! 

Yay! All our luggage arrived- on time and in one piece! 

27 July 2013

I'm Going To Africa!!!

The day is finally here!!  I'm going to Africa!!  I've always wanted to go to Africa since I was about 12 or so, and I thought the first time I made a trip to Africa I would be in the medical profession helping out in local hospital or helping out local children, but I'm not at that point in my life right (hopefully one day soon!)  But I am going to Africa for an evenly exciting and cool reason - to do some cool field biology!  (If you know me, you know I love biology and animals and Africa :) ) 

I will be heading to Swaziland and Kruger National Park in South Africa for a little over two weeks.  Where me and 9 other students will get the experience of doing small mammal trapping, bat catching, and hopefully lots of game driving.  I'm so excited to see animals in their natural habitat and getting the opportunity to see a lot of small mammals others usually don't get to see.  And to top it off, we will be camping!  I would have never thought when I was a little kid, playing in my yard with my Ranger Rick magazine that I would get the opportunity to experience Africa in this way.  I am beyond excited about this experience and I hope you enjoy the blog!   

But my first stop is Cape Town to be a tourist!  And I'll be blogging as much as possible!!  I'll be back soon - and by soon, I mean after I recover from my 16 hour flight!!!