Where in the World is Meredith?

Today we got to practice suturing which was really awesome and I loved getting to learn lots of new sutures. I decided that when I get home I need to get some tools so I can practice my sutures at home. Then we cleaned up some more of the areas on the farm to prevent fires. We had a brief talk after lunch and then went on a nature walk. For dinner, we had a braai (like a barbecue) at one of the volunteer houses and played charades and some improve games. I have just finished packing up and am all ready to go! I can't believe it has been two weeks already and I am going to miss this place and these people so much. I had the most amazing time here and will never forget this experience and all I have learned. ubuntu - you are who you are because of the influence of others

Friday 6/30/27 Today we did sutures and diagnostics in the morning. We learned about different blood tests, practiced making blood smears, stained slides, looked at blood smears and fecal samples under the microscope, learned hand ties, did drug calculations, and learned a bunch of different suture patterns. It was a ton of fun and it helped reinforce some things I learned in school this year and also taught me some new things! After lunch we had a lecture on breeding and reproduction, we learned about the cheetah breeding program here, and learned about leopards. Afterward, we did physical exams on horses and dogs. After we were all done a few of us walked the dogs back to the house which was a fun little stroll.

Thursday 6/29/17 Today we fed the cheetahs again! It was pretty much the same as the other day so I won't go into all the details. After lunch, we had a lecture about anesthesia and analgesics and then we got to make our own blow darts and use them to pop balloons attached to cardboard animals! It was so much fun (even if my aim wasn't any good) and turns out, making a blow dart isn't too hard if you have the right tools! We didn't do what would have been the hardest part (altering the needle on the end so that the drugs stay inside the dart until it enters the animal) because we didn't have any liquid in our darts since we were just popping balloons but they did tell us how we would do that.

Yesterday we fed the cheetahs! It was so much fun. First, we had to add in their supplements and some kibble to the meat to make sure they get a balanced diet. Then we each got turns doing the three different kinds of feedings they do depending on the cheetah. Some cheetahs get their piece of meat tossed over the fence, some get it put through a special door in their enclosure and others sit for their food and you put the bowl down in front of them. One of the cheetahs got hit in the face with his breakfast when he was trying to catch it (he isn't totally used to getting his food thrown to him yet) and when one of the girls in my group was tossing some meat over a fence it got stuck on the top and when they tried to get it down it fell on her head (which was really funny), luckily she was wearing a hat. That afternoon after a lecture about genetics and a vet talk some of us tried acupuncture which was really cool. For dinner, we all went over to one of the volunteer houses and made

Today we started on our enrichment projects, I was making a ramp and platform for the Jackals! I think I may have some pictures, but I believe someone else took them so I will have to get a hold of them. In the afternoon we had a lecture and then we applied topical flea & tick preventative and shoo fly spray to the cheetahs! It was so cool and I had a lot of fun. After dinner, we had a movie night and watched Contagion which I'm sure was picked to proceed our lecture tomorrow on genetics and disease outbreaks. I have a bunch of pictures but they are currently not wanting to upload so I will post them once my camera behaves.

Sorry that I haven't posted in a few days but I was in Kruger National Park and there is no wifi there. I had the best time and took so many pictures! We saw rhinos, giraffes, elephants, zebras, warthogs, wildebeest, water buffalo, hippos, crocodiles, impala, kudu, tons of birds, and plenty of other animals as well. I am currently in the process of editing my pictures and will add many to this post once I have them edited, I just wanted to post something!

Photo of Bliss interacting with an enrichment item courtesy of Dr. Ruth.

Today we switched it up and had our lessons in the morning and did our chores in the afternoon. Between lessons and lunch, we started observing the animals we are going to be planning enrichment for. My group was assigned the Black-Backed Jackals so we sat and watched them for an hour or so and recorded their behaviors. We also watched them give the wild dogs their enrichment that we made yesterday (and cardboard animal filled with food). After lunch, we did "camp cleaning" which was making fire barriers (getting all the dry leaves and grass away from the edges of the cheetah enclosures so if there ever was a fire it wouldn't be able to spread between enclosures) and taking down dead branches and trees. For dinner, we watched the sunset and had burgers and fries on the plains. Tomorrow we leave for Kruger for a few days and I am so excited!

Pictures from today! Not pictured is our morning of making blood popsicles in balloons and giving Bliss (the baby white lion) some already made blood popsicles for enrichment.  Vallen the Black-Backed Jackal getting a physical exam  Spot the Cheetah Brenan and Rainah Nova getting some acupuncture Me and Nova 

After spending roughly 36 hours in travel I made it to South Africa safe and sound. Today was our first day and we took a tour of the wildlife center and had our first lecture. My bed in the little house we are staying in   Kolobe - the name of the house we are in (it means warthog) One of the Cheetahs (Nova I'm pretty sure) Spike the porcupine She loves to be scratched behind her ears and on her chest. She also loves to give kisses. Here she is licking my leg while I scratch behind her ears. We are now best friends One of the Bat-eared Foxes The pack of wild African dogs  One of the wild dogs waiting for food Free roaming Giraffes on the plain This little guy thinks if he hides behind this bush we can't see him Me and the giraffes  Beautiful animals with a beautiful backdrop Doing the splits to pick up a bone to munch on (they chew on them for calcium) Molly the caracal