May 19th
2019

Welcome to the Zoo!

   Aloha from Pretoria, South Africa! Yes I made it safely and it is currently day 3 at the
zoo while I am writing this. My flight started from Columbus with a layover in Atlanta and then a painful 16hr flight to Johannesburg. From my window seat I could see South Africa below just as the sun was setting.Even from over 20,000 feet I still strained my tired eyes in hopes of seeing an animal below. The orange glow from the sun cast some beautiful light on the Namib Desert as we flew overhead. Namib means “Vast Place” and that wasn’t an exaggeration the desert seemed like it would
never end. When I arrived in Johannesburg I exited the plane and went to customs. The line
was long but it was moving quickly so it wasn’t too bad. I made some friends with a Canadian
couple who were there for a safari trip, they were heading to Namibia. We parted ways as we
headed to baggage claim where I received both my check ins. I followed the crowd out to the
arrival area where I would meet Ashley (Internship partner) and our drivers. It took me a
minute but I found everyone and we headed to the car. By the time we actually left the airport
the day had given way to night. The city shared a familiarity to those back in the states, except
the highways because in South Africa they drive on the left side, and the driver sits in the right
seat. Tall skyscrapers illuminated the night and the honking of cars echoed in the distance. We
stopped at a fast food place called “Wimpy’s” grabbed food to go and then headed to the zoo.
The drive was short just under 30 minutes. We pulled up to the main entrance where the
guards let us in. They then handed us our room and house keys and we continued on our way.
The drive to our accommodation was longer than I expected. The road twisted and turned. The
only light was that from the headlights of our car. As we made a quick right turn Ashley shouts
“Is that an elephant!?” in the dark there was a faint outline of what seemed to be a big African
elephant. The drivers laughed didn’t confirm or deny her claim and we pulled up to the house.
At night it was difficult to make out the structure but it was made of stone and there was a long
patio area that led to the door. Inside we were greeted by two men, one from Austria who is a
researcher here, and the other a university student from Belgium. They were both very kind.
They helped us with our bags and showed us to our room. The interior of the house was very
clean and well maintained. The floors, and many of the walls were wood which gave off a nice
scent throughout the house. The kitchen was beautiful with marble countertops, white tiled
floor, and dark mahogany shelving. Our room is steps away from the kitchen and living area.
Ashley and I share a room furnished with two beds, a desk and a nice view of the back deck and
greenery. That night we went to bed around 8:30pm. I ended up waking up at 2:45am the next
day unable to go back to bed. So I watched as the sun rose its light filtering through the blinds
of our window. As the morning went on and the sun rose higher the animals woke up as well. It
started with the song of birds and then the call of the peacocks and right around 7 you could
hear the lions groaning. We left the house around 9 that morning and explored the zoo. Outside the weather was a nice 74 degrees. Our house is actually situated feet from one of the Rhino enclosures.
These were the Southern white rhinos. One male and one female. The male, named Goliath
was hand-reared so he enjoys the company of people and considers cars as his competition.
That morning we witnessed one of the zoo employees racing Goliath in his van. He would rev
the engine and Goliath would paw the ground to show he was ready. As the van took off tank-
like Goliath would trot after him kicking up dust as he went. We continued on our little tour around the zoo checking out the many different species in its collection. We finally made our journey to the research center where we met our contact Lufuno. She introduced us to DD who would be taking us grocery shopping that day. Another staff member named, Jamie also tagged along for the trip. They helped us get what we needed and dropped us back off at the house. We made plans for the next week to all watch Game of Thrones together.
  This morning I woke up at 5:30 which is much better than 2:45, left my bed at 7:30 and
cooked myself some eggs and toast. It was nice to be the first one up. I sat there with a book for
a couple hours until the rest of the house joined. When we had all had our breakfast we got
dressed and walked around the zoo. Stefan and Nikolas, the two men we met the first night
gave us the grand tour. The zoo is one of the largest in the world housing around 700 species.
We didn’t get to all the animals, but we have weeks to see them. We hiked to the top of the hill where, situated in the cliff side were lookouts so we could see over the zoo and into the city.
Below the lookout were the lion and tiger enclosures. We then went back to the house where,
Nikolas made us some pesto pasta for lunch. We chatted for a bit then I went to read and write
this blog! Tonight we are planning on seeing the bush babies. They jump around in the treed in
the backyard of the house every night. Apparently BBC did a special on them here not too long
ago. We have officially started working with the veterinarians. This post is a bit late and I promise to get up a current one asap. Cheers from South Africa!

GOLIATH (pictured left)

Southern white rhinos are one of two subspecies of white rhino and are the most common. They are listed on IUCN as near threatened. Rhino horn is made primarily of keratin, a protein that is found in fingernails or hair. Sadly many people believe their horns can be used for medicinal purposes, and therefor they are killed for it. Let’s raise awareness and protect these amazing animals!