Life...The Vivere

AFRICAN ADVENTURE 
July 18, 2012 

"The RHINO population is near extinction..."

Hi dear family and friends,

I know it's been a long while since I've blogged, but it's not because I didn't try! The signal in Africa didn't allow me to upload photos and since I'm a visual person, I couldn't get myself to write if I couldn't SHOW you what I was writing about!!!  But, having weathered a parasite scare, a severe intestinal disorder, the worst case of flu I've EVER experienced...and, believe it or not, a ROOT CANAL as soon as I returned home...a week ago today... I'm now almost back to "normal."  A few more tests and I'll be free of any scary disorders... 

I want to tell you, first, about the awful state of the RHINO POPULATION throughout South Africa. Poaching has reached epic proportions and it's probable that our grandchildren will never see rhinoceros in the wild when they're grown up...a sad commentary on the greed and cruelty of the poachers.  While in South Africa with my family (transplanted from Glasgow, Scotland to Johannesburg and Capetown, South Africa many years ago,) we all had the opportunity to join forces with South Africa's Anti-Poaching Team as they darted (from a helicopter) a young rhino female for the purpose of putting a tracking chip in her horn as well as to take a blood sample and a bit of her ear...all for d.n.a. purposes if she's ever abducted or injured...or worse. All the info the team gathered will aid in identifying, prosecuting and bringing to justice those poachers responsible. It will help A BIT... they need many, many more people to do what we did. Meanwhile, we all got to be up close and personal with this sedated rhino... to feel her horn, the soft skin around her mouth and face and just be in the presence of such a powerful, prehistoric animal. She was blindfolded to lessen her stress and was quite gentle. After the anti-poaching unit finished their tests and implants, we all cleared the area so that when the vet gave the rhino a "wake up shot," we could observe from a safe distance as she got up and walked away as though nothing had happened. It made us feel good to have done a little bit to help...  A final note to this story: I had the privilege of naming this sweet female rhino, so I named her after my Sweetie Girl granddaughter, Lilly... Lilly the Rhino!! Here are some photos of the process... 

...And in another part of South Africa, East London...

Dear friends in East London, South Africa...Ingrid, Andrew and Emma and Holly...we had fun at an elephant encounter!!

Moving on to Ethiopia and my adopted families and my Kara village... located in the southern part of the country along the Omo River, an extension of the mighty Nile.

Kara village (Duss) from the air

Lumale, the 6-tented camp where I stay, 5 minutes from my village

The drop toilet tent and the shower tent behind my living tent

The view of the Omo River from the front of my tent

A pretty empty Kara village...it was harvest time in the farms and everyone was working at their farms during the day...

  

Now for my favorite part...the people of the Kara community...my families and friends... 

My dear friend Walla, her husband Dido and their children

The first ABBY in the Kara community...Walla's daughter. Color me honored...

I've known this girl, Mudo, since she was 4 or 5...she painted me in typical Kara fashion!! Not bad...

My dear friend Buno with her husband, Nanga and her children. Nanga is holding onto little 14 month old Abby...the second Abby in the Kara tribe. Buno's eldest daughter is married and has a baby of her own now...she's pictured with the infant on the right of the photo...

Buno and little Abby

Finally, a few token animals in South Africa...I never see any of THE BIG FIVE in Ethiopia...too many people!

But I DO see lots of livestock throughout tribal Ethiopia!!

 I've had a hard time keeping up with my Art and Sole Postcard Challenge while in Africa... finally caught up with this weeks virtual journey to Ireland...where residents enjoy the world's highest quality of life- it's true!  This, courtesy of THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT, a part of the group that publishes The Economist.  In rendering this judgement, they used 9 indicators to rank 111 countries for its residents' quality of life: material well-being, health (life expectancy at birth,) political stability and security, family life (divorce rate,) community life (church attendance or trade-union membership,) climate and geography, job security, political freedom and gender equality. Interesting, isn't it?

 All for now, dear ones...thanks for coming back to check in after such a long time away. I hope you enjoyed your virtual African trip with me... it was heart-warming and soul-fulfilling to see family (both blood and "adopted,")  as well as dear friends. I look forward to seeing you for the next posting of The Vivere...my blog!

Hugs of appreciation,

abbyj