FINDING MS RHINO

When last we left our story, our helicopter was just arriving.  It landed and picked up the vet, one of his interns (there were 3 young ladies from the US), and a niece of Sean’s.  Brenna is from Indiana, and had just been home from a mission in Thailand for about 3 months.  She graduated from BYU (communications) before her mission, and since coming home already had a job as a news anchor in a smaller city in Texas.

 

After about 10 minutes they radioed back and said they had spotted 2 black rhinos.  The black rhinos are extremely rare so everyone was very excited about that.  This vet had tagged 232 rhinos up until that time, but had never tagged a black rhino.  The pilot said there was a mother and a larger calf together and the calf had an injured leg.  The vet wanted very much to treat the calf’s injuries along with tagging it.

 

The veterinarian

 

The helicopter flew back, the vet prepared the tranquilizer dart and they took off again.  The rest of us piled into three vehicles and headed to the area where the rhinos were spotted. 

Off we go

 

While following the helicopter, we came across the largest herd of giraffes we had ever seen.  There were close to 20 giraffes with their babies.  We didn’t have time however, to stop and get a good look at them or take decent pictures.

 

As we drove, the helicopter flew back towards the black rhinos again.  But they flew around searching for almost 30 minutes, until we thought they were going to run out of gas and have to abort the whole activity.  That was very nerve-racking for all of us.  Finally it was decided they had to give up on the black rhinos and look for a white one. 

 

Within about 5 minutes they had two spotted and were chasing them to where our vehicles were parked.  All of a sudden we saw this rhino come crashing out of the brush towards the road right by us.  We could see she had a dart stuck in her rear.  She came to a stop about 20 feet from the road and just kind of stood there frozen. 



Why does my butt sting?

Her sister then appeared out of nowhere and ran circles around her several times, trying to encourage her to get moving.  At one point the sister even nudged her.  The helicopter had to swoop down to try to scare off the sister.  After several attempts, the sister ran off into the bush.  The darted rhino’s knees buckled and she just kind of collapsed, going down in a kneeling position. 

 

One of the senior sister missionaries had the assignment of throwing a towel over the rhinos eyes, and another one stuffed socks into each of her ears.  That was to try to soften the impact of what was going on around her.
 

The vet asked us to try to tip her on her side because he was worried about the position in which she went down.  He was concerned about her legs because evidently they don’t have great circulation.  About 8 of us got together on one side of her to try to tip her over.  We had no luck.  It was like trying to push over a truck.

 

One of Sean’s nieces had the job of sitting by the rhino’s nose and keeping track of her respiration (about 6-8 per minute).  A nephew helped insert an oxygen tube into her nose.

 

 

The vet inserted a pick line behind the rhino’s ear in case he needed to administer any emergency drug in a hurry.  He then proceeded to mark the rhino’s ears. 

Marking and cutting the ears

 They marked each ear with a marker for 3 notches in a particular pattern.  The number and position of the notches makes it possible to identify the rhinos from the air.  Our rhino was number 233.  He then took a big pair of cutters and cut the notches in her ear. 


Putting ointment on her ears

 That was just like cutting into a heavy weight leather belt.  They then put some ointment on the ears to clean the cuts and help stop the bleeding.



 

The next order of business was to drill about a 3/16” diameter hole into each of the two horns and insert a microchip.  If police ever found the horns in someone’s possession, they could prove their origin in that way. 


This horn is worth $65,000 to poachers

 Another microchip was inserted beneath the skin behind one of her ears.  A piece of hair was pulled out of her tail to use for a DNA sample. 

 

They always name their rhinos and this one we named “Lady Grace.”

 

All during the time the rhino was down, Sean’s niece, Brenna, was doing little “interview shots” around Lady Grace.  Sean would turn on the camera, and she would say something like “you can see now that Doctor Everett is drilling a hole in the horn of this 7 year old White Rhinoceros.”  That was kind of fun to watch too.  She will take the footage back home and put together a little rhino piece.

The work is finished and it's time for some photos

Lady Grace

 

After close to an hour, we all got back into our vehicles and the vet gave Lady Grace an antidote shot.  Within 1 minute she was up on her feet, and within another minute, she trotted off into the brush.

 

 

She was in and out of our lives just like that, but we'll certainly never forget this experience. 

 

RHINO RESCUE

At the area office is a church employee named Sean Donnelly.  He is the Public Affairs director for the Africa Southeast Area.  For the past 10 years or so, Sean and his wife Diane have been involved with helping to save the Rhino population in Africa.  We’ve probably mentioned it before, but more than 1,000 rhinos were poached last year just so people could cut off their horns.  They are smuggled to China and Viet Nam mainly, for their supposedly medicinal powers when they are ground up.  Four or five weekends a year, Sean organizes a group to go down to the Kruger National Park area to tag, and evaluate rhinos.  If he gets a group of about 15-20 people together, the amount each person pays, is enough to cover the cost of the “Rhino Rescue.”

             

The Klaserie game preserve is a 6-7 hour drive from Johannesburg.  It is a private reserve of about 200,000 acres.  That sounds pretty big until you figure that the Kruger National Park game preserve is more than 4,800,000 acres.  It borders right on Kruger Park game preserve.  There are no fences between Kruger and Klasserie, meaning the animals are free to roam between the parks.  The difference is that because it is private property, the owners have more leeway with what they do on their property with lodges, hotels, etc.

 


A pod of hippos at the watering hole

One of the many beautiful birds

We left Johannesburg at 6 am Thursday morning.  We reserved/rented a van from the area carpool and rode with two other couples. 

 

Mama baboon giving her baby his daily bath

 

We got to our “modest” bungalow about 2:30, and Diane Donnelly fixed a nice Dutch oven dinner for 21.  We left at 6am the next morning and drove about 30 miles to Kruger Park and did a “self-drive” in the park and saw lots of great animals.  We met up at a picnic area in the park at 11am and Donnellys had prepared a nice bacon and egg breakfast on gas barbecue grills.  After breakfast/lunch, we drove some more in Kruger Park then went back to our place in the Klasserie Reserve.  Donnellys fixed us another great Dutch oven dinner Friday night.

 

A crocodile sunning at the watering hole

 

Saturday we left at 5:30am and drove into the Klasserie reserve.  We rode with guides in their open safari vehicles.  Two people in front then 3 rows of 3 people each in open vehicles.  They did have nice sturdy canvas half doors on them in case a lion wanted to jump in.  At 6:45 am we met up in a big clearing.  Waiting for us was the warden from Klassserie Reserve along with a veterinarian, his daughter and 3 interns from the US.  The vet showed us all the drugs he uses to make the “cocktail” to bring down the Rhino.  Because these drugs are so powerful, he doesn’t mix the dosage until they have identified just how big the rhino is that he has to dart.  Right at 7am, the helicopter arrived, then the grand adventure really began.

 

NEXT TIME:  FINDING MS RHINO

 

BOTSWANA

On Wednesday, April 29, Susan and I went to Gaborone, Botswana along with Phillip Moatlhodi, the Area Welfare Manager and immediate "boss."

Gaborone, the capital of Botswana is just about 10 miles across the border from South Africa.  It is about a 6 hour drive from Johannesburg.  The purpose of the trip was to evaluate a wheelchair project that had been started there the previous year. 

In happier times with Flat Stanley (may he rest in pieces)

The trip to Botswana was really interesting and fun also.  Susan and I got the chance to visit with Phillip that whole time and we learned lots about him and his family, as well as about the culture of South Africa.  I think that sometime soon we'll do a blog entry just about Phillip.  He's a very interesting guy with a lot of responsibility in the Africa Southeast Area.  I don't know why our area is called Africa Southeast.  There is nothing in the "Southwest that is not in our area.  Everything South of Sudan, Chad and Nigeria is in our area.  They should really just call it the Africa South Area.

We had a meeting scheduled with the people from the Ministry of Health for Botswana for 2:30.  We were also going to meet John and Marcia Dow.  They are "Short Term Specialists" for wheelchairs.  They are actually serving as missionaries, but are stationed at their home in California.  They make several trips each year to Africa (and also Brazil) to implement these wheelchair projects.  Between trips they spend a lot of time online with partner organizations (like Ministries of Health) in several countries organizing these projects and evaluating the reports from on-going and previous projects.  They really are good people and very well organized.  We get copied on a lot of the emails they send back and forth (probably about 20-30 each week).

On the right, the blue, white and black Botswana flag

The Dows were flying to Botswana from previous meetings the day before in Namibia and their plane was about 2 hours late.  That was actually a good thing because Phillip got us there about 2 hours late also.  Nobody though, seemed to make a big deal about the time (hey, it's Africa).

We met in a conference room at the Health Ministry building.  There were 3 ladies from the Ministry as well as us from the Church.  Brother Dow started the meeting by saying that the Church is in the process of evaluating "Partner Organizations," choosing just the best ones to be able to continue working with.  He noted the problems with ongoing projects (late, and incomplete reports) and asked if they were really interested in continuing with the partnership.

Well, that really put the fear into them, because the Church's donation of 500 or so, $200-$300 wheelchairs is worth a great deal to them.  And to a smaller country like Botswana, that really is a huge deal and means all the difference as to whether or not they are able to help their disabled people.

A wheelchair recipient's house in Molepolole

The Botswanans begged forgiveness and promised to get their reports up to date by the end of May. They were told that if that went well and also the field evaluations the next day, the Church would consider another donation of about 500 chairs.

[The current wheelchair program consists of getting a "Memorandum of Understanding" (contract), signed and then ordering the wheelchairs either from China or South Africa.  Once the wheelchairs are "in country," the Short Term Specialist couple comes again to the country.  This time they bring a team of 2 or 3 trainers with them.  These trainers are physical or occupational therapists who are currently working, but use their vacation time to come train the therapists in the countries.  The Church pays their expenses, but not any salaries.

These trainers teach usually about 15 therapists who travel to the training site from all over the country.  They're taught a very comprehensive training course on how to properly prescribe the chairs.  They have to understand the nature of a person's disability, and how and in what environment the chair will be used.  There are different types of chairs for indoor use, outdoor use, active (sports) use and even ones that are best for going in the sand or rough terrain.  They take measurements of the person to make sure they get the correct size chair.  A chair that is incorrectly prescribed can actually do a person more harm than good.  We've seen pictures of people, that because of sitting 16 hours a day in an ill-fitting chair, have spines that have become grossly deformed. 

The therapist then records lots of information about the patient and chair that was given him, on the Church approved spreadsheet.  Each therapist is then responsible to forward this information to the Health Ministry where it is compiled and sent on to brother and sister Dow.  The Church insists on knowing the identification of each recipient, because people in the past have abused the system.  Some people would go to therapists and get more than 1 chair and then sell them.]

Recipient #1 and his visitors

On the second of our trip, we met again at the Ministry of Health and loaded into a large van.  There were us 5 from the church, and 6 from Botswana, including 2 therapists that had been trained the previous year.

We traveled 50 kilometers north to the city of Molepolole.  We first stopped at the regional center for disabilities where we picked up their therapist.  Our purpose was to meet with random recipients, evaluate them, their chairs and the donation process. 

This is our whole group with Phillip next to Susan

The first gentleman we met was about 20 years old and very active.  He even played basketball in his chair.  The Dows interviewed each person and went over a list of about 30 questions.  Among other things, each person was asked if they had to pay anything to get their chair (against Church policy).  His chair was 6 months old and the seat and back were already tearing.

The second person was about a 70 year old lady who was missing both legs just below the knees.  She actually came walking out of the house on her knees (she wore kneepads).  Her chair was almost like new because she seldom used it around the house, preferring to walk on her knees.

Recipient #2 with her daughter and grandchildren

Without her chair

The third gentleman was about 40 years old, had a large yard with a nice garden that he tended.  His chair fabric was also tearing.  In his yard was an Acasia tree which is one that elephants really love to eat even though it has thorns that are 2 or 3 inches long.

These thorns are wicked

The fourth person was a 17 year old student who we visited at his school.  He also had his chair for about 6 months but it was determined that he'd had a chair(s) previously that had not been correctly fitted.  His spine was deformed from slumping sideways in a chair that was too big for him and did not properly support him

Marcia Dow interviewing, John Dow in shirt and tie

He was very happy to have his picture taken

After the visits we went back to the Center for Disabilities, had another meeting where they served us a nice lunch, and then rode back to Gaborone. 

We stayed another night at our nice hotel there, then drove back to Johannesburg on Friday.  It was a very instructional trip and we're so glad we were able to do it.  (Wow! What a long entry!)

By the way, the Dows said that the therapist who prescribed these 4 chairs had done an excellent job, both with the fitting, and with her paperwork.

A Grand Adventure and a Tragic Death

About four hours away from Johannesburg is the 4th largest game reserve in South Africa (about 200,000 acres).  It's called Madikwe and we took Maddie and Chad there and had the adventure of a life time.  We stayed at the Mosetlha Bush Camp and slept among the animals.



Moseetlha Bush Camp, no electricity, no running water



This is called a 'donkey boiler'.  To get warm water, we poured
cold water in the spout on top and warm water came out the end.

.  The camp is fenced, and the only gate is just one coiled strand of electrified wire with 10,000 volts running through it.  The only problem is that the wire is about 7 feet off the ground.  It is only there to keep elephants from wandering into camp.  I guess they could make a real mess of the cabins if they got nervous inside the enclosure.


We did get a visit from a hyena, civet and cape buffalo the very first night.  They just wandered through the camp during the evening before we went to bed.  And the next morning some of us heard the low roar of a lion.


Our cabin was about three feet off the ground.  It has kind of a half door with a fabric panel in it. The front and back of the cabin is open with a canvas flap. Some of us heard foot steps and loud banging the minute we got in bed. Some of us  didn't sleep much because we had one eye open just to make sure the critters didn't visit us.  But we all had a great time though and would certainly go there again.

Our home for 3 days

We got to our camp about 2 pm the first day and went on our first game drive (safari) at about 4 p.m. to 7:30 pm.  We finished the drive in pitch black.  Our driver/guide Kgmotso, shined a spotlight and we were still seeing animals in the dark.

All our meals were provided and were cooked in Dutch ovens and they were really good.


The restroom with shower and VIP toilets (ventilated, improved pit) was just a couple of feet from our door.  There is a fenced path that leads to the restrooms so people don't have to worry about unwelcomed guests.



Our path to the bathroom and the showers had a fence
all around it



When we came back from our first game drive, there were well over 100 kerosene lanterns all over camp, lighting the paths to the cabins and rest rooms.  That was really a pretty sight.




A rare sighting of a leopard

A male Kudu and his sweetie

The next morning our game drive started at 6:30 (in the dark again).  It was pretty cold riding in the open vehicles until the sun came up but they had blankets for each of us to wrap up in.




Form left to right:  Gregg (our host), Chad and Maddie,
 Kgmotso (our guide), and Ming in the jeep

Mike's daughter, Sophie, had sent us Flat Stanley to take with us on our African adventures.  Grandma Susan dressed him up in some authentic African fabric, and we took him along on our Safari.  He was such a good boy while with us and never caused any trouble whatsoever.




Getting ready for the drive with Flat Stanley



Stanley with the Rhinos

We saw so many beautiful animals there.  They always talk about the "big five" when going on safaris.  Those are the 5 most dangerous animals; lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and Cape Buffalo.  By the morning during our second drive, we had seen all 5 of them.  Plus we had seen 4 cheetah brothers sunning themselves and also a pack of wild dogs.  Those are a very rare sight in the park.


Two Cheetahs sun bathing at the dam

The wild dogs

Rhinos

Because Madikwe is a regional and not a national park, the guides can drive "off road" if they need to go follow a special animal through the bush.  Our driver ended up doing that several times during our 4 game drives.

A beautiful animal

During the afternoon of the second day, we spotted a large herd of Cape Buffalo.  They are spectacular looking animals with the most beautiful massive horns.  We watched them for about 15 minutes until they crossed the road right ahead of us and wandered off into the brush again.


Cape Buffalo

All the driver/guides from different companies, keep in touch with each other on CB radios.  When a vehicle spots some great animals, they make a call and several vehicles in the vicinity may converge so everyone gets more chances to see the animals.




We watched this elephant for 10 minutes eating this bush




The bush is almost stripped clean.  Elephants eat for 18 hours a day. 
They consume about 500 pounds a day but only 40% is digested.

STANLEY'S BIGGEST, GRANDEST ADVENTURE

Just after dark, our guide, Kgmotso, spotted 2 male lions lying in the grass near the side of the road.  She put the spotlight on them and they just laid there.  She told us they were brothers and had just been brought to Madikwe from another game reserve in Namibia.  Animals are quite often moved around because it helps keep the gene pool strong.  These 2 males were quite large and she said they were not afraid to attack a large buffalo if they had the chance.

Two male lions waiting for the right time. 

As we were watching them, another vehicle a few hundred yards ahead of us radioed that they had just spotted a herd of buffaloes.  Kgmotso got really excited and told us all to keep quiet.  She said those 2 males by us were very likely stalking that heard.  She didn't want to move up closer to the buffaloes because she said if they stampeded, it would be really dangerous, even in the vehicle. So we waited.

SURE ENOUGH

About 5 minutes later the lions started moving slowly through the brush in the direction of the buffaloes.  Kgmotso didn't want to shine the light on them because it would make them easy to spot by the buffaloes.  We didn't see anything for about 5 minutes, but all of a sudden we heard the
terrified sound of the buffaloes and from a couple of hundred yards away could hear their hooves and bellowing as they stampeded.  Even in the dark we could see a big cloud of dust as they headed towards the road.  Unfortunately the vehicle in front of us was directly in their path.  The driver slammed in into reverse and "got himself out."

Kgmotso then took off into the bush in pursuit of the buffaloes and lions.  Real soon we heard the terrified sounds of a young buffalo that had been taken down by the lions.  We watched as one of the lions dragged the buffalo through the brush.  The buffalo was still kicking as the lions dragged him away.  Kgmotso said the lions move their kill so the buffaloes wouldn't come back on them and disturb their dinner.


Kgmotso followed them for a hundred yards or so, driving over rocks and trees or anything else that was in our way.  Everyone followed us through the dark until we stopped. Then we just parked and watched the lions eating their happy meal.  We shined our spotlights on them and the lions couldn't have cared less.  They just sat there and watched us watching them as they had dinner.  We could hear all sorts of noises, from the tearing of flesh to the crunching of bones.






Happy meal



Cape Buffalo sandwich

Commentary by Madeline Parson

I guess that seeing a kill like that is one of the rarest of sights.  We felt extremely fortunate. 


UNTIL WE MADE A SAD AND TRAGIC DISCOVERY


We wanted to take some pictures of Stanley with the lions. But we couldn't find him anywhere.  At some point during this chase, Stanley must have become dislodged from his seat and thrown from the vehicle.  Poor little fellow.  We'll never forget little Stanley in all his flatness.  He had some of the finest moments of his life here in Africa.  We do believe that he died a hero.




Beautiful Kudu with his two does

Heading to the watering hole




Two brothers snuggling in the afternoon sun



We watched these rhinos fight for their territory.

They pushed and shoved each other back and forth.

Sometimes they will do it for hours.

We all had the adventure of a lifetime and we will never forget our three days at Madikwe Game Reserve.