November Students – Update 2
We have now been at HESC for a week and a half. Since our last update we have again done some really amazing things.
We visited the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, where we met a baby rhino and a baby cheetah. Both of which we got to touch and play with. We fed the vultures by hand (with a big glove on!). And we ended off our visit with “behind the scenes” tour of the centre, which gave us great insight into what it takes to run and manage such a place.
It’s not child’s play, that’s for sure!
Back at HESC we had the formidable task of catching an injured cheetah, and then transporting him to the vet. We carried the sleeping cat inside and observed as the vet flushed its nasal passages and x-rayed it.
It was very interesting, and we felt extremely fortunate to be able to watch.
Our next excursion was to the Khamai Reptile Park to learn more about South Africa’s many reptiles and amphibians. The guide took us on a tour and showed us the various species of snakes, as well as the resident crocs, alligators and tortoises.
We saw an eight-year-old alligator that was the size of a three-year-old. For some reason his growth had been stunted.
We learnt all about first-aid for snake bites, and we got to hold a scorpion and a baboon spider. All in all, it was a very interesting morning.
When we left there we realised there is no reason to be afraid of snakes.
And when the rain finally stopped last night, we did some target practice with an air rifle.
We have another exciting week coming up – so keep an eye on this blog! And if you’d like to see more photos of our adventures you can visit our Facebook or Flikr albums.
African greetings from
Ali, Nicole and Gail 😉