Pictured Above: Posing with the Zulu dancers at PheZulu Park after their performance on Tuesday. They re-enacted traditional dances and skits associated with a Zulu wedding.
Hi all!
As you
might have gathered from my facebook statuses from the weekend, St. Lucia was
all about the animals. In our three day
stay, we did three safaris, a river cruise, and visited a cat rehabilitation
center.
Friday
evening was our river cruise, where we went out and saw hippo herds on the
banks of the river and in the water.
Yes, many of the townfolk do claim to see hippos walking the streets of
St. Lucia at night, to get to their grazing grounds, but we weren't lucky
enough (or maybe we were) to spot one.
Surprisingly, hippos are considered to be one of the most dangerous
animals in Africa. They walk the same
routes everytime to get from the land to the water and if you're in the way of
their charge back to the safety of the river, they don't simply go around.
We woke up
early Saturday morning for an all day game drive. It was exciting to see many of the
animals that we missed on our Garden
Route safari, including giraffes, warthogs, zebras, and a cheetah. We also tried to spot the ever-elusive
leopard on a night safari that evening.
As much as we tried to spot the red reflective eyes, no luck :(
Monday was
a public holiday, so we stayed in St. Lucia for the extra day and visited the
cat rehabilitation center. Our guide,
the director of the center, spends all his time looking after wild cats that
have been displaced, caring for them while they are in captivity, and releasing
any offspring back into the wild before they are imprinted by a human presence. These animals were super friendly and in many
cases, willing to let us get close to and in some cases touch them. We were actually able to take turns cuddling
with a pair of cheetahs.
Our weekend
was definitely fun, and I was pretty spent when we made it back Monday
evening. This week we are in a new
location for clinic, St. Mary's Hospital, which is funded primarily by the
government but also in part by the Catholic diocese. It is smaller and serves a more rural
community. Tuberculosis infections are
common, and all staff must wear respirators in a majority of the wards. The first
couple days I have spent in radiography (X-ray and Ultrasound) and
surgery, where I saw my first couple of Cesarian births.
It is a
short week, and we are thinking about our next weekend trip to the Drakensburg
Mountains. Our accomodations there will
be much less luxurious which doesn't quite match up with the harsher
climate. Temperatures can dip below
freezing at night and the air starts to thin out towards the tops of the
peaks. We'll have to be careful as we
aren't equipped for serious climbing.
Things could get interesting!
As the
weeks continue, I am still learning about the cultural background behind many
of the cases that are unique to the country and uncommon/nonexistant in the
States. Early and frequent pregnancy, as
well as unconventional abortion flood hospitals with complications and
stress. Smoking and other factors that
lead to tuberculosis infections warrant x-ray after x-ray of the chest. Nearly the entire men's surgical ward at King
Edward housed victims of stabbings and other violence. It seems that in each department we visit
there is little diversity in terms of the cases that they see. Each is filled with people having the same
kinds of issues.
Well not to
count down, but I return home in ten days :) I know a good few of you miss me!
Looking forward to re-connecting again soon.
Cheers,
David
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