Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My.

Well, we finally made it to a game reserve and it was like being a kid again. I remember watching many animal and safari shows on TV as a youngster and dreaming of the day I would get to see the wild animals. The day has come and it was last Monday. As soon as we arrived at Hlane game reserve we went right to the closest watering hole (we were on foot) and sure enough there were 2 giant Hippos and one younger one about half the size as the other two and about a dozen Rhinos, it was really great. We sat/stood and watched them for a good 30 minutes before one of the Rhinos charged at us but was stopped by the electric fence. Little did he know that he could have gone right through the fencing and reached his target with very little effort. Soon thereafter we got into the car and had an amazing ride through the park. We saw this Ostrich who had imprinted on one of the game wardens soon after it was born so it just follows him around daily. We saw the ostrich standing on the side of the road and it just stood there while we stopped. It all seemed very curious until we looked up in the nearest tree and saw the game warden perched high above us. He said that the bird truly never leaves his side whenever he is at work. The day was full on, we saw lions, warthogs, giraffe (we were within 15 feet of two of them), hippos, rhinos, gazelle, antelope, to name a few. The only disappointment was that we had not seen any elephants. A few hours had passed and the park was getting ready to close for the day trippers so we headed for the exit. We found the exit to be gated, so we sat in the car for a couple of minutes before another game warden came out to let us exit. She seemed rather rushed and waved us in through the exit and then pointed behind us. There stood a herd of elephants, a couple of bulls, females and several little (I guess little is relative) baby elephants. It was so cool, well at least until the alpha male started to come toward us. Fortunately he too was put off by the electric fence as we scurried around the otherside of the car. The warden said that he was particularly aggressive and that it was best to keep our distance. It was the perfect end to my first game park experience.
It was a four day work week for me. The King decided to make Monday a public holiday to honor the completion of the Incwala festival. It was a unplanned holiday in part. It was not announced until Friday night so we were not sure if we would see patients on Monday until Saturday morning. Well the whole country came to a screeching halt, well not so screeching given that it never moves that fast in first place. All the stores, shops and government offices were all closed. A real holdiay for most everyone. After Incwala the King goes into seclution for many weeks and again this signals a vast slow down for the country until late January. Many public services close as well, like the offices that serve the local orphans. Our Peace Corps friends do some work with the local orphans and said that there will be no food distribution or services for the next several weeks. Fortunately our Home Based Care program continues although two of my coworkers will be on vacation for a month starting on Monday. The hospital is open although serveral physicians go on holiday. The ENT doctor and his wife who is a physical therapist are both away for the next 6 weeks so both of those departments will close down until they return. It is amazing to think that when the only person who works in a department is off or on vacation there is no fill-in, they just close the department all together.
We had a great night with Andrew and Kristin last Sunday night. Dinner and drinks and good conversation at our house. They were very impressed with all of our luxuries, runnning cold water, an indoor toilet and electricity. Neither of them moved away from the fan all night and said that they had their best sleep since coming to Swaziland 5 months ago. So no longer feeling sorry for myself for not having hot water,it clearly could be much worse.
The shortened work week was most agreeable. I really get worn out by the end of the week. We see about 25 or so patients a day, sometimes they just line up waiting to be seen. I have a lot to learn about skin rashes, KS, ringworm, severe thrush, fungal infections and abdominal pain. Next week I am going to meet with one of the doctors in the Outpatient Department to see if I can spend a couple of days a week with him to learn more about the treatments for local diseases. Also we are going to discuss if there are any other medications available for us to take out on our home visits. The big draw back to spending time in the outpatient department is the lack of ventillation in the OPD, there are about 200 people waiting at any given time and there is TB everywhere, much of it resistant to antibiotics. I have been wearing a mask when necessary but it is incredibly hot and my whole face just breaks out in a sweat. So I need to think this over a bit more before deciding if it is worth the risk or if there is another option.
Big news, David bought a car in Manzini yesterday. It is a 1995 Mazda Levante something or another. It has four doors, four wheels, is green and looks like a small boxy version of an old SUV. Hopefully, we will have it in our possesion on Tuesday, in time for the Christmas holiday. Freedom on wheels, I can't wait. We are so looking forward to getting out of town and seeing more of the country side, South Africa and Mozambique.
I guess that is all for now. Know that we are well, enjoying life and each other and are very much alive with all that is new around us. The journey is certainly on an up note today and for that I am most grateful. We hear that there is a new independent film coming out in the states soon about Swaziland and is in part focused on a Home Based Care team. Please let me know if it comes to New York or San Francisco and what the name of the film is.
Peace,
Scott