A mostly-pictures post

Here are photos from the weekend! I'll provide a bit of an overview of the weekend, but I think most of it is best shown by the pictures!

I started clinic on Friday shadowing, but there were a ton of patients to see, so they asked if I could start seeing patients on my own (both so I could see some patients and so the doctor I was working with could see patients more quickly). It was fairly overwhelming--there is some degree of language barrier, even if most students have to learn English. And I always have some trouble using a new EMR. But overall, everyone was polite and very helpful.

I tried to see teenage patients, who were more likely to speak fluent English. I found out that there is also a nurse who can translate when needed, so I may try to see some younger children on my own when she's available.

After clinic ended, at around 2 pm (apparently a pretty normal time, although it was the latest clinic ran all of last week), Whitney and I walked to the Main Mall to get lunch at a restaurant with local food that was recommended by a Penn resident we met the night before. The restaurant had finished serving lunch, but they prepared food for us--it look a long time, but I thought it was good. I then walked around the Main Mall, an outdoor plaza/strip mall with a wide variety of shops and street vendors targeted at locals and tourists, before heading home. 

Friday evening was the Freshlyground concert at Botswana Craft. We arrived early enough to see the first opening act, a performance by the marimba band from the Maru-a-Pula school (an elite boarding/day high school near our apartment where the other two Princeton in Africa people, besides my roommate Anette, work). The marimba band and the second opener were enjoyable, and Freshlygorund was excellent. I hadn't realized who the band was when I decided to go to the concert--they were the band that did the Waka Waka World Cup song with Shakira. Everyone at the concert was incredibly enthusiastic and the band were great performers with great music. The sold-out concert took place in a large outdoor courtyard, and the weather was perfect for it. After the band finished, the venue put on dance music and the floor in front of the stage became a dance party. Overall, it was a great experience and a great way to meet lots of incredibly friendly locals and visitors from around Africa and around the world!

Saturday morning we woke up pretty early to catch a ride to the Madikwe game reserve, a large reserve just over the border in South Africa, around 50 km away. At the border crossing, we met another group of tourists; they turned out to be the current group from Penn--3 fourth year students, one resident, and one spouse--and they were heading to the same camp for the weekend. We ended up being assigned to the same safari guide, which worked out great. After our game drive the first day, we had a surprise outdoor dinner in the bush by lantern-light/bonfire. It was a pretty awesome experience. Dinner conversation involved a lot of Oscar Pistorius jokes and lots of pretty racist comments on the part of our ranger about Chinese people and how they are going to destroy Africa. 

Disappointingly, people heard gun shots in the park Saturday morning, so rangers had closed down some roads due to safety concerns while they searched for the poachers. That meant we couldn't go to the area where the ranger expected we would be able to see cheetahs. The highlight of the trip, however, was seeing a pack of wild dogs. I think visitors normally see cheetahs and wild dogs at this park partially because of conservation/reintroduction efforts and partially because some animals are tagged so the rangers can find them more easily. It certainly makes it a less natural experience, but it is nice to be able to see animals. Overall, it was a lovely and relaxing weekend, and it was great to get connected with the Penn folks.

Tomorrow I'm doing outreach in Hukuntsi, a village in the Kgalagadi Dessert in Western Botswana (pop 4,500 according to wikipedia, it has a grocery store, 3 elementary schools, 1 secondary school, and a hospital). I need to be at the airport at 7 am and we'll fly out to the town in a small (10-12 seater) airplane. 

Outreach sounds like a very different experience than the clinic here. Our general role is to monitor HIV positive children in the community and provide antiretrovirals and other therapies, but it sounds like there is generally minimal access to healthcare so we may be asked to treat almost anything. One of the doctors at the clinic told me a story about a baby who was brought to the clinic with an abscess. They didn't have any I&D kits, sterile gloves, etc., but they were the only medical providers the baby would see, so they did what they could. It sounds pretty crazy. I'll write about it tomorrow or the day after and I'll try to include some photos.

Princess Marina Hospital. These are the actual hallways of the hospital. Literally, patients are rolled in stretchers down these walkways to get to surgery, etc. It's odd to be walking outside and be able to look into wards and see patients, but, aside from security being more difficult, I guess it's not that much less safe/sanitary than an American hospital. I just imagine a squirrel or bird getting into an OR, though. Maybe when I do a couple days there next week, I'll ask if that has ever happened. But I'll wait until the end of my second day, so they won't think I'm an idiot while I still have to interact with them.

The Main Mall in Gabs, which is pretty close to the hospital. I will have to come back to do some souvenir shopping, and to try the Pie Shop (savory, not sweet). It sounds pretty delicious.

The sun deck at the lodge, overlooking the watering hole. Sarah and Eli are talking to one of the guides.

Our cabin. I didn't fill out the guest questionaire in time, so they assumed that 2 guests under the name "Williams" were a couple. They gave us a double bed (which was huge, so it was fine), and there was a note on the bed saying, "Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Willam."

The bathroom with the outdoor shower. One of the CHOP residents who was there when we arrived had forgotten to shut the door to the bathroom while she was showering. When she came back in, there was a monkey in her bathroom. She said both of them were quite startled to see each other.

The second opening band

Freshlyground at their super-awesome concert

Zolani Mahola, the lead singer, was quite charismatic. And pregnant.

The very beginning of our game drive--we had to stop because there was a crocodile hanging out in the middle of the road.

Elephants at a watering hole. The park was interesting--there was a surprising amount of human intervention. Most of the watering holes are semi-man made, or at least man-filled, to be sure they had water year-round. Near the road a little way back from the watering hole was a large solar panel that ran a pump to keep the water from drying up.

Male elephant in musth, a period in which testosterone levels surge (according to wikipedia, to as much as 60x the normal level) and elephants become highly aggressive. Kenny had just banged on the side of our jeep, and the elephant was not happy with us.

A pack of wild dogs (or "African spotted dogs," as they have been re-dubbed in conservation efforts). There are fewer than 9,000 of them left in the world. They were beautiful! 

Like wolves, they regurgitate food to feed it to their young. I'm not sure if this dog was intended to feed its pack-mates baby-wolf-style, or if it just vomited and re-ate the meat because why should it go to waste. Regurgitating meat definitely brought the other dogs nearby over quickly, though.

The Toto lyrics regarding this particular animal never made much sense to me, but they make even less sense after learning more about the species. They're actually a lot like wolves--they live in packs and can't survive on their own. Nothing solitary about them.

Another bull elephant. This one was much more docile.

The dexterity of their trunks is incredible!

Lion! Plus Sarah and Eli.

Mom and cub

A bunch of cubs. In addition to size, cubs can be distinguished from adults by their spotted legs.

Surprise outdoor dinner in the bush. It was pretty awesome.

Mom and baby white rhinos

Black rhinos, which are much more rare, don't travel in pairs like this. White rhinos are much more sociable.

We spent all morning looking for a giraffe, and eventually found these two. Then got back to the lodge and there was one hanging out at the watering hole there.

The second giraffe we found. The older a giraffe is, the more dark area it had on it's body. This one is probably pretty old.

Male ostrich

Cattle walking down the highway on our way back to Gabs--this is a pretty common sight. There were actually cows on the side of the main road near our house the other day. It seemed strange because it's a quite suburban area with mostly fairly high-end housing. I have no idea where the closest cattle farm would be.