Lets just start this Blog off with a Lovely Little Ellie named Keisha 

And of course ME !!!

                                                                       


                                                                            4:30 AM.
                                            It always comes quicker then you think it will .....
                    So at 4:30am Ann and I did BOMA observation ... which basically means we watch
                   and record the activities of the Ellies during the early hours before their day has begun.
                                Typically I wouldn't be happy about being up so early for work but
                    watching their behavior in a completely different setting and time frame was so
                interesting that we didn't even have time to notice that our day had begun well before
                                                                   before the sun had risen.
         
          I had read countless times that they mostly sleep standing up due to circulatory reasons and
               of course the obvious ... that they are so big that getting up would be a huge difficulty.
                 But what we observed was that 6 out of the 7 Ellies were sleeping laying down!!
        And that it wasn't at all a rarity. It was the cutest thing ever to watch them flop over onto their
               sides, all sprawled out, their trunks curled up or resting over the concrete sides.

                                          This is the BOMA ... which is basically an enclosure
              that acts as a sleeping shelter for animals during the evening hours .. or if they're new to
                                                                      a place or in distress ....            
            This one as you can see is enclosed and gives the Ellies the option to spend their evenings
                                          inside or outside depending on their mood.  To the left is a
                                 smaller fenced in area with a shelter where they are also free to roam.
                                                 

 

After that we did our routine morning cleanup 

and then were off to Zebra Inventory.

Yes...I said  Zebra Inventory.

Once a week they count the zebras to make sure they are all accounted for and

healthy and happy, etc.

As you can imagine I assumed this was going to be a daunting tasks and wasn't

at all looking forward to it ...but after we got a few identified it was quick and actually fun!

Like one of those matching games...

                                                  I have no idea who these two are
              (lol.. because obv I knew who they were for only the 12 seconds it took to write it down)
                                                       But they're being so cute so who cares ...

And after that we all hopped into the Parks bus and 

went to a shopping mall to purchase our food for the week ...

Pick n Pay ... what else can I say.

The name says it all.

District 9?

Waiting for the Bus ...

                                                        And this is my Africa Family !!!!
                   Anna, Lis(z)a, Beth, Aliyah, Jo, Gemma, Christana, Daisy, Ann, Tanna, Nicki
                                                             Hailing from.. .in order ....
             Germany, Germany, US, US, England, Denmark, England, US, Hong Kong, South Africa
                          These girls are the best and I really lucked out with the group
            (and thats enough of that...all of those who know me saying nice things is rather difficult)
                                                                             

So that was my first half day !

I can't believe almost a week has gone by already !!

Im already starting to get upset about leaving ....

But on a positive end note here is me and another Ellie Thandi.

Tomorrow were off again .. and heading to the market...

Talk to you then !!