Walking with elephants

Good evening from a cloudy but somehow still ridiculously warm (ish) South Africa.

This week has been jam-packed for the three of us and it started with a trip to George to go to the cinema to see the new 'Fantastic Beasts' film. We also did a bit of shopping and I've managed to find a present for the secret santa that all the OB staff do each year.

Tuesday saw us and a few of the other staff canoe for just over two hours to one of the campsites that OB use. It was great to get out in the canoes for the first time since being here, although the waves and wind were super strong making it hard work to go anywhere but the wrong direction. Charmoné took some pictures of us while we canoed so I've put them in here.

The rain on Tuesday night was so heavy I thought I was back in Scotland and having it's winter weather! A few rooms in the ghetto flooded along with the dining room, DP room and a few other places. The water level at the water front has risen quite a bit and we went swimming yesterday and the water doesn't taste salty at all now.

The best part of this week (and now I'm thinking about it, possibly the saddest) was definitely Friday. We hired a car and went on a road trip to the Knysna Elephant Sanctuary. The reason why this was the highlight of my week was because we were able to feed the elephants (something I'll never forget!) and walk alongside them! It was so amazing to be able to get so close to the elephants with nothing between us and observe them go about their morning. The reason why this was also the saddest part was because nearly all of the elephants were there for one reason - poaching. Here's a bit about the park from their website:

'The Knysna Elephant Park (est. 1994) was the first facility in South Africa to house and care for orphaned African elephants. Over the last twenty years, the park has cared for and raised more than forty elephants. These animals include relocated animals, orphaned calves, elephants rescued from culls and ex-circus animals. Some have become part of the resident herd, others have moved onto other reserves and facilities in the Western and Eastern Cape, depending on their personalities, bonds with other animals and welfare needs.'

One of the photos is of me and an elephant named Sally. She was one of the first two elephants at the park and she was born with one tusk. We were told that this was due to genetics as a result of poaching over a long period of time. As the strong genes for tusks are eliminated from the selection elephants are now being born without both tusks. In the wild this can make survival challenging as tusks are used for a range of things including scraping bark of trees so they can eat it during periods where food is limited. The WWF estimate that around 20,000 African elephants are being killed each year for their ivory - that's an average of 55 a day. Reading up and hearing about the elephant populations across Africa (and Asia too) and the poaching of them, along with other animals, has shown how important conservation work across the world is but also the importance of having governments and organisations that stand against poaching and take measures to prevent and discourage it.

In some other news around base - we got our electricity back, I had a kudu steak when we went out for dinner and I got some mail including my new glasses that arrived the morning I left for the airport. The moon has also been super cool the past few nights and I've managed to take some pretty clear photos of it!

Enjoy the photos :)

Rachel