My second week in Zimbabwe was spent working with Spanish dentists and optometrists, visiting local villages, enjoying sundowners in the bush, seeing my first ever cheetah (and then a cheetah-mongoose chase), discovering Imvelo’s tourist lodges, hiking down a gorge, attending a pass-out parade with local rangers, falling in love with a baby impala, and last but not least, reuniting with Fernie, the vehicle we sent to Zimbabwe from the UK.
A few things I learned:
*Spanish dentists and optometrists work incredibly hard. In five and a half days of work we managed to attend to 6191 people and saved a few lives…a very rewarding experience.
*I’ll be having to change tires. Often.
*Don’t underestimate sunglasses. The number of people here with cataracts or who are blind is astounding.
*Knowing English is a privilege that will get you far when in the bush; educating children and helping them learn English is really, really important.
*Don't fall asleep on the Elephant Express (Imvelo's railcar), you'll wake up with a bump on your head.
*Dung beetles and flying locusts can be fly up to 20km/hr…which can painful when they crash into you while you’re zooming through the bush on a safari vehicle!
*Coke is now my friend and is great for treating dehydration.
*It’s going to take me a while to master the clicking sounds in the ndebele language.
*European peanuts have got nothing on African peanuts.
The new scouts singing at their pass-out parade. They are now officially anti-poaching rangers!