Ecolife Expeditions

The whole trip was memorable, but the highlights were definitely going to the townships and volunteering with CLAW to vaccinate and treat the dogs there; the two days and nights we were in Mjejane where there was nothing that separated us from the wildlife; the Elephant Adventures experience was absolutely to die for; and OF COURSE doing the game capture and getting to shoot dart guns out of the helicopter! OH, and playing with the lion cubs at Ukutula!! I have a picture with one of the younger cubs and it looks like he's smiling!! Prof. van Hoven came and presented at RUSVM and his talk was amazing! I knew that I wanted to go to Africa, but after hearing him lecture and present some really interesting facts I was set to go to his program! They were actually much better than I expected! There were only a few nights that we did actual "roughing-it" camping and the rest of the time we were in inns and hunting lodges. I have no complaints about the accommodations at all!

Memorable Experience : This would be a close tie between playing with lion cubs, treating a wounded buffalo, or photographing birds in a beautiful wetland habitat. I love Africa (its landscapes, people, and most importantly wildlife) so when I saw this opportunity to return for college credit I could not pass it up. Accommodations range from guest houses and youth hostels to tent camping. The houses are nice but the tent camping was one of the best parts of this experience.

I would have to say I enjoyed sitting in Mudahjohn (spelling) around the fire with our to guides (jacob and jacob) and my eco life guides Peter H and Micheal K. and hearing all of their stories while listening to the lions roaring, hyaenas cackling, hippos grunting along with many other wild animals and looking up at the absolutely breathtaking milky way that seemed so close you could touch it. Here we also went on many guided tours where we saw many wildlife in their natural habitat going about their normal every day activities. I chose my program because I have always been interested in wildlife medicine, Conservation and ecology this was the perfect combination. We stayed in tents on cots in our sleeping bags most nights. Some nights we stayed in lodges, and rooms. It was an incredible experience.