July 02, 2005 | Maggie Mahan
"Today I had one of the most memorable days of my life."

Today I had one of the most memorable days of my life. To start off with we all went to the Nairobi National museum. There we enjoyed seeing the Joy Adamson collection of tribal portraits, the Leaky family’s exhibit of human remains, and many beautiful pieces from all of the native tribes. We had been reading Richard Leaky’s Wildlife Wars, so to finally be able to see a part of his family’s legacy was amazing. I especially enjoyed seeing the Joy Adamson collection. I have read Living Free, and admired her and her husband’s life work. We also visited the educational snake park, which is also a part of the museum.

Next we were taken to the AFEW Giraffe Center, where we were privileged enough to pet and feed the giraffes. Most of us were even kissed by the giraffes, by tempting them with food of course. I had seen the Nature program on Giraffe Manor and never thought I would ever get the chance to actually visit this wonderful place. We had captured a giraffe in South Africa, so it was nice to play with them in a different setting.

The last and most amazing part of the day, took place at the Daphne Sheldrick Trust. This wonderful set up is within Nairobi National Park, which is also very beautiful.

I had been waiting for this moment for many months. This courageous group of people takes in orphaned African elephants and black rhinos. Most are orphaned due to poaching or illness. While we visited there were five resident elephants, one baby rhino, and one juvenile rhino. The juvenile rhino came in while we waited for the elephants and we all sat in amazement as he passed so gracefully by. The elephants finally came in with there keepers, who stay with them at every moment of the day. They go on long walks through the national park, to keep them used to their natural environment. They feed and sleep with the elephants in their corals. The orphans are allowed to interact with other wild elephants, who teach them how to be an elephant. They stay at the trust until the age of two years and then are translocated to Tsavo National Park for the second round of rehabitualization. Here they are introduced into a herd where they create the bonds they need.

We were all privileged enough to touch and feel the elephants and baby rhino through the fencing. I played with the baby rhino for a while as he lipped and my fingers. Then he went to his food area and scooped up a large clump of hay and brought it back to me to play with. It was so cute to how and what he wanted to play with. After a while of this I moved back to a special little elephant name Mojumbo, who I will never forget. This young man stole my heart the first time is dopey little trunk locked around my arm. It took a little bit for him to trust me and then he just wanted nothing but for me to give him my hand to suckle on and to rub his rump. He switched between the two activities for a while. This was probably one of the most amazing events of my life. To have an elephant orphaned by unspeakably inhumane people, trust me, a complete stranger was beautiful. Thankfully Dr. Ransdell took many photos for me as keepsakes that I will treasure for ever.

One of our students left after the South Africa course. So please indulge us in a personal correspondence:

Hey Laura!

We all just wanted to say hello! Kenya has been a great experience and we wish you were here with us. Hope all is well in Owensboro and that you had a good flight home! The crew from South Africa has kept you in our minds and we’re looking forward to seeing you soon when we get back to the states. Just wanted to let you know that you are missed!

Take Care,
All of us

June 23, 2005 | Day 5 in South Africa | Maggie Mahan
"We saw the boomslang, which is the number 1 most venomous snake in all of Africa. It’s rarely encountered."

We visited the Swandini Reptile Center, which I was very excited about because most of the snakes I’m interested in are from Africa. It was pretty interesting. The main snake I wanted to see was the Gaboon viper; it’s very beautiful and the scales look like a butterfly, very soft and shimmery.

We got to see crocodiles and mambas and the Gaboon viper. We saw some cobras. We were able to watch some green mambas eat some prey and see how their venom works. They had a few rattlesnakes and copperheads and an alligator snapping turtle. We saw the boomslang, which is the number 1 most venomous snake in all of Africa. It’s rarely encountered.

They had a boa and a few snakes that were sick or had been mistreated; they had taken them in to use as educational tools. I helped the tour guide hold the boa and we were able to wash his mouth out because he had mouth rot. We were able to see a green mamba which had a pretty big cyst in her abdomen. We got to feel the cyst while the tour guide held the snake.

We had quite the hand-ons experience with the snakes. This place is exceptional. A lot of people here are fearful of the snakes because of myths and lore. What the center does is educate the locals as much as possible. I asked the guide if they had started to see a positive response and they have. People are still afraid of them but they are tending the respect the snakes more.

We saw a baboon tarantula and a flat rock scorpion. I’m kind of arachnophobic but I was able to give it a shot. The scorpion actually worried me more than the tarantula. But both were very gentle.

They gave us a slide show about reptiles and amphibians, explained the native snakes and their fang positions, and how to tell a nocturnal (nighttime) snake from a diurnal (daytime) snake. It was very interesting.

They also had a tank full of black mambas, which are very long and have a smooth gray color. The black mamba is probably one of the most feared snakes in Africa.

They took us to a pit where the tour guide got in there with 15 different venomous snakes. He showed a cobra to us and explained how it will stand up and show its hood and hiss and how the cobra will follow movement and not noise like the snake charmers. He showed us the puff adder which moves different from a regular snake. They inch along like a caterpillar would and they have little stripes on them so they look like a caterpillar moving. Right now the puff adder is my second favorite snake. They are absolutely gorgeous. But I very much enjoy the Gaboon viper.

Other than that we looked at lots of other snakes and discussed a few of their striking tactics and how they move. Robin Brotherton and I enjoyed the reptile center. We love snakes and both take care of snakes at Western. So it was very enjoyable and very interesting.