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There are animals everywhere!

randi-bromm

There are animals everywhere!

By Randi Bromm

So it is our fourth day along our journey here in South Africa’s Kruger National Park and it feels great to finally be up and running after a rough start. Having landed in Johannesburg, I was struck with what seems to be travel sickness. I wanted to blame the entire incident on the airplane food but according to my professors, this is definitely something that can occur to newbies in international travel. So word to the wise for anyone who has never flown for 25 hours, stay hydrated!

South Africa_Randi Bromm bunk door small
As a result, I unfortunately missed the Aparthied museum to sleep off the nausea, but recovered in time to enjoy our ride to Wits Rural research facility. It is an amazing camp directed by Professor David Bunn who is absolutely delightful. He is so optimistic and jovial but also extremely intelligent and a wealth of knowledge on this place. He has already given one lecture which was very insightful concerning the history of Kruger and the segregation and displacement of people in regards to conservation areas and how they are managed. Atrocious laws were passed such as the Land Act of 1913 which restricted black South Africans to 7% of the land along with banning interracial land sales. I am very excited to learn more from him and I believe he will be a major source of additional knowledge during this trip.

South Africa_Vervets small
The camp is beautiful! A lot of wildlife roam freely around the camp, including a family of vervets that live outside of my bunk room, some of whom I have already found myself in a staring contest with. There is even a sign in the room that warns of feeding them. Apparently encouraging them leads to them becoming forceful and violent and eventually they would have to be shot. While this is tragic, it also is understandable and therefore I will be diligent about not sharing food despite how adorable they may seem!

South Africa_Impala small
This morning we woke up to find impala greeting us directly in the middle of the courtyard. The people of the facility just move and go along their daily lives with the bustling animal populations living around them. There are no fences around the research buildings, so impala, zebra and even leopards are free to move naturally throughout the landscape. The latter is much rarer to encounter, however while on a short hike around the camp, I spotted kitty paw prints on the ground. Shortly after my group was surrounded by impala. It is all so refreshing!