1 week, 3 countries, 500 elephants. Welcome to Caprivi

So I have only been in Africa for about a week now but it has been a wild ride.

I love my accommodations - I am staying with Ryan on the Zambezi Fish Farm, a little open air bungalow on an old fish farm with about 5 other similar homes and a mess of local guides, researchers and aid workers. It's thatched roof and pretty open and simple, but it has everything we need - refrigerator, kitchen, stove, small oven, bathroom, (some) hot water for showers. There are plenty of pets around - besides the 2 dogs that frequent the house, there are tons of wasps flying about (dont worry, they dont sting!), probably tons of rodents, a frog who finds hilarious places to perch in the bathroom, and a tiny frog asleep on my light switch. I love him!!

The atmosphere at the Fish Farm is really nice - we are on the Zambezi river, so we can walk a few minutes and watch a sunset on the big river on a little boat. The mess of young people staying there are coming in and out means that there are impromptu gatherings and barbecues (braiis) - because in Africa, you dont go out much after dark.

Katima Mulilo is not the prettiest town there is, but it does the job. There are a few "nice" grocery stores where you can get most things, although some of the produce is rotten. There are a few restaurants for lunch and one for dinner (which apparently usually has only one choice for dinner - steak). Not bad!

Work is going to be interesting - I am still very excited to jump in. But after being here just a few days, I am realizing that in rural Africa, even the most simple of ideas can become very complicated to carry out. Ryan has been on the trail of the solar torches for a bit, and has run into considerable difficulty in selling them through the conservancies, for reasons which are too long and complicated to explain here. I am hoping that we can find a way to sell the small solar

panels and cell phone adapters while I am here and scope out what might be possible for EE in the future. Apparently a shipment of 800 flashlights was supposed to arrive this week but is still in a warehouse in Texas somewhere...oops. We'll see how this goes.

A pretty big problem that we have is transportation. We thought we would have a car. We don't. So we are stuck relying on the grace of others in the office (Ryan tells me that others have not been so graceful), public transportation (practically nonexistent), and hitchhiking. Don't be too shocked - it is very common here and I would never do it by myself. But it means you are at the whim of the next nice person who will pick you up. It's difficult for business when you are going to remote villages in the bush.

This weekend was a trip. Ryan and I hitched out to Mazambala resort with an Africaans trucker, where we hitched on a river cruise, and saw tons of beeater birds, small frogs in the river weeds, impalas jumping, hippos ominously peering out from our river (they are dangerous!), elephants in the sun, and about 50 baboons running, screeching, fighting, and swinging through the trees above us. A very calm and relaxing night on the river, followed by a candlelit nice dinner at the lodge, before we headed back to our campsite.

Only to be followed by Dan's request that we go to the Cheap Shop - a bar/club/convenience store just outside the park. I was a bit uncomfortable at first, as Ryan, Dan and I were the only whites and non-village people around, but I found some children at the bar (I know, weird the kids were at the bar...) and started to ask them questions, and soon got them in a dancing circle with me. Suddenly I found myself laughing and spinning around, as they all chanted "MA-KU-Ah! MA-KU-Ah!" (white person) to the beat. I was having a grand old time, but apparently I attracted too much attention. Ryan approached me nervously and told me that one of the guys from the village asked him if I was his girlfriend (he said yes), and then told him that they could use a girl like me in the village, so could they trade girlfriends (luckily he said no).

The next day, our friend Dan, an aspiring bush guide, decided to take us on a custom game drive in a borrowed truck (bakkie). Dan woke us up early to go on what turned out to be 10 hours of game drive. Zebras, hippos, tons of birds, several types of antelopes, vultures, a hyena...and

elephants. SO MANY ELEPHANTS. At the end of the day, we started driving in a remote area of the park, near Angola. As we drove, we came upon a large herd of elephants, crossing in front of us - it must be more than 50! We exclaimed. We continued to drive....and they kept crossing the dirt road...in front, behind....wow! A few hundred! they kept on coming and coming! Probably around 400-500

elephants on both sides of our little truck!!! On the road in front, behind, and on both sides! A few in the water, drinking, playing. Awesome (in the real sense of the word) and terrifying at times.

Dan got out of the car to take pictures and apparently spooked one of the large beasts....it swung its feet and flapped its ears and started to approach Dan...(my heart rate was through the roof at this point...) and he finally clapped to scare it away. And scare he did! The elephant seemed to jump off the ground and dashed off in the other direction...it was hilarious. Like a cartoon elephant who has just been spooked by a mouse! He took most of the other elephants with him.

(disclaimer: I can't take credit for these amazing photos - Dan took all of these. My cheap camera batteries gave out immediately!)

Tune in next week for an expose on Ryan's underwear.