Kruger! Baby Animals! 453! And Odd Birds!

This lion is ready to rock.

Ahh! I can't believe I've got less than 3 weeks left! Camping through Kruger National Park was incredible, despite the fact that it rained the entire time I was there. Everyone kept warning me that Kruger is incredibly hot in January with temperatures in the 40's (100 F? I have no idea). I wore a sweatshirt, long pants and a jacket the entire time to keep warm. The rain didn't dampen the trip, however. I realize that's a pretty cheesy thing to say, but it's entirely true. And this post is going to be a total cheese-fest, so get prepped for it. Here's some photos:



As we were safari-ing, our main goal was to spot "The Big 5". These animals being, Lions, Elephant, African Buffalo, Rhino and Leopards. Sadly, I didn't see the leopard, but there were heaps and heaps of the Big 4. I suppose it was fitting that I saw the Big 4 (Dynamite Shout Out).

My first African Elephant! We saw so many that towards the end of my trip the guide just breezed on past them without a second glance. During the entire trip, I spent about 85% of the time in the safari truck, crusing around, watching game. One morning we woke up and did a 4 AM game walk accompanied by 2 armed Kruger Park Rangers. While you couldn't get as close to the animals on foot as you can in a vehicle, it was a pretty amazing experience to see live and wild elephant with two my feet planted firmly on the ground, and a bit terrifying/exhilerating to know that if it wanted to, it could charge and cover the distance between you in a matter of seconds. We also saw Hippo and a heard of Gnu.

My pants and shoes after the game walk. We were muddy and drenched but it was awesome.

This is the African White Rhino. We didn't see any Black Rhino, which are apparently much harder to spot. The main discernable difference between the two is the shape of the lips. The white Rhino has squared lips while the Black Rhino has a beak-like mouth.

We also busted up a pair of lions "on a date". They were approximately 10 yards from one another, and the female was quietly growling at the male to signal him to come over. Honestly, the male seemed pretty uninterested (typical). We watched them for about a half hour, and once we were convinced they weren't about to make a baby in front of us, we took off to continue animal watching elsewhere.

The lady lion - putting out the vibes.

The male, playing it cool.

"So, do you want to come in for coffee?"

"Nah, I've got a big meeting in the morning"

(Snoozing)

Given the amount of time I spent on cuteoverload.com, you can only imagine the kind of glee that I emitted taking the following photos and watching these baby animals running around. I think I've giggled and smiled more in the last 3 months than the average 6 month old baby.


A baby baboon! Riding it's Momma around!

Baby Giraffe!
Baby Zebras!
And my favorite, BABY RHINO!! It's so tiny in comparison!


Baby vervet monkeys!

So that was Kruger in a nutshell! I took an entire memory cards worth of pictures, got ravaged in the face by mosquitos (don't worry, I'm on anti-malarials), had a small spotted gennet jump on my tent and run around in the middle of the night (it was terrifying, I thought it was giant posionus spider and that death was inevitable), made quite a few Jurassic park references - especially when there was a hyena on the other side of the electric fence that surrounded our campsite - and all in all, had a fabulous time.

I was so excited to get back to the penguins, though! Take a look at this handsome beast:
It's 453!! He's completely moulted! And looks damn good, if not a little pudgy. He doesn't cry for fish like he did when he was a big brown puff ball any more, but he still wiggles his head a bit.And he's attracted the attention of a certain escape artist. Yes, we have been recently catching 491 and 453 preening. It's too adorable for words.



The pen 2 guys lounging after a big feeding session.

So since I've gotten back from Kruger, I've been assigned to the "Odd Birds" at SANCCOB. This includes White Breasted Cormorants, a Pelican, and my new favorite bird (I've got a new one every week), the Southern Giant Petrel.

The WB Cormorants are evil, evil birds that jump for your face every time you have to handle them. They're also frigging huge, and have an incredible range of motion. They also make a high pitched sound that triggers memories of being 7 years old and terrified of the kitchen scene in Jurrasic Park (... I'm not kidding anyone here, that scene still scares the crap out of me). These birds straight up sound like velociraptors.

Thankfully, these didn't learn how to open doors. I would never sleep at night again.


Tiger, our newest pelican, is looking pretty good lately. I enjoy catching and feeding him, but he's a pretty heavy bird. I had to carry him to get weighed the other morning, and he clocked in at a whopping 6+ kg. That's pretty big for a bird.


OM NOM NOM! I love throwing fish to this guy. He eats anywhere from 10 - 20 at a time.


The Petrel! Oh man, he's so awesome. You cannot help but smile when this guy is in the water. He's got the sweetest face with these big puppy dog eyes. He also occasionally honks. I've taken to calling him Honker, honks, honky tonk, and many other variations. He looks incredibly happy when he's swimming, and has a massive wingspan. To get him into the pool, we just open the pen gate and walk him over to the pool and he jumps right in. To feed him, we either hand feed him or put a few fish in a bowl, then send it out to float in the pool and he "hunts".

Check that wingspan!
Hunting fish.


I've got one last shift at SANCCOB then taking a 7 day overlanding trip to Namibia, then it's back to the US! Yikes! Expect a best of penguins post soon!

Cheetahs, a Stumpy Love Story, and Moulters

Goodness. Apologies for not posting lately. I just spent my annual 2 weeks (minimum) celebrating my birthday. I've now got a back log of stories, so I'll delve right into it.

First - completely unrelated to penguins, I went on a wine tour and got to pet a cheetah. I'm not one hundred percent sure the combination of these things is wise, but it certainly was fun.


It was at a winery that housed a Cheetah conservation/awareness project. None of the cats at the project are from the wild or will be released, but they're animal ambassadors for an initiative to introduce large dogs into packs of livestock. These dogs then scare any cheetahs away that would attack livestock. Cheetahs are apparently cowards, and will back down from animals that challenge them. So the dogs never actually interact with the Cheetahs, or are able to catch them, so neither animal is at risk. This cuts down on farmers hunting and poisoning cheetahs. Their numbers in South Africa have been on a rapid decline for decades, and this project is hoping to raise awareness in communities about their plight. Or at least, that's how I remember it after 2 wineries and a whole mess of cab sauv.

Back to the birds, I present you a stumpy penguin love story. (SPOILER ALERT: It ends sadly.)

This is 474 and 417. Between them, they've only got 2 legs. Prior to this picture, they were preening one another. Once they realized I was watching, they abruptly stopped, like two teenage kids making out in the back of a car, busted up by a bored police officer. I've mentioned them before, but here's a little back story.

474 was at SANCCOB when I got there at the end of November. At the time, he had both feet, but unfortunately and painfully for him, his left foot was broken at the ankle and twisted so he was dragging the top of his foot around while he moved. This is a testament to how resilient these birds as, as he was like that for lord only knows how long BEFORE he got to SANCCOB, and they amputated a couple of weeks after that. In the week prior to the amputation, he had a purple splint that helped him get around without having to drag the leg. He was one mean S.O.B. while he was in ICU, but I'd be a bit of a jerk too, if I was trying to get around dragging my broken foot behind me everywhere I went.


I don't really know 417's story. She was already there when I had arrived, and had recently had her foot amputated. (I'm making assumptions on their sex, for all I know they're both boys, or girls, or whatever. I don't judge. As long as they're happy. I voted no on 8. WeHo shout out!). She was a bit moody and aggresive when I first got there, and hung out in the corner of pen 2.

As time went on, and 474 got stronger, they were both put into pen 2 together. It was here they fell in stumpy penguin love! I could never catch it with my camera, but they used to hang out in the corner together and preen, an obvious sign of penguin affections. They'd also lean toward each other, balancing on their outer legs, with their inner stumps together. You can only imagine how adorable it was. Days went on, and 474 got upgraded unto pen 10, to be ready for release. Once he was moved, 417's mood seriously declined. She got mopey and would just stand in the corner. He also was in the beginning stages of moulting, which probably contributed to his mood.
After lobbying to have the two released together, we were sad to find out that 417 didn't have enough plumage on a section of his body to be released. It wouldn't have been fair to 474, who was perfectly healthy and ready for release to hold him back, and they couldn't send 417 into the wild without the plummage. She would get too cold to swim, and if she didn't swim, she wouldn't eat. And it takes a penguin 2 months to starve in the while, which you can imagine, is a really unpleasant way to go. So sadly, the two stumpy lovers are no longer together. 474 is out there in the wild, maybe finding a new mate, and 417 is living in home pen. Maybe she'll find a new mate in there, it's like the land of misfit penguins, so perhaps a different deformity will appeal to her.

In happier news, 453, who's been there since before I joined up in November, has finally started moulting! He was in an arrested state for a while, so he was brown, cranky, and always hungry. Whenever you walk into the pen, he follows you around and makes a loud braying noise, while shaking his head. I snapped these pictures of him yesterday. Notice his uber-fluff and puffiness.






Once I return from Kruger, I'll be sure to post pictures of his progress. (I FINALLY GOT THE VIDEO TO WORK! WOOT!) Below are a few photos of us feeding and another moulter, a new guy, 002. He's got a massive gash on his stomach, and is a bit cantankerous. Every time you touch him, a puff of feathers explodes from his body. So I'm guessing he'll be well on his way to handsome young penguin by next week.


Fellow volunteer, Chrissy, with her hands full.

Feeding 002.


You can't really tell from this photo, but he's a huge ball of fluff. By the end of the day, he was rocking a mohawk. I should name him Jeff Jeff. Or Ram.

Free feeding 477 (Buster). I'm pretty sure I'm going to adopt him. He doesn't free feed like a maniac, like most of the other penguins. You have to bring the fish to him, and he very daintily eats it. When he's done, he shakes his head and walks away.

I've written about this guy before - Confetti/Nearly Headless Nick. He was one of the guys I took care of in ICU on New Years Day. His neck looks immensely better. And he's full of piss and vinegar. A very aggressive bird who constantly picks fights with other birds.

It's almost 10:30 PM Cape Town time, which is unbelievably late for me. Our volunteer house is usually dead quiet by 9 every day of the week, as we're all usually exhausted from working. So with that, I'm going to bed! Won't be another entry for a full week, again, as I'm going to Kruger! But I'll return with heaps of photos of animals! Woohoo! Cute stuff!

Release!!

Again, SO MUCH TO REPORT ON and so very little time! Things have been pretty bonkers lately!

Starting right off, I went on a penguin release on Tuesday, December 30th! I'm currently cutting a short video of it for SANCCOB, and then will have a short video about it to post on the blog. It'll have to wait a bit though, for 1) the internet connection here pretty much stops and laughs at me when I try to upload video, and 2) not nearly enough time to edit! Too busy with penguins and pelicans and cormarinds and heaps of birds I don't even know the names of!
Fellow volunteers, Nadine and Chrissy, on the boat with the birds at our feet.

Anyway, the release. It. Was. Awesome! We had 11 birds from Pen 10 go, including
487!! My guy with moxy!! We started the morning off going through the normal routine at SANCCOB, which for me included carrying a lady pelican and weighing her. Around 11, we loaded the birds into boxes and put them in the back of a van to be driven down to the V&A Waterfront. Then, we caught a tourist boat to Robben Island. There were about 50/60 other passengers on the boat (that were interested in the penguins, at least). As we waited on the dock to load up, little kids kept walking by and looking in the boxes, and the other two volunteers that went with me and I had to warn them that the penguins were very mean, and bit very, very hard. I think they thought we were just B-S-ing until I rolled up my sleeves and they could see the claw marks down my arms. That scared a few kids away. I've found I'm good at that - scaring kids.
My baby, 487, in his box on the way back to the ocean!!

So to make a long story short (which will also soon be redudant if I ever finish the release video), we took the boat out to Robben Island, and dumped the boxes off the back of the boat while tourists watched us. I think they'll have more pictures of us dumping birds into the sea that I do. Actually, I know that, as I didn't take any pictures because I was dumping birds into the sea! It was a great feeling though, watching them swim away from us. I imagine it was how what a parent dropping a kid off at kindergarden on their first day would feel, proud and then terrified as they drove away. But instead of bullies and inept teachers, I was scared of seals and sharks.

So this was the emotional high. The next couple of days were not quite so encouraging. Things got a bit hairy in ICU, and we had a couple of sad moments when a few birds had to be put down. There was a kelp gull who had an internal wound that was being eaten by maggots - we were lucky to catch it and save the guy a few more days of awful pain; a gorgeous eagle owl with a completely shattered wing who was put down; and the worst, a penguin from pen 10 who had contracted really awful penguin malaria. This all coupled with the arrival of my newest favorite, (497, whom I'll write an entire entry on later - complete with the gruesome photos), made for quite an emotional New Years Day. He was attacked by a seal and has two huge gashes down to the bone and muscle in his neck. They say it'll take him upwards of 6 months to heal. We've taken to calling him Confetti, because he's all ripped up.

But it hasn't been all grim at SANCCOB, actually it's been fairly fun and easy going, with the exception of ICU. We've got the second baby Kelp Gull in the history of the place that we're also taking care of. This guys name is Riot, and he is a chirping machine.
He fits in the palm of my hand. Every time I've picked him up, he poops in my hand. It's supposed to be good luck when a bird drops one on you, right? If that's the case - I'm pretty much covered in luck all day every day.

And in other fun news, this little guy, 491, has taken to escaping from the Pen 2 pool. For the last few mornings we've come in, he's out of the pool, sitting on a rock. It took a couple of days to figure out, but the picture below is how get gets out.

He shimmys his body up the gate that leads from the pen into the pool, and climbs over the top of the side. We've caught him in the act a few times - and yes, there is video of it on its way. It's pretty hilarious to watch. And it doesn't matter how quickly we catch him and put him back, the minute he gets in the water, he promptly goes straight for the gate and shimmys out. It's rigged now with a bit of fencing, so he can't climb out. We'll see tomorrow morning if he's out smarted us and busts out again.

Must get to bed now, but resolving to post more frequently! Not calling it a New Years Resolution, though. Those are made to be broken.