WEEK 8

Oh em gee time sure does move fast

THE WEEK

Hi everybody, welcome back to the Stack! I just finished watching the US Women’s gymnastic team wipe the FLOOR with the team competition, so let’s just say I am feeling good! U! S! A!

Anyways… lets do a week recap.

On Monday we started out by doing two more ELISA plates. We were getting to the end of the samples, yay! The two runs went by without a problem. Then in the afternoon we ran a gel to see if the PCR from last Friday worked. The PCR is supposed to amplify the DNA, the the gel will show bands if it worked and there is amplified DNA in the sample. We tried a new protocol for the PCR, so we were hoping that it would work. And it did! We got some good bands (except for the samples extracted with the Daan Gene kit, we hate Daan Gene). Yay this was good, because we didn’t have other reagents to use.

On Tuesday we ran the last two plates of new samples! Yahoo! In all we screen 1,330 samples for surface antigen positivity. These plates had no problems. On Wednesday we ran a confirmation ELISA for the samples that had tested positive, to verify that they were actually positive results. We officially got 131 positive samples out of 1,330. We will retest the samples that tested positive then negative, so the number may be even higher. In the afternoon we went through all the samples to locate and collect every sample that had tested positive, either once or twice. This took a surprisingly long time! After work on Wednesday we made pizza for dinner, all homemade. It was super yummy, even though the cheese from the grocery store here tastes slightly off to me.

On Thursday we ran a 3.0 Kb PCR, which means that we tried to amplify a very large stretch of DNA, which can be quite tricky. This stretch of DNA is pretty much the whole genome, so it is exceedingly helpful to be able to amplify all of it. Past PCRs have been 415, which is just amplification of the surface region — still helpful but it does not give you all of the details. On Friday we ran the gel to see if the PCR worked, and…..! No bands. Womp womp. Not super surprising, since 3.0 PCR can be finicky, but it would’ve been nice to get it to work. And that wraps up my week! I left work early to head to South Africa, read below to learn more 😱

THE WEEK

If you recall back to Week 4, we had plans to travel to Madikwe, South Africa, which were foiled by the cursed Visa system that has a vendetta against Slovakia. We agreed after that fiasco that we would postpone our trip while Sara figured out her Visa…. Well that just didn’t work. It turns out that South Africa is super strict and unielding, because they don’t offer e-Visas for land crossings and they don’t issue Visas to foreigners outside of your home country (aka not Botswana). So long story short, Sara couldn’t go to Madikwe and I extended my stay from one night to two.

So I left work on Friday, went back to my apartment to get my bags, and got picked up to head out to the border. It was only about a 20 minute ride to the border, and the Botswana side was very fast. Unfortunately the ATM at the border didn’t work to withdraw Rand, which I was banking on (haha get it), and I was told that I would need cash to pay for the park fees and tips and such. Ahhh at that point I was just hoping they could help me out and I could pay with card. After crossing the border, there was only one person working on the South Africa side foreigner customs, so the line was reallllly long. After about a 20 minute wait, we got through the border, and continued on to Madikwe. After about 35 minutes driving, we got the the park gate, where I checked in. One of the guys there noticed one of the car’s tires was completely flat, so they did a tire change right there on the spot. We then drove to the spot where the lodge had told me to go to be picked up. We got there and waited for them to arrive. And waited. And waited. It took 50! minutes for the truck to come get me, supposedly there had been a miscommunication with the gate attendant. It wasn’t a big deal, but I did feel bad for making the driver wait for me.

Anyways, time to shed all the stress of the transportation, cash situation, and worries! I was on vacay! I got to the lodge/camp, and it was so nice!!! Mosetlha is a Eco Lodge and Bush Camp, so basically it was comfortable but rustic. It had nice cabana-rooms with beds, lounge areas, a big dining room table, a game/star viewing deck, and bathrooms, but also no electricity, wifi, or plumbing. It was off the grid! The hostess/camp manager was Monica, this awesome women who had the funniest stories. She was both blunt and motherly. After I got to the camp, I got a tour then we had lunch with the other guests for the night, Evelien and John, colleagues from Holland teaching at University of Botswana for a week. We were the only 3 guests that night!

After lunch we headed out for our first game drive, and let me tell you: what a success!!! A lot of the driving through the bush had nothing to see, and we would just meander for a while, then out of nowhere, BAM there would be the most fantastic animals! We saw tons of elephants, giraffes, a white rhino with a baby (!!!!), a MALE LION, and a bunch of buffalo, all in a few hours. The lion was probably the coolest, it was just chilling on the side of the road! We got up soooo close and the lion didn’t care at all — they were all very accustomed to the look and sound of the trucks

. We then stopped for drinks and to watch the sunset, I had a Savanna Dry Cider, obviously! Then after the sun had set we headed back to the lodge on a night game drive, with out guide, Jonny, sweeping his flashlight back and forth to see any game. It got quite cold after the sun went down, so we had to bundle up. We saw a PORCUPINE and some eland!!! The porcupine was quite rare so that was awesome. Then after we got through the camp fence, we saw movement in the bush, and there was a BLACK RHINO IN THE CAMP! It was just there chilling and eating the bush. Actually insane.

Overall, I really enjoyed the meditative quality of the game drives. I had felt this before but it was really true this weekend. There are not that many times that you truly can just let your mind wander. On the drives there is a lot of time spent driving and looking for animals. There is no obligation to talk, and most of the time it is quiet. You are not of your phone, there probably isn’t service anyway. You just get to sit and think. It’s really lovely, and it turns out, I like my thoughts! It’s peaceful and reflective, and interspersed with fantastic game viewing — so all around a 10/10 activity!

Once we got back to camp, I had a lovely dinner with Monica and Evelien (John wasn’t feeling well). I gossiped about celebrities and pop culture with these two wonderful ladies around my parents age and it was really nice. They both sort of acted like mother figures for the weekend, which was really cute. After dinner and dessert, I was given a hot water bottle and was told it feels great to wrap your pajamas around it and stick it in bed to warm everything up, so I did that, then went out to the deck and looked up at the gorgeous milky way! You could see it so clearly it was so cool. After watching the stars, I went back to my cabin to get ready for bed. I pull back the covers to see….. a huge wet circle with my pajamas sopping in the middle around the water bottle. Oh boy, the water bottle had leaked! Luckily I was in a room with two twin beds, so I just but on other clothes and hopped into bed, laughing at the fact that Monica would be aghast in the morning.

doesn’t capture it

The next morning I was woken up at 6am, and got ready for the morning game drive. I got ready then made a coffee, before hopping back into the truck! Snuggled in with my wind-shielding blanket of course. We set out and got to see a gorgeous sunrise! I swear the sunrises and sunsets here in Africa are something else. We spent the morning tracking a beautiful female lion through the bush. It was so great, our guide would drive through the bush, going literally wherever the truck could take us. Sometimes even driving over bushes and small trees! He was a great guide that really knew his stuff. After following her for a while, we circled around and met up with another pride at the watering hole. There were 3 female lions and two cubs! So cutie!!! We watched them for a while with some other trucks, then we headed out to find a quiet spot for coffee. We stopped and got out of the truck to enjoy some bush coffee and biscottis. Afterwards, we headed back to the watering hole. All the other trucks had left, but the lions were still there, along with a ton of zebras, wildebeests, and impala! We were hoping for hunt! At first the animals were wary of the lions, but they moved as a pack togther and got some water. At one point a zebra got really close to one of the lionesses and she stalked closer to him, hunched over. Unfortunately the zebra got spooked, and we didn’t see the attack. Still so cool!!

We headed back to camp after a super successful drive. At camp we came back to a great brunch, which was thoroughly enjoyed. I told Monica about the water bottle leaking, reassuring her that it was totally fine, but she was still apalled it had leaked. The look on her face was to die for. After eating, I took my book out to the deck to read and see if any animals showed up. I picked up Nelson Mandela’s hefty autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, from the coffee table, and decided I would finish it before going to Robben Island (where he was imprisoned) in about 2.5 weeks. out on the deck I enjoyed my book, and saw both zebras and elephants! It was so peaceful out there and I was the most relaxed I have been in a while. Then some new guests arrived to the camp, a big family, and we all had lunch together.

After lunch we headed back out on another afternoon/evening game drive. We checked out a different area, and didn’t see quite as much, but still saw rhinos, elephants, a crocodile, jackals, and a couple of lilac breasted rollers (the most amazing birds!). We had another drink at sunset, then headed back on our night drive. As saw a rhino drinking right in front of the golden sky, which was pretty epic. On the way back in we saw an ostrich, but no rhino in camp haha. We came back and had a lovely meal around the table, saw the stars again, then headed to bed. No leakage issues and some very warm pajamas.

lilac breasted roller (LBR)

I was woken up on Sunday morning again at 6am, got dressed, had a coffee, and headed back out to the bush! We had a great drive. We started by searching for a male lion that was spotted from a distance. We hunted through the bush for a while, then I spotted it! Huzzah! We tracked him for a long time, until he met up with a female lion! It was so cool they were excited to see each other, if ya know what I mean. They were so awesome, but then it got quite crowded, so Jonny headed out. We drove for a long time, then came onto this open grassland and got super close to some amazing rhinos! We watched two males munching on grass for a long time, they kept moving closer to us. We also saw some zebras, and a brown hyena from a distance! After moving on, we got a ways away then saw even more rhinos. This time it was a mother with her baby and an adolescent. The baby started drinking milk! It was so freaking cute. The rhinos were absolutely spectacular. We pulled to another spot, had our morning coffee, then headed back to the direction of camp. We stopped at the watering hole to see if anything interesting was there: just some impala and kudu, but we finally saw a male kudu with the spiral horns, so it was a success.

We got back to the lodge, had a yummy lunch, then I got all packed up and ready to go. My driver pickup was a but late, but that was to be expected. After he finally arrived, I said goodbye to Monica and the other guests, then headed back to Botswana. Overall, Mosetlha was AMAZING and Madikwe (the park itself) was SPECTACULAR. 100/10.

The ride back was uneventful, as was the rest of my Sunday. It was nice to be back at a reasonable time, for a change (overnight bus, I’m looking at you). I got to do laundry and go grocery shopping.

That’s a wrap on the weekend! Again, if you made it all the way to here in the blog, you are a real one and I thank you for your time. This is all honestly word vomit and documentation of every moment and thought I have, so thanks for sticking around.

I had a hell of a week, with some accomplishments in the lab and an awesome game park adventure!

See ya next week,

Emily in Botswana