The Beginning Before the Beginning

Well here goes, hopefully, the first of many posts on my exciting and terrifying trip to South Africa (all depending on if I have internet or not). In little over a week I will kiss my fiance, new cat and family goodbye and board the plane for 16.5 hour flight from JFK to  Johannesburg, SA. From there, I will navigate a foreign airport alone and board another plane that will take me to Phalaborwa, SA. Now the majority of you have no clue where Phalaborwa is so I attached a map of the SA. For your enteratinment, here is what Phalaborwa is known for:

• Part of the Limpopo Province of SA
• Has the widest man made hole the result of cast mining 
• Kruger National Park 
• ...and of course C.A.R.E: The Center for Animal Rehabilitation and Eduacation (where I will be spending my time)

 As stated above I will have the privilege of volunteering at C.A.R.E., which for me is basically my dream job. The Center for Animal Rehabilitation and Education (C.A.R.E) is a wildlife rehabilitation facility dedicated to the care, welfare, rehabilitation and protection of injured and orphaned indigenous wild animals. The center specializes in the care of Chacma baboons, actively pursuing their rescue, rehabilitation and release. (http://www.primatecare.org.za/index.php). Thanks to my job in college as the head caretaker for seven black capped Capuchin monkeys I am more than ready to throw myself whole-heartedly into this new experience. I never really had a strong connection with primates before college but after being their caretaker and testing them for my senior thesis (I.S) I developed a strong love for their intelligence, spunky personalities, and all around cuteness. As my mom will concur, those seven little guys became like my babies (and her grandbabies), its hard not to connect with them when my day was brightened by just spending some time with them. Of course, working with monkeys also means: getting pooped on, bit, having my hair pulled, being humped, and being the object of affection for one adolescent male.

As scared as I am to travel alone and leave the comforts of my life here in Colorado for two months, I know that its now or never and that a chance like this only happens once in a lifetime. When else will I be able to drop everything and do something so selfish and yet so selfless at the same time. Its going to be an amazing trip, but gosh am I going to be bored as hell on that flight!