I woke up early today to watch the sunrise again. The sky was pretty overcast and the sunrise wasn’t as dramatic as yesterday. Plus, the hotel dogs were nowhere to be seen, which was a bummer. Today, the colors in the sky were magnificent, and they changed by the minute. Today, Mike and I toured the island with a guide,…
I fell asleep last night around 10:30 and woke up at 4:45 a.m. Fell back asleep and woke up at 5:30. Mike was still asleep. It was still dark out, but I decided to go out and see what the beach was like this early. I walked over to where the beach chairs were located. The cushions had been stored…
I took a plane to Zanzibar immediately after Mission Rabies Tanzania completed. Start HERE to check out the Mission Rabies Tanzania Journey from the beginning. We (Mike and I) got a ride to the airport, got through security, and boarded our flight to Zanzibar. It was a small plane, and there were about 50 passengers on it. The plane was…
Well, it’s upon us: the last day of the project. Hard to believe how quickly this project has flown by. Despite all of the Covid-related logistical nightmares that Mission Rabies has had to put up with, the project has been a remarkable success, with the vaccine numbers about to exceed last year’s numbers. In fact, Mission Rabies is sending the…
Great day today. We were roaming again, in an area called Singisi. It’s a pretty area, with lots of lush green foliage. Many interesting pathways and homes. Courtnie had to get her pre-flight Covid test this morning, along with several other volunteers who are flying to the UK on Thursday, so I was by myself in the morning. I had…
Our assignment today was to roam in two areas. In the morning, we were covering a new area, and we saw a reasonable amount of dogs and a surprisingly high number of cats. When we set up a static point clinic, the vast majority of the pets are dogs, because they can walk their dogs over relatively easily. People here…
Well, it’s confirmed. Our KLM flight is definitely a no-go. Initially, KLM sent me an email saying that our flight was a Covid-Tested corridor flight and is therefore exempt from the new Netherlands regulations. Now I’ve received an email that said that the first email was sent in error. Our flight is NOT a Covid-Tested corridor flight. It was just…
Today could only be described as exhilarating. We started this first day of our second week with what we thought would be a quick trip to the medical clinic to get my second post-exposure rabies vaccine (I got scratched by a kitten last week). Well, today is Saturday, and the doctor doesn’t arrive until 9:00. We couldn’t wait that…
Last night I packed my bags for the big safari. A towel, some soap and shampoo, contact lens stuff, insect spray, sunscreen, a change of clothes, and my Fujifilm camera (plus extra battery). Headed off to breakfast with my similarly excited colleagues, and then we went out to the parking lot to the safari vehicles, which were already waiting. Nine…
Today marked the last day of the first week of our Mission Rabies Tanzania project. Our assignment today was to go back to an area up in the mountains called Nkoarisambu. A Mission Rabies team had already been there, but the post-vaccine survey revealed that we’d fallen shy of the 70% needed to break the cycle and stop the spread…
Today was my kind of day. We drove around the Moivaro area, announcing through the loudspeaker that we were in the area, vaccinating dogs and cats for free. Then we parked in a residential area and went door to door, meeting people at their homes to vaccinate their pets. This allows us to walk through all the pathways and trails…
The first two days of this Mission Rabies vaccination drive, we worked “static clinics”. We drive to a place, set up our makeshift clinic, and people bring us their dogs. Today, we did “roaming clinics”. We drive through an assigned area announcing that we’re offering free rabies vaccinations to dogs and cats. When we see someone with a dog, we…
Today we were scheduled to vaccinate at two separate sites. We arrived at our first site around 8:15 and set up shop. A minute later, our team leader Lucy received a phone call informing us that a dog had been hit by a motorcycle on the road nearby. Courtnie and I grabbed our supplies and ran up the road, and saw…
Today is Mission Rabies Tanzania Workday 1, the first day we hit the road and start vaccinating. Didn’t sleep great last night. Still getting used to it being so quiet. I’m up early now, so I’ll start this blog post now and finish it tonight. Last night I packed my backpack with all of the items I think I’ll need…
Mediocre night sleeping last night. It takes a little time to get used to a new bed, plus I’ve been drinking tons of water all day to ward off any potential kidney stones; this is something that I’m prone to in hot climates. I guess it’s working, because I got up to pee twice. After the second time I got…