Well here I am in Namibia! I'm staying at Rachel and Joe's house a block from the beach in a town called Swakopmund. Rachel and Joe run EHRA. They're kindly letting me stay at a flat attached to their house, so I've got my own living space. They have 3 dogs who love attention and rubs so that's been really nice. Its actually a little chilly here at the beach compared to the desert where I've previously spent most of my time. Although by the afternoon the sun burns off most of the clouds, and summer is on the way. The EHRA office is based in the house too so it's an easy commute. Everyone really couldn't be any nicer or more welcoming. I spent the week categorizing elephant photos in their database which was interesting. Each elephant is really different looking depending on their ears, tusks and tails. I'm hoping this exercise will help me identify them when I see them.
The big news here this week was that an elephant bull named Raphael was shot by the government on Friday. Apparently on Thursday night a man was walking home through a dried up river bed in the desert, although he was told not to since there were elephants in the area. He and the elephant crossed paths and the elephant killed him. The next day officials came out and shot the elephant dead. It emphasizes the need to collar the elephants bulls and to continually educate people about what to do if they meet an elephant and the measures to take to keep this from happening.
Anyway, its been an interesting first week. I'm hoping to get going on the website again. I haven't taken any pics yet but I will dust off the camera and post some soon.
Jen
