The Tale of the Tourist

Last week Michael and I said our goodbyes to the kids at Sparrow Village as their final exams ended and the summer holidays began. With lighter schedules and less need for help with homework, the end seemed quiet and our impact seemed to fade. Majority of the kids left Sparrow to go to their families for the festive season leaving us without the opportunity to say goodbye to the ones we grew so close to… With only a week left before we board that long flight home, it feels strange to not drive to Sparrow for the afternoon. This has been our routine the past 4.5 months and I guess it is harder to let go and simply be a tourist for the next few days…

Since Sparrow Michael and I have spent a day job shadowing at Themba Lethu HIV Clinic where I had hoped that Michael would get more patient exposure outside of the regular physician lectures and rounds that we have been exposed to. With friendly Dr. Ndekera I think the day was quite successful and Michael left with a new sense of physician-patient interaction.

As for us “tourist,” we have visited Soccer City (the Fifa Worldcup FNB Stadium) which is shaped like a Calabash (an African bowl that traditional folk drink out of). We also went to watch the new Harry Potter movie at the cinema and went on a 90 minute tour at the SAB World of Beer where we learned about the history of beer, how it is brewed, and sampled free glasses of Castle, Castle Light, and Groschner.

Two days ago Michael and I embarked on a journey that took us 3 hours away from the city to Pilanesburg, where we had an elephant interaction with lunch in the Pilanesburg National Park outside of Suncity. The activity involved 2 hours of learning about their elephants, petting, feeding, and taking photos with them. With much anxiety, we slowly learned to feed these large beasts by calling “trunk up” or “trunk down”. Trunk up is followed by the elephant lifting its trunk above its head and opening its mouth. You are then required to stick your arms half way into its mouth and drop its food in – all while the tusks and trunk are directly above your head. Trunk down calls the elephant to twist its trunk below and accept the food in the tip of its trunk where it proceeds to carry the food into its mouth by itself. While it sounds quite scary and intimidating, every now and then your excitement grabs a hold of you as you realize that you safely stood under an elephant with your arm in its mouth! Only then to remember how giant and powerful these beasts are!

Pilanesburg has a total of 6 elephants (one calf and 5 that were rescued from Zimbabwe). The oldest is a male of 26 years old, but the bull is a younger male that is taller and heavier in weight (Sapi is his name). Sapi and I have a special relationship. It all began when I asked the guide if he would please take a photo of both Michael and I together with an elephant. The guide told us to stand to the left of Sapi. Sapi was happily eating food off the floor next to us while we posed, but the guide was having trouble with the zoom function on the camera and was taking his time. Before we knew it, the oldest elephant creeped up behind Michael and I and laid his trunk on Michael’s back… Michael and I both turned our heads to the right to look at this old beast, before I knew it in the corner of my eye I saw Sapi’s trunk, felt a blow to the neck and jaw, slid down Michael on my way to the floor. I don’t remember the incidence in one smooth train of thought, but rather in isolated events. I saw the trunk, felt the blow, and then was standing up fixing my hair and trying to make sure I was not bleeding after biting my tongue and having Sapi’s tusk hit me in the neck. Michael had seen me fall and quickly picked me up but he did not quite understand what had happened… The guide apologized and explained that Sapi did not mean it. He is suffering from a fungal infection on his back and he tried to flap his ear on to it to scratch it. While he shook his head he accidently struck me… lol, what luck I have! Everything played up to that moment and it was just a cluster of chaos…. I was okay, no bleeding and no major injuries. Just a bruised neck and jaw and an incredible story to tell! I am very lucky that he did not break my jaw or cut any vital arteries in my neck… While the bruises hurt – they remind me that I am alive and lucky. :)

(This is Sapi.)

What a crazy adventure to add to the end of my trip! Phew, I cannot wait to come home and leave behind my status as a tourist… Im looking forward to the calm and peace that awaits me.