Sept 2017 - Cape Town

Green! This was my first thought as we came through the tunnel connecting the interior of South Africa (Karoo desert) with the cape region.  There is a small mountain range dividing the two regions and just like in Washington State, the seaward side is more temperate and verdant and the interior side is dry, with more extremes through the seasons. We (the CVM apprentice and I) had driven 15 hours from Mafikeng south through the Karoo to spend 10 days in the Western Cape Province.  It was a wonderful break from Mafikeng and the green landscape was soothing for my soul.

We spent several days exploring Cape Town and Cape Winelands and then traveled along the coast in an easterly direction.  Seeing southern right whales was a definite highlight as was galloping along the white sand beaches on horseback.  We saw penguin colonies, shivered in the ice on top of Table Mountain, had a baboon steal biscuits from our car while we were still in it, and ziplined through the Tsitsikamma National Park forest.

It is such a beautiful region, and so different from Mafikeng! Coming back to the dry and seemingly barren area where I live, I was struck by the hidden beauty of the aloes and many other plants blooming in winter.  What a gift God gives to the desert in the winter flowering species.

For the next few months, our student ministries continue and we have started a weekly vaccination outreach for the clinic students.  Partnering with the SPCA and using the department’s new mobile clinic, we are visiting outlying villages each week to give free government supplied rabies vaccines.  We also offer other vaccines, dipping for ticks, deworming, etc at reduced rates.  This is a good opportunity for the students to get experience talking to owners and practice restraint techniques and injection skills.

 Currently, the majority of animals in these rural areas are not vaccinated.  With several people having been infected with rabies in other towns in our province, we are considered a high risk area.  Although rabies vaccines help save pet lives, they, more importantly, save human lives.  Please pray that these outreaches would have a significant impact in the local communities.