Becoming precious…

by Luke, in Uganda
11th December, 2009
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Finished a hardcore morning of tracking rhinos today. This was great as we got to see both the babies – the only two rhinos having been born in Uganda in over 27 years – which was pretty special. Godfrey was our guide and we pranced around in front of the camera in an attempt to be oblivious to the 2.5 tonne wild white rhino about ten metres behind us. The rhinos were fairly laid back and no misadventures occurred and then we hit the road towards our next stop in Bwindi. At this point I’m going to hit you with some fun facts about white rhinos such as that they have a 16 month gestation (black rhinos have only a 15month gestation), they weigh up to 2.5 tonnes, live until about 45 years of age and graze in social groups with big flat lips (as opposed to a prehensile hooked upper lip which their much more aggressive but small solitary black rhino cousins have). Hope you feel enlightened.
 
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After a nice farewell to the wonderful Angie and her kind family, we hit the road. Describing an 8 hour road journey, 4 hours of which were in the dark, with poor lights and variable road rules, in words other than terrifying and death defying would be tough. Luckily Adam drove heroically the whole way which meant we made good speed but also presented numerous opportunities for him to impart driving tips to other road users as we passed them and which I’m certain they all found useful. Needless to say, he got us here safe and sound which was the key and with much relief we are now in our stop over motel before we nail another six hours road travel tomorrow. It’s just gone midnight and hitting the sack is the next mission. Looking at the ‘sack’ I want to hit, I definitely won’t be the first to have done so judging from the massive dip in it. African motels in small towns on main roads have a special reputation and I’m keen to remain as naïve about this as possible. It might not be a plan to slip a visit here onto a honeymoon itinerary – there is hot water – and a working light – which is handy or I might not be able to read the large HIV leaflet complete with stomach turning pictures that has been left in my room for me. Very thoughtful. I wish I had packed a plastic sheet for the bed though – not too sure about the big black stain in the middle of it – perhaps all this ‘stardom’ is making me a bit precious…

Driving Shots

by Luke, in Uganda
12th December, 2009
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The six hour journey took us more like nine – perhaps we were driving like old ladies or something but we had a couple of interludes to film the journey. These are great moments whereby everyone piles out of the truck and I am vaguely instructed to drive over the horizon and then turn around and come back towards camera. I mustn’t look at camera and I have to be just to the left or right of the lens. I also need to make sure there are no cars in front of me or behind me and that I maintain a constant speed throughout the entire stretch of road no matter what traffic lights, roundabouts or bends are in my way. I cannot deviate from my path and slight alteration of the plan will ruin the shot. I also have Marc barking at me down the two way radio in Germanic guttural tones – I am unable to respond on the radio because I then look strange and this also ruins the shot. As you can imagine, these little episodes are stress free and take no time at all to film. We did a lot of them today which may account somewhat for the three hours extra it took us.

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The views were simply stunning, we drove right across the Queen Elizabeth Park and saw elephants, buffalo, lots of baboons and monkeys and lush green landscape. Stunning as it was, the arrival at the impenetrable forest in Bwindi takes some beating though – I’m currently in a large tent listening to the rain driving down on the roof – love it. This place has huge amounts of atmosphere and apparently some very large residents I’ll be meeting the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is down as a hardcore community livestock day so providing the rain stops, I should be in for a great time.

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Community Day

by Luke, in Uganda
13th December, 2009
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Hardcore community day – loved it. Wasn’t too sure what to expect, in fact none of us were, but it was brilliant. Treated about 300 animals – cows, goats, chickens and pigs and there wasn’t a dull moment. There is a huge amount to relate about the community project set up by Joy Howell which is a fantastic venture and really making a difference to the people here – anyone wishing to volunteer and help work at the school would have a wonderful trip. The school itself has six classrooms – three of which are concrete and it runs classes for 400 pupils who come from all over the region. It has an amazing feel to the place and getting behind this venture is a must. Charlie Garret, a Scottish vet and ex University professor, sadly passed away last year but worked with Joy to set up a poultry unit to help the local children get better nutrition from eating eggs – it is brilliant and working well. It was wonderful to see what he has created and the improvement it has made to the people.
 
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The above doesn’t do justice to the project Joy has set up here – it really is something special and very worthy of support and aid. The plan is to now really up the support teams from WVS for this project and I promise anyone coming on this trip, you will have an absolutely amazing time. I’ll expand on this on the WVS site when I’m back but this project is perfect for non-vets as there is so much to help out with in the school so fingers crossed you get involved.

Fairly beat – tomorrow is a big day, off to see the gorillas so getting my strength up ready for a mountain trek – should be the business. This is one whirlwind trip. Rest of the crew are all doing great, Adam has a new blackberry which allows him to keep pace with the football scores – very bizarre in such a remote place, but great if you are a football fan. Marc is gearing up for the big trek tomorrow and Nathan has promised to run up the mountain and dazzle us all with his super fitness… promises, promises.

Gorillas

by Luke, in Uganda
14th December, 2009
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What an amazing experience – I was about 10ft away from a huge male silverback gorilla and although we did our best to keep our distance in relation to the risk of disease spread – we didn’t have a lot of choice about it. One of the blackbacks (juvenile male – they become silverbacks around the age of 10-12yrs when they go through puberty and develop the badge of seniority of the silverback) came right up to us to check us out. The group seemed calm and didn’t mind our intrusion in the least – well accustomed to tourists popping up for an hour each day. It really was a special expedition and we all enjoyed it immensely. We’re all a bit beat – it was an uphill 10km hike through dense forest – but worth every step.
 
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Dazzling facts about gorillas before I forget them: They live in stable polygamous groups lead by a dominant male called a silverback whose job is to protect them all from danger. The main dangers being man, leopards preying on the small ones and rival males trying to steal away the females. You can get more than one silverback in a group but it be his sons and they would only be there until they have enough confidence to branch out and try to establish their own family units. The females are attracted to powerful males, females born in a particular group will leave it about 8 years of age and go to another group – this helps genetic propagation of the species. They produce normally one offspring ever 3-4yrs, gestation is 8.5-9months, and they can live for up to 50years. The groups typically comprise 5-60 gorillas. What else – they have prominent bony ridges but the key reason for this is that it not only protects the eyes when going through dense foliage but it means the facial skin has a lot of flexibility and maximises their ability to perform a wide range of facial expressions – a bit like Nathan – allowing them to communicate with other family members. Silverbacks are about 180cm tall, weigh about 300kg and if they tried to take Adam’s camera you would pay tickets to see the result. Sadly, Adam might not keep his camera in that one. Infants are weaned about 4-5 years of age but move to their mothers backs from the bellies at 5months. Marc was a particularly attractive target for one baby who went right up to him and fixed him with a beady eye. I think it wanted to groom him but realized the challenge would be too great.
 
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In a nutshell, gorillas are great – they are on the road to recovery (there are only 800 left in the world), but numbers are increasing mainly thanks to the tireless efforts of dedicated conservationists who are championing their cause. There is no denying it is a fragile process though. Ecotourism, despite the good it does, risks a viral epidemic amongst the habituated groups (based on today’s experience contact is a given despite the 7metre ruling), climate change is affecting rainfall and global warming the vegetation. Deforestation is destroying the habitats and we need to make every effort to preserve, protect and cherish the plant and the wonderful animals within.
 
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On other news – washing has finally been done – took a few days to dry but great to have another change of clothes, Unfortunately for the man who brought me the washing, I was in the bath at the time (no showers – it’s a tented camp so sort of outdoor bath thing) and he decided that rather than come into the bathroom to collect his tip, he would high tail it out of there without witnessing a spectacle of me in the tub. Very wise. Nathan wants to go on a camera course, Marc is upset because we got messed around by one of the Ugandan vets who let us down at the last moment to show us a lab, and Adam is shattered after a hardcore day of filming in extreme situations – Simon (cameraman from Peru and Nepal) would be proud to have a companion on the pantheon of extreme cameramen. I am blissfully happy to have seen the gorillas – wish I could have taken Cords and Noah to see them, they would have loved it, (Noah would have been right up to the silverback like a shot and caused all sorts of chaos) but a good plan to come back in years to come and hopefully do it again.

Few relaxing drinks tonight to celebrate before out 10-12 drive tomorrow back to Kampala. Fingers crossed we can catch the stray dog with the USPCA that got away – I really want to get it fixed up. Rock on.

The long drive back

by Luke, in Uganda
15th December, 2009
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13hours of death defying driving constituted today. Marc, Adam and myself split the driving with Adam nailing the night drive section with virtually no functioning headlights – he said he felt very responsible for us all – touching stuff when you are bleeding from your knuckles gripping the seat. Nevertheless, we are once again here in Kampala safe and sound. Astonishing news is that Nathan slept – almost the whole way. Very impressive.
 
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Met up with Dave the aerial cameraman who is at this stage becoming a good friend – albeit a surreal one who I only meet in completely random places around the world. This is definitely a moment to flag up the amazing patience, dedication, work ethic and thoroughness of Pascal and Andrew from AJ Tours who have painstakingly organized all the logistics for this trip. Really great guys and if anyone ever comes to Uganda through WVS or otherwise, you’d be making a mistake not to have them looking out for you and making sure everything goes to plan.

Aerial action

by Luke, in Uganda
16th December, 2009
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The big aerial day with David the pilot and David the cameraman. Full on David-David action and they made some magic shots. Adam joined in to direct things and we kick started early hours (luxury 4 hours kip last night) with first a trip to see Angie and her gang at the rhino sanctuary. They took me along for this bit and I then proceeded to stand in the bush about 20metres away from a wild bull rhinoceros as the helicopter flew overhead. As the rhino charged from the bush directly towards me, I turned to see that Godfrey the ranger had promptly left me for dust and Adam has a great shot of me legging it from a clearing as a 2 tonne rhino crashes past. Thankfully the rhino settled down pretty quickly and didn’t seem to mind the helicopter once it got used to the noise and I had no idea I could run at that sort of speed – and neither did anyone else.

Once we had that in the bag, David swooped us back to Kampala, I nipped off in the truck for driving shots and then promptly got lost. An hour and a half later I somehow miraculously managed to find my way back to the hotel in the city centre through rush hour traffic. No idea how that happened but today has been all about my secret powers. Running and driving – all going on here.

The aerial team slipped off to Ngamba to nail some chimp shots of the island and now we are back at base and all looking a touch shabby, except for Nathan who spent the day ‘editing’ in the hotel. Somehow he has that steely glint of alertness that we just can’t seem to shake, no matter how grueling the pace.

I think Marc will now feel a huge weight off his shoulders now it has all come together but breaking news is that one of the dogs we needed to revisit tomorrow has been released, so big drama and that may well sink Marc into a deep depression just when he was almost feeling good. Hopefully a pizza and chips will turn him around – can’t beat good local food.

p.s. still can’t send e-mails – driving us all nuts – can receive them though which is tantalizingly keeping me in touch. Steve, if you happen to read this the key is 1000square meters with outbuildings. I know it is big but I reckon that’s the business. Helen – that is a huge bill, I am crying into my empty bank account. Tess – thanks for getting Lee on the case with those website changes, Khageshwaar – so sorry to hear about the dog, you did all could, re the other one, do the preds every day for a week, then reduce to every other day for a week and then half the dose and do that every other day for a third week then stop. Let me know if there has been any improvement next week, fingers crossed. Mum – looking forward to seeing you on boxing day – going to be great!

It’s (another) wrap!

by Luke, in Uganda
18th December, 2009
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Big last day – lots and lots to do beore our flight at midnight, but it went with a blur and we managed to squeeze everything in. Yes, we did catch the dog and it was a big op… Pascal saw us off with a fantastic congolese dinner – delicious. What a great guy and all his team were all there to send us off; Andrew, Thierry, Adam and Lawrence from Ngamba also joined us which was great. Really lovely way to finish the trip and remember the great people we have worked with and met.

The big sad bit though was the fact it was Nathan/Bruce/Narender/Chai/Lupe Carr’s last day on a shoot with the crew. He will now be locked in a box like room editing shows for the next three months – looking at me endlessly for 12hours a day on about three tv screens. Lucky guy.

Uganda and the gorillas was a great way to end his trips with us – none of us will forget this one – or any of them for that matter – but it will be strange doing the last one without him. I’ll miss his silence and daytime sleeping patterns, the constant efforts to try to touch my microphone and change batteries and his general ability to blend as a native into any country in the world, but most of all, I’ll miss having someone who has become one of my good friends along for the ride. Thanks buddy and I’ll be sure to think of you sipping coffee in the edit suite when I’m on another 14 hour flight in a few weeks, economy, Iberia style. Rock on.

Costa Rica here we come!

by Luke, in Costa Rica
2nd January, 2010
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Happy New Year!! The last two weeks have gone with a blur but Christmas for the Gambles was a total winner. Noah was on form, presents galore and it was the fantastic glut of food, drink and great company that you can’t possibly go wrong with. I scored some serious points on the karma front – at least three church attendances – possibly four – so I am feeling pure and spiritually sound. I even gave away my Nintendo DS lite to a small orphan – I say mine, it was a freebie to PetAir – but that isn’t the point, I’m hoping it still counts in Gods eyes. I love the Christmas services, although I do feel a bit sorry for all the regular church goers who have their congregation invaded by the people like me who are trying to make up for lost time towards the end of the year. Obviously you get double points for Christmas services so the Church becomes a hub of the community.

Noah simply loved the melee of cribs, animals and race around with all the village children wanting to be shepherds. The vicars and priests also really got into the community feel of things, rebelling against health and safety and dishing out about 50 Christingle candles to all the children under 5 – definitely added some spice to things. I caused a little consternation amongst a couple of the elderly ladies in the congregation as I was clutching a basket containing Noah’s small stuffed bunny rabbit and teddy bear. Noah was of course nowhere to be seen with Cordelia in hot pursuit, so as I stood there holding the basket, a very nice elderly lady asked me what I was I doing clutching a couple of animal toys. I tried to laugh it off by explaining as a vet I felt very uneasy about leaving home without any animals, it may have been a passable joke had Nigel, the Thatcher, not joined in and told the lady he felt the same about being away from his job and pulled a large clump of straw from his pocket. It was definitely time for another mince pie.

Mad Uncle Eddy was also on form. Having been the lead singer in a Glaswegian rock band, and still sporting a totally shaved head and large anarchy tattoo on his upper right bicep, he was a bastion of Hark the Herald Angels sing, in what was a resounding finale to the Christmas Day service. I think I had the edge on him during Silent Night and the impromptu Away in the Manager that the organist sprang on everyone – having once played Joseph in a church navity as a child, I was totally in the zone for it, but he edged ahead with Come all Ye Faithful and left me for dust towards the end. Never disappoints does Mad Uncle Eddy – he got Noah a toy electric guitar for Christmas – brilliant – makes a heck of racket though.

Anyway, reliably back up to my fighting weight of a 100kg, I left home at 3am this morning and am currently enjoying 15hours of Iberia economy on my way to Costa Rica. The plane was made in about 1940 – I have a useful ashtray on my seat, about 3cm of leg room and it is a packed flight. It is also exceptionally bumpy and we’ve been told the flight will take two hours longer than normal due to extreme winds. No entertainment system so TV is a no go. Love it – as is Adam who hasn’t made his feelings known to the cabin crew no more than two or three times so far. Good to be open about things on your mind. Marc is sleeping and snuggled up to a couple of elderly Japanese tourists who seem to fussing around with his blanket – best leave them to it. Great news for Chris, who is pinned beside me and has taken the place of Nathan for this last shoot of the series (big shoes to fill there buddy), and it means we can chat solidly. Good discussions to date – are ogres stronger than dwarves, who would you rather have help you out in a fight (against a Barbarian horde) a Samuri or a Ninja, if Chris rates himself as a 2 on a scale of nimbleness of 1-10 – how nimble is an elf and when did banana exports being in Costa Rica (1880). You can see it is a long flight.

We’re all in good spirits, geared up for the final mission. Can’t wait to get there, get a touch of kip and then hit the zone for some 2010 hardcore healing.

The Big Exam!

by Luke, in Costa Rica
3rd January, 2010
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Before I can practice as a vet in Costa Rica and work with the charities here, I have to undergo a mandatory training programme on advanced spay and neuter techniques. It’s a bit like resitting my finals again – 11 years later – and I need to get my stripes so the Costa Rican veterinary authorities can be sure I am up to the job. Bit of a trek to get to the training centre but it should be really interesting as apparently they practice a very different technique to the one I am used to – so fingers crossed I pass the exam! The training programme is being run at a big shelter at the top of an inactive volcano – amazing drive but the road is ‘extreme’ (as Simon would say) and the car took a heck of a battering on the way up. Great views and look forward to what’s in store tomorrow. I’m being trained up by the head vet of the McKee foundation so no messing about there and the spotlight will be on. Apparently this vet can spay 100 dogs a day (which is a lot) and he averages four minutes an operation from opening incision to final suture. If it is true, he will beat my Indian friend who currently holds the record at seven minutes 17 seconds and even more impressive is that this vet apparently has no assistants during the operation.

In the zone

by Luke, in Costa Rica
4th January, 2010
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I should explain that the McKee Foundation was set up by Christine Crawford – a very charismatic and determined lady who has driven forward the idea of controlling the street dogs of Costa Rica. The Foundation has a no shelter philosophy and whilst I can’t quite agree with this, having visited so many great shelters that do amazing work and met so many incredible people that run them, I do believe in having a strong focus of community outreach and trying to encourage community responsibility for street animals. There is no denying that the Foundation has made a massive impact here and I am sure will continue to do so. Christine really has done wonders.

The thing that allows community outreach to be so effective in Costa Rica is having a great team running the programmes here. They have a strong emphasis on education, marketing and public relations as well as ensuring very fast surgeons are on the spay neuter team and to that end, the technique Christine and Dr Rivas have developed is focused on spaying bitches in less that 10minutes whilst the ‘owners’ wait. It is a very economic procedure – short cuts have to be taken for cost reasons – it isn’t very sterile for example – but the speed and non invasiveness of the procedure is undeniably impressive. The incision is typically 1cm in length, sterile cable ties are used for tying off the vessels and only one stitch is used in the muscle and one stitch in the skin. Before the skeptics kick off – Dr Rivas has been doing this for ten years and the follow ups on the communities where he and his crack team of vets have visited have shown a complication rate of 1 in 1000. I am sure that 1 in 1000 complications (post op infections for example) is the same sort of rate for private UK practice and Dr Riveras does indeed take about 5 minutes in a straight forward bitch.

I have never been a massive fan of worrying hugely about speed as long as the bitch is good and the surgery is safe, but faster surgery does mean quicker recovery and less risk of infection. All the bitches get pain relief and antibiotic and I was definitely impressed. You need a spay hook for the technique and it is midline, but if it goes well – it is brilliant. As with all fast spay techniques, if you drop a ligature (or cable tie!) you’re in trouble and the anaesthetic protocol of zoletil, acp, ketamine and atropine gives you about 15minutes at the outside – but we got through about 15 surgeries in about 2 hours – and it was an eye opener as they do all the prep, saving, premed etc themselves. There are some good tips I picked up and it is fascinating to learn these different techniques.

Great news is that I passed the exam – had my training, did a couple of spays using the McKee technique and I’m now able to work as a vet with the charities out here. End of the day we polished off a quick 250km drive to our next destination on the Pacific coast to help a charity called Kids Saving the Rainforest… gets a bit hotter down south so whilst people may be braving the freezing weather in the UK spare a thought for the film crew, working hard at 30 degrees heat in tropical lush rainforest by the unspoilt beaches of the pacific. It’s tough.