Last day in Botswana

Today was a busy morning and day!  I took a picture of my last sunrise here – sad!

I had finished packing up my suitcase last night, and was ready to fly back to Johannesburg, then on to NYC today.  Little did I know that we would be working all morning today before I got on the airplane!  Mark has definitely taught me how to maintain a strong work ethic this summer!

We saw about 5 eland on the way in to the clinic – they were quick to run, though, so I could not snap a picture in time.  We also saw some baboons on the way in, which I did manage to take a picture of!

Once Janine and I arrived at the clinic, Mark explained that he, Anthony, and I would be driving in to Gaborone to drop me off at the airport, but that we had a few things to do on the way so we needed to leave soon.  Janine would be covering the Lobatse practice today, so I had to say my goodbyes to Janine.  I will really miss working with her!  She is an awesome person and veterinarian, and we had a great summer.  We said our goodbyes, and we will definitely stay in touch!

Mark, Anthony, and I were then on our way to Gaborone, with a few stops to make on the way.  We stopped to perform two cat castrations, as well as to vaccinate three dogs.

Just your average veterinary house calls here in Botswana!

Once we had finished with the veterinary house calls, we drove to Botswana Craft to have lunch with Nikki, the current UPenn-Botswana Partnership in-country coordinator.  We all had a great lunch and chatted about the internship program, my experiences this summer, blogging, and so on.  It was great to finally meet Nikki, as I hadn’t met her yet!  The lunch was also a nice way to wrap up my experiences in Botswana.

Once we had finished with lunch, we said our goodbyes, and then it was on to the airport for me.  Mark and Anthony walked me in to the airport to pick up my boarding pass and check my bag.  Once I had done so, it was time to say our goodbyes.

I said my goodbyes to Anthony, but I really didn’t know what to say to Mark – there was so much I wanted to thank him for.  I thanked him as best as I could.  I hope he knows how wonderful of a learning experience this trip was, and how thankful I am to have been able to work with him and Janine for 9 weeks this summer.  Words really can’t express my gratitude for such an awesome summer veterinary experience.  Mark and Janine are wonderful teachers, veterinarians, and most importantly, friends!  I will definitely be staying in touch with both of them.

I wrote a small piece summarizing my experiences here in Botswana, and will post this as my last and final blog entry.  When I go back to the US, I will not only take with me new knowledge that I hope to be able to apply in the future, but also memories of a wonderful summer.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to work abroad with a veterinarian in a developing country this summer.  I am lucky to have had the experience of a lifetime, and I know I will always look back on it and smile.  My work abroad this summer has only reinforced my dream to continue working abroad in a developing country someday.

My hope is that you have enjoyed reading my blog!  It was my goal to make this blog educational, informative, and interesting, while also being a “light read” (mainly because I am not the best writer!).  I hope that this blog has proven helpful, informative, or at least interesting to you.  If you have been a loyal follower, thank you for reading all of this way!  🙂  I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your summers, and sala sentle, or “stay well” in Tswana!