Rhino and moon are leaving us

Rhino and moon are leaving us

The moon without any rhinos. (Photo Credit: Fortunate M. Phaka)
The moon without any rhinos. (Photo Credit: Fortunate M. Phaka)

Having rhinos and the moon in the same sentence sounds like some far-fetched fairy tale that Disney dreamt up. Truth is though; there is a similarity between the two as they are both leaving us albeit due to different reasons.  As things currently stand this is a fairy tale without a happy ending. According to NASA the moon is moving away from the Earth at about 3.7cm per year due to the gravitational interactions between the two spheres. As of June 2014 at least 1 rhino was being killed every 9 hours. Losing the moon is likely to have devastating effects for life on Earth as most life-giving processes will be disrupted, but the moon’s departure is governed by laws of gravity which means there is little we can do to stop it, and at such a slow rate the negative effects may be felt only a few billions years from now.Continue reading “Rhino and moon are leaving us”

What The Moon Means To Me

What The Moon Means To Me

The Full Moon - July 12th, 2014

I used to think the moon was made of cheese. I liked believing that happy, chubby mice roamed freely with their abundance of food. I would ignore my classmates who pestered me about my crazy ideas, because it made me content to imagine the cheesy moon, and I didn’t want anyone to ruin my fun. I was innocent and I suppose a little naive, but at that age I had no idea where my thoughts of the moon would turn to.Continue reading “What The Moon Means To Me”

The perfect birthday gift is in constant threat from rhino poaching

The perfect birthday gift is in constant threat from rhino poaching

Back from our first bush walk.
Back from our first bush walk.

As I have done on every birthday of my adult life, I woke up early to watch the sun rise and reflect on the years past and ponder on prospects of the coming years. This year however was slightly different as it was the first birthday I celebrated away from home and in a place where cellphone reception is a scarce commodity. Although I enjoyed the usual ritual of gazing at the sun rise this meant that I was going to miss out on the birthday customs that I’ve gotten used to at home. I was away from friends and family so this meant no chocolate cake and loved ones singing out of tune happy birthday jingles. There were no friends coming to my place uninvited with oodles of alcohol and inappropriate birthday gifts looking to celebrate my getting older. Since cellphone reception was bad this also meant I was going to miss out on the awkward phone call from an ex-girlfriend looking to capitalise on my good mood and try to get us back together.Continue reading “The perfect birthday gift is in constant threat from rhino poaching”

To Serve and Protect

To Serve and Protect

We’ve been at the reserve for just under two weeks now, and the team seems to have established itself as something as a constant. Though various families and groups of friends have come to visit and left again after a few days, we stay and continue working on our projects and the final documentary. Each day I learn something new about the conservation battle here in South Africa and across the world, even if we don’t get to spot a new species or visit another part of the reserve.Continue reading “To Serve and Protect”

Free in the Wild

Free in the Wild

I’m an artist. I’m a playful, emotional, questioning, curious, reactive, lover of the world and of all creativity. My favorite thing is working together in a group to create this external force and being that would trump anything that any of us could have done alone. Nothing fuels me more than when I’m creating and all of a sudden my muses take over, twirling my hand this way and that, dancing on the tip of my tongue, or moving my normally sluggish feet to the beat of a song. I love living in my creativity and feel the most joyous and fulfilled when I’m here; however, my normal LA life, filled with the everyday hustle of my acting career, almost completely suffocates my creativity.Continue reading “Free in the Wild”

Mozambique’s hand in rhino poaching

Mozambique’s hand in rhino poaching

Great Limpopoo Tranfrontier Park map © Kruger National Park
Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park map © Kruger National Park

When Mozambique’s civil war ended over 2 decades ago it left the country with socio-economic problems plus a cache of firearms that were used during the fighting. The country is currently one of the poorest in the world with about 60% of the population living in extreme poverty including ex-soldiers that fought in the war. This poverty, military skills and guns are what rhino poaching syndicates are banking on as it provides them with an almost endless supply of rhino killers, men willing to kill rhinos to feed their families and improve their living standards. Another thing working in favour of these syndicates is the establishment of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP). The park straddles the borders of Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe and it aims to let animals move freely without being hindered by political boundaries. For the GLTP to realize its ambitions the fence separating these 3 partner states had to be removed. Allowing animals to move freely was a great ecological move but this also allowed poachers to move freely in and out of the Kruger National Park which forms part of the GLTP and is also where the bulk of Southern Africa’s rhinos are poached.Continue reading “Mozambique’s hand in rhino poaching”

Connectivity— My Religion

Connectivity— My Religion

“I heard you talking earlier about religion. And I was just wondering what you believe in? Are you religious?”

–      JP (head ranger & my friend)

For a few extended seconds, I stared at JP. It was the first time in a good long while that I’ve been asked to play the religion game.Continue reading “Connectivity— My Religion”

My Bittersweet Reality

My Bittersweet Reality

I currently reside in a bittersweet reality. As I experience the utterly awe-inspiring privilege of being in the bush, seeing majestic African wildlife in its natural habitat and meeting such interesting and passionate people, I am constantly reminded of how threatened this lifestyle is. As I sit here, writing this blog, animals are being poached. That is the harsh and ugly reality that I simply cannot get used to, and it casts a ghoulish shadow over every beautiful moment that I am honored to participate in, here in South Africa.Continue reading “My Bittersweet Reality”