You may be wondering...

..who I am:
My name is Amanda Baxley and I am from the teeny town of Hartsville, South Carolina. I went to the College of Charleston and graduated in 2006 with a BA in Biology and a minor in Psychology. After taking a year off to work, I got accepted to the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing. I graduated from the Accelerated BSN program this past December and am now officially a RN!!! I have had the same amazing boyfriend for the past 4 years now and will hopefully be lucky enough to be engaged to him very soon! And I definitely can't go without mentioning the other love in my life...my sweet, adorable 4 year old Daschund named Sadie. She is my best friend and always beside me!

...what this blog is all about:
Giving others a chance to experience Livingstone, Zambia right along with me.

...when I will be in Zambia:
From January 31 until March 2 of this year.

...where Livingstone, Zambia is located:
Livingstone is the current capital of Zambia, a country in the southern portion of Africa. Livingstone is approximately 10km south of Victoria Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in the world.

...why I am going there:
To provide healthcare to the disadvantaged citizens of Livingstone. Zambia is one of the world's poorest countries in the world and, as a result, healthcare is ineffecient. Because of the lack of adequate healthcare and health related education, Zambia is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa most affected by HIV and AIDS. Growing up, I was lucky enough to see the way that my dad cared about people other than himself. So...long story short, about 10 months ago, I made the decision to go to Zambia so that I could begin using my medical skills like my father used his - to help those that are unable (no matter what the reason) to help themselves.

“For the first time in human history, we have the science, the technology, and the money to end extreme poverty. With this unprecedented historic opportunity comes the responsibility to act”.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Walking Safari

February 15, 2009

Went on a walking safari today! Gemi, Corrine, Johanna, and I had to be at the post office at 6:45 am! Awfully early but it was pretty worth it! Other than the 4 of us, there was another man on the safari that I swear looked exactly like Mr. Bean! I tried to take a photo of him during the safari but I don’t think that it turned out very well. He had the huge nose and the buck teeth and everything! It was hilarious! Anyway, on our way to the bush, we picked up a man named Katongo. His job was to protect us during the safari. He carried around an AK-47 (no lie) and was supposed to shoot up in the air to scare any animals away that might charge. It was pretty scary actually but also really cool at the same time. I had never seen an AK-47 in real life before so I was pretty amazed. About halfway through the safari we took a little snack break. As we were sitting by the jeep eating our egg salad sandwiches, I got up and went over to speak to Katongo and our safari guide. I started a little conversation and ended up talking about the AK-47 that he was carrying around with him. He asked if I wanted to take a picture while holding the gun. Of course I said yes but told him to make sure that the safety was on before I put it into my hands – he chuckled a little and then pushed the gun into my arms. All I could think to myself was, “Oh my god…I’m holding an AK-47…I really hope I don’t kill anyone”. I just had this horrible picture in my head of me accidentally dropping the gun and it unloading on everyone as it bounced on the ground. Not a good mental picture at all. But, we posed for two pictures and they turned out really good. I was wearing khaki shorts and a green top so I looked like I was meant to be holding the gun. It is really hilarious and I can’t wait to be able to post it so everyone can see.
The beginning of the safari was very, very boring – no animals to see except for a lot of impala. And they would run off as soon as we got close to them. So, the guide was I guess feeling a little antsy b/c he was not able to “please” his customers. So, he began talking to us about plants that we passed while walking. He kept on and on and on with this plant talk and it really started to frustrate me a lot. I paid $60 to go on an ANIMAL safari, not a botanical safari. Well, after we saw a lot of plants, the guide decided that he would move on to talking about dung beetles. So, we found a big pile of rhino poop and the guide proceeded to talk about the iridescent color of the dung beetles and how some of them were small and some of them were large. Oh my god…it was terrible. But then, finally, we started to see some animals. I was really excited to see an animal but I was even more excited about not hearing anything else about beetles that survive off of poo. We ended up seeing zebra, wildebeest, monkeys, a warthog, buffalo, giraffe, an elephant, and a really big lizard. It ended up being a really exciting experience but I was slightly disappointed b/c I expected to be able to get a lot closer to the animals than we did. I also expected to see a lot more animals than we did as well. But….hey…..I got to hold an AK-47 while standing in the African bush…..that’s pretty good if I do say so myself.

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