The journey...

I was travelling with a work colleague/ friend Hannah, so we met at Gatwick Airport, checked in and were ready to go! 

 The flight was to Hanoi via Dubai.  It was uneventful, just the usual trying to sleep, watching films, fidgeting to get as comfortable as realistic on a plane,  and counting down the hours!


 There was a nail bitingly long wait at Hanoi until our rucksacks finally appeared.  We were then on our way to Cuc Phuong.  It was a 3 hour long car journey, through the chaos of Hanoi then then out to rural Vietnam with rice fields and incredible scenery.  As we had been told you know when you are nearly there as the roads (if you can call them that), go from main almost highway roads, to narrow semi roads through rural villages, to tracks, and just when you don't think it is possible to get any worse or more rural you are there! 

We checked in to the Tourist Centre and dropped our bags before meeting Maddie (SVW) and Sonya (EPRC) for dinner.
Location: Cuc Phuong National Park, Nho Quan, Ninh Bình 432857, Vietnam

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 9

Image
Day 9 and sadly only a few more days here. The first job of the morning was to give any required medication to the pangolins, including both oral medication and eye drops. The animal we had surgically removed a two scales on a few days ago was due a bandage change and wound check.  This was incredibly difficult as the animal was very stressed being restrained.  It was defiantly the quickest bandage I have ever removed and replaced.  Going forward this particular individual would need to be managed carefully with as minimal intervention as possible, to reduce stress but still facilitate wound healing.   I helped Huong analyse some routine faecal samples in house with faecal floatation and parasite identification. Then dispensing subsequent worming treatment where required.  I was off for the afternoon as I was heading back to the centre to join in the night feed and see the pangolins and carnivores active. Several of the volunteers and I spent the afternoon in the forest, vis
Read more

Day 6

Image
Day 6 was a busy morning, the Leopard cat that had arrived to the centre only three days previous required a health check and examination. The cat was refusing to eat any food offered, and we had tried everything!  He was visibly skinny and we were concerned about dehydration so it was vital he was assessed and given supportive care.  Despite being weak he still gave the keepers a difficult time in catching him, in the end walking in to the induction box on his own.   Once asleep it was clear he was very skinny and malnourished, dehydrated and with some previous healed limb and digit fractures which hadn’t hindered his movement but would require a full assessment if/when he was fit for release.  I monitored the anaesthetic and gave fluids whilst Hai fully examined him and also gave him wormer (he had a heavy burden of intestinal parasites which would also affect his health and weight), a vitamin solution and glucose. There was a keeper poised with thick gauntlets ready
Read more

Day 3

Image
By Day 3 I felt like I was adjusted to the local way of life; up early with the gibbons singing and the sweeping outside the room at 5am! Beginning the day with a morning meeting; drinking green tea from tiny tea cups, sat on tiny plastic chairs in the middle of the forest.  It felt normal, long having forgotten the normal pace of life!   I worked alongside Hai, the other vet at SVW today; it was light therapy session 2 for the pangolins. Hai was particularly excited about the light therapy machine, which he affectionately called the ‘ping ping’ machine, I think all the staff secretly wished it was a light saber !  The individuals had their dressings removed, wounds flushed and cleaned, and light therapy treatment before a new dressing was applied. I was photographing and documenting all of the wounds in turn each treatment session, to hopefully show the improvement over time with the light treatment. The photos were taking an hour a day to sort through and label.
Read more