The Tuli Block

The Tuli Block

What a phenomenal weekend! On Friday afternoon we departed for the Tuli Block (the section of land in far-eastern Botswana which is located between Zimbabwe and South Africa) in the Land Rover of our friend Jeremy (a subset of folks rented an airplane in order to get there faster…on the way back they had to make an emergency landing somewhere in South Africa and as of yet had not returned to Gabs…but that’s another story…)

We arrived late at night, driving across bumpy dirt roads to our tent campsite which was being watched over by a troop of noisy baboons. A herd of impala ran across the front of our vehicle in the middle of the night. Truly amazing. We went on a total of three game drives over the weekend and saw an even more amazing collection of wildlife than the weekend before: elephant, giraffe, impala, kudu, hyenas, eland, wildebeest, guinea fowl, ostrich, zebra, monkeys.

Perhaps even more striking than the wildlife for me, however, was the amazing scenery. It reminded me very much of the Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks back in the United States: lots of reddish rock outcroppings with magnificent formations, along with a sense of desolation and spirituality about the place. I guess my blog readers will just have to wait for photos in order for me to describe Tuli with any justice.

We made it back to Gabs just before nightfall and I thoroughly enjoyed my shower & evening meal. Tomorrow it’s back to work for Week #4. We have a few more additions to our merry University of Penn band: my friend Helen Azzam (another 3rd year Internal Medicine resident, like myself), Nabila (a Neurology resident), Allison (an Emergency Room resident), and Dr. Dick Root (a Professor Emeritus who had founded Penn’s Department of Infectious Diseases way back when) & his wife. This is apparently the most Penn people who have ever been in Gaborone at the same time