May 1, 2017: Mrs. Janes Returns-Mt. Etjo Students Say Hello to Garden 504 Students!

Hello Class: Mrs. Janes has returned from Africa! I enjoyed meeting with you yesterday to share the Mt. Etjo Private School "Hello" greeting. I think you could tell by their enthusiastic response they enjoyed  the experience as much as you did! You asked some great questions about their culture and school environment. Both schools had an opportunity to reach out to other students in another country, thus creating a deepening understanding of the global world and bringing each closer to the other.  I believe this experience widened the knowledge and view of the world from both sides of students! Also, by traveling with me you were able to gain a lived-in experience and have hopefully increased your awareness of Africa, its beauty and rich environment as much as I have.

I was so amazed by your enthusiasm for this adventure and the amount you have learned in the process! When I asked you what you have learned, you quickly responded back with knowledge and appreciation for all aspects of the experience. I was in awe of your news casting abilities! What a great idea. Loved the moving table, because it gave a feel for actually being part of the experience
(especially the breaking news!). Your green screen approach was so innovative. I think I see future newscasters among your class!

Kudos (or should I say Kudus?) to Mr. DeCoito for his eagerness and excitement in taking this project on!

I was able to insert only one of the other videos into the blog- the Cheetah Feed. I believe the others were too large. I will email them to Mr. DeCoito. So be sure to look for them.

Thank you for coming along with me. I wish you the best of success in your future learning.

Mrs. Janes' Last Safari Tip:  Always be open to new experiences, you never know where they will take you.

Day 16, April 30: You are welcome!

 

Hello Class: Love the picture! You are most welcome and I am so glad you were able to share this adventure with me.

 

We are now home (arrived yesterday-late afternoon) and are recovering from several days of travel. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have had such a wonderful and exciting African experience.

 

I promised to show you more about the Jan Oelofse Hunting Lodge we stayed in which is pictured above. In the middle of the set of pictures is the overall lodge (6 rooms) with a photo of the circular viewing room. We met here at the end of every day and discussed everyone's exciting adventures during the day. The above top left picture is the Lapis Dining Room where we had wonderful dinners every night and more grand conversation. The picture to the right is the informal dining room where we ate breakfast and lunch every day. This room had a fantastic wide-open view of the water hole with great animal observations. The bottom left was our very large-long room. The last photo was our view from our room.

 

I look forward to meeting with you tomorrow and sharing with you the video from the Mt. Etjo Private School students. I have a couple of other quick videos and stories to tell you. I am also excited to hear about what you have learned while on this safari with me.

 

Until then.......

Thank you!

Mrs. Janes,
THANK YOU so much for sharing your adventure with us!!!  We can't wait to hear and see more when you return.  Safe travels.
   Mr. DeCoito's Gophers

Day 13, April 27: Mr. and Mrs. Janes are Surrounded by Lions! Yikes!

Hello Class: We are nearing the end of our trip. Sadly, we leave this lovely place early tomorrow morning and  return to the USA on Saturday (we loose a day due to 9 hours time difference). We thought we would leave without seeing Africa's largest predator-the ONE animal everyone wants to see. We were unsuccessful yesterday in finding one of the two prides of lions on the 10,000 acres preserve where they are located. However, Rudie our Guide was relentless in finding them for me, so he kept looking today and found them! He was afraid they would run away by the time he returned with us, so he left a very large leg of game for them to eat and rest while he could return with us. Right after the school visit, he found us and rushed us to the sight. They were still there! What a magnificent sight! I have several pictures and videos which I will show you when I return. At one point we were surrounded by them (3 feet away). The large lion with the game meat to our right, and the mom with her young cubs (not really that young-about 1-2 years old). Two males and one female. They were relaxing under trees, not really paying us much attention. However the large young male lion came over to the vehicle and starting clawing the front tire! Rudie turned it several times to get him to stop, after much persuasion, he finally did. A few scary moments! I was able to capture that on video. What a fantastic way to end the trip!

We are off and packing now....

I have a few more photos to show you and plan to upload the final video of the Mt. Etjo School kids when I return.

This was truly a trip of a lifetime far exceeding our expectations!

I am glad you were able to come along with me.

Until we meet again.....

Day 13, April 27: Mrs. Janes Goes to Mt. Etjo Private School!

Hello Class: This morning Mr. Janes and I had the privilege of visiting Mt. Etjo Private School. We were able to upload your video onto their newly donated monitor with success. The kids LOVED your message and enjoyed seeing all your enthusiasm. I was able  to point out on a map where Tulare, California was and discuss how long it took to arrive here. I told them a little bit about Tulare. They asked me questions about how many schools we had in Tulare, how many kids go to our schools, what a School Board Member does, what the weather was like, how many children I had, etc. I took their picture (above) and was able to also get a video of them enthusiastically sending you back a message. We ended by passing out a t-shirt to each child, which they greatly appreciated and I think we had just about enough correct sizes for all-with some left over. They also loved the variety of books we were able to send to them. The picture on the bottom right was of their school as we were approaching. The vehicle on the bottom left is their school bus!  The kids left for home right after we handed out the T-shirts (they only have school for 1/2 day). Notice several kids have already put their t-shirts on! Overall, the teachers were very pleased with the visit and commented it was so good for the kids to have someone visit from another country and give them a fresh view of another culture. They are very limited in their area and classroom. At this point they do not have internet.

The global outreach was a success! Thank you for being part of it.

The Grand Finale: We found the lions! Oh, oh!

Stay tuned for more.......

Days 11-12 April 25-16: Leaping Leopards! and Other Stories from the Bush...

 

Hello Class: I am glad you are enjoying the blog. The top picture represents various hunting expeditions. But first I would like to point out a beautiful view of Mt. Etjo. Notice the top left picture is Mt. Etjo, a flat mountain top in the distance, and on this day it is shining under the glow of the sun. To the right you will see Rudie looking across the landscape for game. The second row left is Mr. Janes and Rudie putting on a stalk for game.

What I have discovered since being here is, Africa is full of stories. If you ask and listen carefully everyone has a rich story to tell about their lives and experiences in this beautiful land.

Now for a scary leopard story. Remember Steve? I spoke about him earlier. He has a story to tell about his encounter with a leopard. See the leopard picture underneath the first set of pictures. You might want to do some research on the African leopard. Steve and his client were pursuing an out of control leopard who was on a killing spree. The result of this hunt ended up to be one of his most terrifying experiences that left visible scars. During his pursuit, the leopard knocked Steve to the ground injuring him and then attacking  his client full on!  Both were injured, but not life-threatening. You will see in the picture above what Steve looked like the day of the attack (careful, there's blood); and then several years later the remaining scars on his arm and face to remind him that the end result could have been much worse!

Yesterday, while Mr. Janes and Rudie were out tracking, they discovered very large drag marks in the sand. They stopped their vehicle, got out and followed the marks over 300 yards!  They were amazed to discover a dead large Springbok "stashed" under" woody-thorny bushes. A leopard kill they thought. They determined by the tracks it was a young female, possibly a new mother. Just think how strong that young female leopard must of been to be able to drag a 70 lb. Springbok all that way!  It was most likely stashed to eat later when safe. However just as they were surveying  the site, they also noted several birds acting anxious nearby....

Safari Tip: Whenever birds are close together and acting a little nervous in the African bush, there may be a leopard close by.

Mr. Janes was thinking "here we are close to a leopard kill and nervous birds without my rifle and just Rudie's small handgun on his waist." Time to make a fast exit back to the vehicle!

On the bottom of the first set are the two pictures of hunters at the lodge getting ready to go out for their hunts. The first is Rudie and Mr. Janes and the second to the right is Steve, Angie and her husband, Dan (both hunters from Illinois), James (I will tell you about him below) and Steve's star dog, Rocky. He may be lying down in the picture.

The next set of pictures are about the Namibian Bushman. One of the most highly published and researched people on the planet and a very important part of the Namibian culture. James, Steve's tracker is a Bushman. You might want to look up Namibian Bushman and if you do, you might be surprised to find out the Bushman (San Tribe) are one of the most intriguing people in the world. It is estimated (and confirmed by archeologists) that the San are the region's earliest inhabitants, some over 30,000 years ago! Sans people were hunters and gathers in their earlier days; whose incredible tracking skills remain today. Their home was the vast expanse of the Kalahari desert. Notice in the picture to the right James is having some fun with a couple of found Warthog tusks.

This afternoon I plan to do Lion exploring with Mr. Janes and Rudie. I hope to see some soon. The only large animal of the region I haven't seen yet. Yesterday we had quite a surprise as Rudie's favorite elephant came down to the water hole. Remember, I told you about him yesterday? See the picture at the bottom. He lumbered on down to the water and took a very luxurious mud bath. You might want to look up why elephants like mud baths.

Answer to your question about what I miss most about home: To be able to share our wonderful experiences about Africa with our family, friends and you, in person.

Tomorrow I plan to visit the Mt. Etjo School and share your video, T-shirts and books with them. I plan to take a picture and bring a video of them back to share with you.

More later. Good luck with your testing. I know you will do well!

Amazing!!!

What an amazing place!  We are in awe of the pictures and it's great hearing about your adventure...you're in Africa!  There are animals normally only seen at the zoo or on television, RIGHT THERE!  The students are reading, researching, and asking questions every day.  It's a nice little distraction from testing this week. :)  

The big question from the kiddos today is...Do you miss anything from home?