Essence

Of Rhino...

Lets back up a bit,
Mark:"Val, there is a rhino out of the park that so and so and so and so are going to go dart to transport, would you like to go along"

Me: "YEEEESSSSSS, I will be right down"

me, getting to lower hangar, find mark

Mark: "Oh hi val, this is Mr. ututiewhfhd, he will be the veterinarian doing the darting"

Me: "Pleased to meet you, you look very familiar" (shaking his pie plate size hand)

Me: hmmmmm, where on earth have I seen this guy before, at the birthday party?no, that's not it.
THEN I KNEW!!
HE IS THE GUY I HAVE SEEN ON ANIMAL PLANET.....so i essential scream that out like a 12 year old. I had to ask him his name again, Mark talks fast and the accent throws me a little.

so we climb into the Jet Ranger and immediately I start thinking, hmmm what would I really do if we actually went down. Morbid I know, but I grew up in the middle of no where and of course there is always a bit of risk when doing something of this nature. pay attention to the landmarks, roads and rivers. Ack, then my mind just drifted and took it all in.

Oh there he is! Odd because just less than a half mile from him is a dirt road with children walking on it and folks all about.


Running...running...getty whoozy.....soooo sleepy....and down he went.



Look at those feet, they were spongy but leathery with funky toenails, boy that would take alot of nail polish (yes those are the weird thoughts that pop in from time to time)

At this moment Mike is encouraging me to go up and "check it out"...Really? I wont be in the way? I touched him, and was quite curious about those feet. Odd and Cool and the same time.

And my favorite photo of animal planet celebrity man!


Ooofda he is a big bugger


With alot of help from folks that just came from all around they got that big ole hunk of Rhino into the trailer. Meanwhile I am snapping pictures like a mad woman, and all the kids around us were diggin that. The friendly young lady standing next to me most of the time enamoured me with her smile and kindness. One things for sure the native black folk where we were have the most stunning teeth. Coming from me backwoods girl with crooked teeth, you can see how this is a big deal for me. See....look at that smile!

I thought about this young gal on the fly back to the hangar and wondered what her life was like, and the experiences she has had.

Once we were back on the ground and a few more pictures with Mr. Grobler, I ran up to my hubby and said "Honey I brought back something for you"...."really"......I hold up my hand in his face while saying "yes I did, essence of rhino ass, here take a big whiff".

I think it took me a few hours to come down from that high!!! It was special indeed, and permanently etched in my memory bank.