During my study abroad program in Zimbabwe, I was able to experience and learn new things. One eye opener was seeing that this was a third world country and learning about the poverty and unemployment rate. The electricity here is also unpredictable, power will go out multiple times a day for different periods of time. Many people are trying to sell various things along the roadways.
We were able to stay at several different accommodations which all had different experiences. First we stayed at a BNB for two nights. Here, we spent a day at the university of Zimbabwe and toured the veterinary program. Seeing how minimalistic things where there, really showed how advanced we are in the USA. They were still using Halothane due to costs. In every room there were spiders along the walls, including the OR. The students we interacted with were very nice, but we learned that a lot of these students originally wanted to become a human doctor but could not get into the program.

The second place we stayed at was Antelope Park, where they had a large reserved for various animals including zebras, giraffes, monkeys, Sable, impala, elephants, and lions of course but they were in an enclosure. We had an elephant encounter where we fed and touched the elephants. We got to vaccinate and deworm the horses on the property. Injected meat with dewormer and give it to the lions. The sunsets were amazing, the sky was red and a Halloween orange for hours. The housing held about 10 people with 4 rooms total.
The next place was in Hwange National forest where the was a more abundant amount of wildlife. Baboons swing from the tents, you could hear hyenas howling near by. There was a watering pool next to the housing where elephants would herd to at night and drink from the swimming pool as well. Various other animals came by as well. Our tents were on a concrete ground with thick walls and real beds. We had many game drives during our stay as well.

The next place was called fuller forest and this was more of a camping experience. The tents were sturdy and well made but thinner. The beds were a little harsh. The showers and bathrooms were in the same building, like a locker room. Here we got to work on hyenas that were new to the park. They were darted and soon after we monitored them and I even got to pull blood from one as well. This was an amazing experience once in a life time experience for me. Wild lions were roaming the camp at night a couple times and you could hear them roaring and walking around. We could tell when the lions that actually belong to the camp were agitated due to their roar as well. Every night and morning we were greeted by the sounds of the lions.

The next accommodation was in Victoria Falls. Here we spent a few hours at one of the seven wonders of the world. It looked almost fake from where we were viewing it. There were also wild warthogs playing in the mud at the top of one of the loom outs. During our stay, we had the chance to spend a day in Chobe in the next country over and have a game cruise and also game drive. We saw an abundance of elephants, impala, and a hippos. Crocodiles and monitor type lizards were also seen. The different variety of bird were so beautiful. Our accommodation here was one of the most upscale places we had been. We also went to a restaurant called the boma and there we had a wonderful dinner with traditional African dances as well.
Overall, I would say this trip was worth the wait due to Covid -19 and would love to visit other African countries as well.
– Alicia, SPC Zimbabwe Vet Tech Program, June 2022