Philipp (3rd from left) – 19 and from Germany. He
is studying physics in college and is very good with numbers. In addition to
being very good at math, I also learn he can more or less count cards and is
rather sneaky to play against. Also it turns out his dad had a hand in
designing my VW CC that I love to hate the electronics.
Théo (8th from left back row) – 16 and from France. It took
me up until the last day to realize that he pronounces his name (T-o). He is
still in high school and a little bit of a goof who is very good at spotting
and catching crickets for the camp bird – Mutters. He usually has a few in his
pants pocket or in the old coffee can he often carries around to stash them in.
Brenda (8th from left front row) – 20 from France. Seems
fairly clever and in some ways the most mature of the group with the exception
of me. Always in a good mood and perhaps the hardest working one in the bunch
next to Elodie. Funny how girls will work harder than boys, I noticed this some
at the University of Chicago too.
Elodie (6th from left) – Not sure but guessing
about 18 and also from France. She is picked on for being the shortest at the
camp but is a firecracker and is often underestimated and perhaps the first to
throw it right back, both verbally and physically.
Hugo (2nd from left) – Not sure exactly but
guessing around 19 and from France. He does not speak a lot of English but
tries very hard to socialize with the group, which must be hard because
everything is done in English and it is not always translated back to him. Like
me, he has an old car too, a 60’s era Jaguar.
Léon (5th from left) – At 21 and from Germany, he
is a cross between a volunteer and staff. This is his second year in Botswana
and after last summer they asked him if he wanted to come back and help this
year. I don’t think he is being paid but it sounds like his time in Botswana
has been comped. During the work projects he pretty much goes 110% and this guy
can put away more food than anybody I’ve seen before.
Sophie (taking the picture) – Early or mid-30’s and from
Switzerland and our group leader or supervisor, not sure of the title. She is
very knowledgeable about the animals in the area and regularly quizzes us on
projects and rewarding with candy for the right answer. She is the girlfriend
of Gens and the one I have the hardest time understanding her accent.
Gens (1st left) – Early or mid-30’s from
Germany. Gens takes care of all the equipment and is the go to guy to fix
stuff, which there is always something that needs fixing. Gens does not usually
go out with us on a project, likely because he is fixing the hot water heater,
one of the Toyota’s 4x4, building cabinets for the volunteer tents, and so on.
Jo (4th from left) – 54-years-old and from
Botswana. Jo is the one that usually supervises us on the work projects and
takes us on the census and other adventure projects in the bush. When you are
with Jo he works you and constantly warns us about doing stupid stuff “you
mustn’t kill yourself.” On the more labor intensive work projects he has a
tendency to call out the names of everyone in the group as part of the work rhythm.
Jane (7th from left) – Unknown age but guessing
around 38 or 40 and also from Botswana. Jane is the camp cook and takes care of
all of our weekly meals so you can always find her in the kitchen.
No comments:
Post a Comment