Goodbye CARE

My last few days with the baboons were fantastic. I spent as much time in the baby hok as possible. The last day was rough though. I spent about 4 straight hours in the hok before I had to leave. I said goodbye to all the baboons one by one, chasing them down if I had to. Last, but certainly not least, I said goodbye to Toughie. I took him into the airlock, the buffer zone between the hok and the outside world, and gave him big hugs. I tried to put him back in the hok but he whined and jumped back onto me. It took a few more tries for him to let me leave. It's hard to explain, but it was the sweetest thing ever and almost made me never leave. By the time I finally left to go to the airport, I practically had tears in my eyes. Saying goodbye to the people was difficult too, but at least you can stay in touch with them. I don't think Toughie or the other babies are on facebook. It was an absolutely awesome three months with better baboons and people than I could have imagined.
Then it was off to the airport!

Actually, some sad news. I found out that during my trip in Namibia, Chiquita passed away. The day before I left, she had a relapse where something in her brain just wasn't working right. She couldn't walk or eat and just did not look okay. A few days after that she passed away. I'm still not sure on the details, but she must have had some major head trauma. Chiquita was taken from her wild mother because we noticed something wasn't right with her one day. We thought it was tetanus, but it turned out to be a fractured skull. Molly nursed her back to health spectacularly, but sometimes it's just not enough. Poor Chiquita.