Oh, rats!

We slept in a bit before grabbing a Tuk Tuk to the APOPO Visitor’s Center. (https://apopo.org) APOPO is an amazing organization that trains giant African poached rats to assist in clearing land mines. Sadly, Cambodia (and many other nations) are littered with land mines and undetonated explosives. Part of it is due to the US, but most are left from the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror. They planted land mines all along the borders, so Cambodians could not escape.

APOPO is a Belgian NGO that did its initial work in Africa. The rats initially came to Cambodia in 2015 or 16. Since then, they’ve been working to help clear the devices. The rats are trained in Tanzania and then sent to Cambodia. These incredible creatures can smell explosives up to a meter deep. Because they are light weight, they do not set off the explosives but, instead, indicate the location for the handlers. The rats can clear an area much quicker than humans, as metal detectors may also respond to nails, shrapnel, and other things found in the soil. Specifically, a rat can sweep a swath of land in 30 minutes that would take an entire day for a human because they are trained to only hit on explosives.

We did an hour tour of their facilities and got to hold Vanna, one of the working rats. It takes about a year for the rats to train, which culminates in them obtaining tiny little passports and work visas to enter Cambodia. Once here, they work for 5-6 years and then retire for the last couple years of their lives. Because they are nocturnal animals, the organization only uses them for three hours in the mornings. They have their own air conditioned accommodations, as well as a good size gym where they can exercise on the giant gerbil wheel, climb ropes, or take a yoga class (maybe they didn’t say yoga).

We lingered at the visitors center after our tour, where I also learned that giant African pouched rats are also trained to detect TB. I was surprised to learn that TB kills more humans than any other infectious disease. Like right now. A trained rat can check 100 samples in 20 minutes; a lab can test 25 samples in a day. The rats are making a huge difference in lowering the transmission rates where they have been deployed.

We ate lunch at Taprohm again, so Nikki and Kim could order the amok. We stayed at the restaurant long after we finished, as a ferocious rain storm passed through the area. An eventual break was our cue to make a break for the hotel. We had a short wait and we grabbed our transfer to the airport. We won’t get into HCMC until 8:30pm. Tomorrow we’ll spend most of the day with our friend, Mark, and Monday we’ll be rat back home.Read more