J has been crazy busy at work, and I haven't been so crazy busy at home so I got a bee in my bonnet about taking a trip on my own. My parents always had the Discovery Channel on the TV when I was a kid, and I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by cheetahs. It seemed like a good idea to see them in person, and I booked a two week-long volunteer gig at Na'ankuse Wildlife Sanctuary in Namibia to get up close and personal with the cats.
It was a long flight to Namibia, including a layover in Johannesburg. I met with the driver and another volunteer, Monja, at the airport in Windhoek, and we drove the 40km or so to the sanctuary. Namibia is the second least populated country, and all I could see was dry brush during the drive.
Once we pulled in the sanctuary, we were shown to our tents, which was a short walk away from the main buildings. I was to be the lone occupant of this grand palace...
We quickly dropped off our things and began exploring some of the grounds while the others were still away on their afternoon activities.
Luckily, we ran into Josh, a long-time volunteer, who offered to take us into a cheetah enclosure. Samira is a 14 year old cheetah whose teeth aren't in great shape due to her previous owners not feeding her the proper food. She's living out her twilight years at Na'ankuse, and she's still stunning to behold.
She patiently let us pet her, and I tried not to mind the fact that she hadn't been fed yet and she had some massive drooling going on.
We visited the baby warthogs afterward, and they were more curious about us then we were of them! They tried to eat pretty much everything attached to us including shoelaces and pocket flaps. By the way, my shorts and shoes were clean before I got in with the three little piggies!
We also saw lots of random animals such as peacocks and duikes wandering about.
The sanctuary also functions as a farm so they also have typical farm animals such as sheep, chickens, and goats.
The vervet monkeys also warranted a visit, and we petted them through the fencing. They were perfectly friendly and sweet, and it was only later that we found out that they were supposed to be vicious due to mistreatment by the previous owners. We didn't see any of that and stroking their fingers weirded out me a little as their little hands are just like ours!
The sun sets quickly here and is gone around 5:30pm, and the day's heat rapidly dissipates soon thereafter. It's cold enough for people to huddle around the bonfires after dinner, and I had to put on multiple layers. The drop in temperature happens so quickly that it's a bit of a shock.
Time also moves as slow as molasses since there is pretty much nothing to do - no internet, no TV, no mobile phones. There is music if someone plugs in their ipod to the communal speakers, and the only light is from your flashlight. As you can imagine, people turn in pretty quickly, and I found myself tucked into bed by 9pm most nights snoozing away to the sound of jackals, baboons, and a distant lion's roar.
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