Walking in the Wild

I passed a rough night, fighting a losing battle to avoid going to the bathroom so I wouldn't have to encounter the warthogs and jackals lurking outside of my tent. I ended up being late in the morning, but I was glad I made it since we were going on a caracal walk!

The caracal was a bit on the smaller side since she's still quite young, and it was easy to treat her just like an oversized cat. She spent her first moments out of the carrier exploring the truck and checking each one of us out.

Then she wandered off on her own and explored the area around us.

Eventually, we began to walk with her alongside us, and Jo figured out that she'll even play fetch like a dog. I threw a rock, and she'd go running like mad to chase after it.

It was really good fun, and the sheer speed at which she took off was amazing!

After we finished the walk, we went to feed the not-so-tame caracals. They jump incredibly high, and the hissing and spitting between the cats was pretty nuts.

We returned to camp only to go on another walk, this time with the junior baboons. It's safe to say that the baboons aren't the most popular animal here since they like to climb on people despite being nearly twenty kilos, and they're not afraid to bite if they think you're getting out of line.

I didn't mind them so much, except for the smell, which was just as well since I ended up getting more baboon kisses. Yuck! I much preferred feeding them the seeds from a nearby tree.

The others were busy getting groomed.

Or having to scratch baboon butt. If the baboons like you, they'll present you with their behind, and it's only courteous to scratch it in return. I was so, so glad that wasn't me.

It was a pretty mellow walk as the baboons behaved themselves, but we had some excitement when we came across a giraffe family - they're really beautiful on a grand scale.

It turned out to be a day for walks since our afternoon activity was taking two mongoose and one meerkat out for a short walk.

They're not shy, and had lots of fun with us humans when they weren't busy digging little holes everywhere.

Did I mention that they're curious little buggers? I guess they thought I had something good in my backpack...

It was really nice relaxing out in the bush - we saw lots of wild meerkats, warthogs, hartebeest, springbok and horses while we were out there.

The day ended with another short walk with the baby baboons to a nearby tree, and I was more than ready for some food by the time dinner time rolled around!