The African venture continues…
Sorry for the big gap in communication but trying to get to an internet café here is just SO difficult. The Lion Park will not really arrange transport for us unless they have to go to the mall for other things, using local cabs is not advisable they say, and our recommended driver, the lady I used to take me to Pilanesberg has a full diary and trying to find a mutually convenient time is another challenge.
Anyway, she kindly came by tonight and brought her laptop and I am connected to her mobile phone, so I am just hoping the connection will work all the way. This set up is a bit slow due to this area having very poor signal and so I am finding myself totally unable to reply to individual emails as it could take me quite a long time just to open and send.
Plus I don’t really want to keep her waiting forever as she cannot really go home until I have finished updating this blog… oh the joys of being in the bush! Still, it shows that ‘where this is a will, there is a way’.
I’m still enjoying being the cubs immensely and they really make me feel incredibly valued. The moment any of us walk through the door of their enclosure they jump on our legs and if we sit down they are all over us within 30 seconds, chewing on everything they can put their teeth into – shoes, jackets, elbows, breasts… you name it. I have been scratched all over but still feel it has been the most amazing experience.
My favourite moment so far has been to play hide and seek with the cheetah cub… who soon learnt how to cheat to outsmart me and win each time ! He has a little hut in the middle of his enclosure and I’d go around it slowly and he’d hide behind a tree and try to figure out the way to jump on my back (as if I didn’t know he was coming!). However, because he was shorter than the hut, sometimes he couldn’t quite see how to guarantee he’d get me from behind so he would stand up on his back legs, put his front legs on top of his hut roof and check which way I was going. If I saw I was moving clockwise, he’d go the other way … trying to catch me by surprise. It was just hilarious. I had no idea that anyone could play such games with big cats. Masai, the said cheetah cub is one of my very favourites. Cheetahs are special because they are the only big cats that purr and they are always very fond of licking to express gratitude. So I can always gage his mood… which is lovely. The smaller cubs, you can tell they are happy to see you because they are all over you but you mainly gage their mood when they start moving their tails too fast (i.e. I am getting seriously annoyed) or when they snarl at you. Though one little female cub is particularly affectionate and can lick people’s face and suck their ears – something that scares a bit as I don’t fancy their BIG claws so near my eyes so I never let her do that to me.
I have made quite a few fun videos by now (thanks again R for the pressie, what an amazing gift !!! So perfectly timed). I just hope I can forward links easily and that they don’t take too much memory. I have already shot about 30mns and that’s just one minute here and there. The other day we washed them with a sponge and they so hated it, that quite funny. Or I’ve got videos of them jumping on the brooms when we clean their enclosures, etc. I try to think of unusual moments so that it doesn’t all look the same. I have some fantastic close ups of the cubs looking totally adorable – they have the most beautiful face and some gorgeous close ups of Masai’s face, as he has such an intense look since his eyes are so much darker. When I gaze into his eyes I just forget about everything else. I really it’s so easy to connect with him in particular. Though I can also respect his need to take a break when he’s through with playing. I really have taken some of my best wildlife shots ever, at least as far as big cats are concerned.
I’ve also got movies at the nursery. They have cubs a few days old that we are not allowed to hold but there is so much organization involved to keep them healthy. We have to get everything sterilized, etc. And the girls who are in charge of them have got the not-so-envious job of stimulating their anus with cotton wools till they pooh everything out! I will never look at cotton wool in the same way again, I tell you… Then they bottle feed them and after that, they pad their little bellies till they burp so they don’t get collicks, just like human babies. In the wild, she told me that the mother does all that, stimulates their anus with heavy licking till they empty their bowel, and also triggers the burping with heavy licking. This is why we are always told to stroke them fairly hard on their body as they have been deprived of maternal love and it helps them feel the emotional gap of what they have been missing out on – it feels like a lioness licking.
The other day I was also taken to an area of the park where they have a stunning leopard. But no one can go in as he could take anyone who weighs 60kgs up a tree! He doesn’t know when to stop playing… just today actually, a game park ranger who had known some lions for years got eaten by a pride of them. He had a flat tyre, got out of his car, and knelt down to use the jack, and bang, they no longer saw him as a man and got him. The only bit that remained of him was his shoes! The engine was still running. Shows that we are dealing with real predators here…
Most days are the same here, but some volunteers prefer some job better than others and it’s a struggle to get the rota going or to get any decent structure in the day. We also can’t seem to go anywhere on our days off as we cannot get transport anywhere, which is SO frustrating too. This has caused a lot of friction… to the point that we had to have an emergency meeting with a Lion Park manager to try and resolve conflicts and issues. We had 3 people in tears and it was just not pretty. We all come from different countries – UK, France, Netherlands, Norway, Australian and as such have got such different attitudes, we keep clashing. The Aussie girl in particular is very brash and has got such a loud voice, she drives me crazy. She has ruined a lot of my movies as all I can hear is her voice in the background, grrr…
To make matters worse facilities are not very good.. we have had no hot water for the last 3 days, the toaster is broken, we have rats in the kitchen… it is cold at night, 2 people have become sick… and tempers are flying. There are odd moments when I do think ‘gee, I think that 2 weeks will be more than enough!’… some want to leave already and feel the novelty has worn out and we are too different to pretend getting along for much longer… It’s therefore NOT all honkey-dorey. I think the age gap is too big between us. The younger ones must be used to having their mothers tidy up after them and leave the kitchen a mess, with piles of dishes in the sink whereas I clean up as I go along…
But then every time I go into the lion cubs’ enclosure or play with Masai, I feel totally privileged and incredibly fulfilled and forget all the bickering. I feel I have been here a lot longer than 2 weeks really. I still adore having the giraffe around for breakfast… though this morning I turned my back for 2mns to get my hot chocolate, and in the meantime, she’d eaten my bun (they have such long tongues that are like chameleon’s).
The other day we took the 4 musketeers (i.e. the 4 x 2 months old) on the air strip nearby and it was so lovely watching them run behind us, with their little black ears sticking out. I did a real cute video of that too…
We then tried to take Masai onto the same air strip to give him some exercise but he heard the white lions roar in the distance and was totally petrified. I think a chip in his brain must have warned him that lions eat cheetah cubs and so we had to take him back to the safety of his enclosure where he was obviously a lot happier.
I have tried to get some nice photos of me holding the cubs but it’s so hard. One of us is very poorly and coughs pretty much all night long and as a result I have had interrupted sleep for several nights. I probably only sleep about 5 hours per night… so I have bags under my eyes all the time which is such a shame as I may never get the chance to hold a lion cub again. I think I will need some expert to help me air-brush the bags before I share the pictures, ah! I just don’t like my face on any picture… Come to think of it, I probably need to change my face altogether !!!
We did go out to the restaurant once, before we stopped being civil to each other and I must say they had fantastic food. I had the best tuna steak ever… totally melted in my mouth. But it all went down hill after that…
The other day some of us (not me though) went to the shopping mall to send some emails and buy more food and they were told that 2 hours earlier there had been a violent shooting. A gang had come in to steal jewellery and had opened fire on anyone around. I don’t think anyone actually died, but it really shows how dangerous this country can be. This is why, in many ways, I feel safer emailing from the camp ! The only danger is an electric shock in case the giraffe dribbles over the keyboard ! (and she’s been hanging over my head for a little while…). I just wish you could see her… she’s a darling.
I went to assess the manager’s mother today, for her sight loss and gave her a few tips. She was SO grateful. That made my day too. It helped me remember what ‘normal work’ was like… here I must say that it doesn’t really feel like work. I’d do it for pleasure… the only bit that is still a bit difficult to get used to the smell of the pooh which seriously ponks.
I probably won’t get the chance to email again before I leave the country now. Only 2 days to go… I can’t believe it !!! And yet I guess I will also look forward to going home to London knowing that I have 2 trips lined up within 2 months ! NOT bad. I have to pinch myself every day… being able to experience so many of the world’s wonders is a blessing. And these little cubs are true treasures. I will miss them SO much… I dreamt about my last day last night and I was sobbing in my dream. To think I will never see their beautiful little faces again and that someone else will hold them next week… sigh.
I hope that you are all keeping well, once again, thanks for the many emails… most appreciated. Especially when the going got tough (with my peers) it was nice to have some news from real friends… !!!
Sorry for the big gap in communication but trying to get to an internet café here is just SO difficult. The Lion Park will not really arrange transport for us unless they have to go to the mall for other things, using local cabs is not advisable they say, and our recommended driver, the lady I used to take me to Pilanesberg has a full diary and trying to find a mutually convenient time is another challenge.
Anyway, she kindly came by tonight and brought her laptop and I am connected to her mobile phone, so I am just hoping the connection will work all the way. This set up is a bit slow due to this area having very poor signal and so I am finding myself totally unable to reply to individual emails as it could take me quite a long time just to open and send.
Plus I don’t really want to keep her waiting forever as she cannot really go home until I have finished updating this blog… oh the joys of being in the bush! Still, it shows that ‘where this is a will, there is a way’.
I’m still enjoying being the cubs immensely and they really make me feel incredibly valued. The moment any of us walk through the door of their enclosure they jump on our legs and if we sit down they are all over us within 30 seconds, chewing on everything they can put their teeth into – shoes, jackets, elbows, breasts… you name it. I have been scratched all over but still feel it has been the most amazing experience.
My favourite moment so far has been to play hide and seek with the cheetah cub… who soon learnt how to cheat to outsmart me and win each time ! He has a little hut in the middle of his enclosure and I’d go around it slowly and he’d hide behind a tree and try to figure out the way to jump on my back (as if I didn’t know he was coming!). However, because he was shorter than the hut, sometimes he couldn’t quite see how to guarantee he’d get me from behind so he would stand up on his back legs, put his front legs on top of his hut roof and check which way I was going. If I saw I was moving clockwise, he’d go the other way … trying to catch me by surprise. It was just hilarious. I had no idea that anyone could play such games with big cats. Masai, the said cheetah cub is one of my very favourites. Cheetahs are special because they are the only big cats that purr and they are always very fond of licking to express gratitude. So I can always gage his mood… which is lovely. The smaller cubs, you can tell they are happy to see you because they are all over you but you mainly gage their mood when they start moving their tails too fast (i.e. I am getting seriously annoyed) or when they snarl at you. Though one little female cub is particularly affectionate and can lick people’s face and suck their ears – something that scares a bit as I don’t fancy their BIG claws so near my eyes so I never let her do that to me.
I have made quite a few fun videos by now (thanks again R for the pressie, what an amazing gift !!! So perfectly timed). I just hope I can forward links easily and that they don’t take too much memory. I have already shot about 30mns and that’s just one minute here and there. The other day we washed them with a sponge and they so hated it, that quite funny. Or I’ve got videos of them jumping on the brooms when we clean their enclosures, etc. I try to think of unusual moments so that it doesn’t all look the same. I have some fantastic close ups of the cubs looking totally adorable – they have the most beautiful face and some gorgeous close ups of Masai’s face, as he has such an intense look since his eyes are so much darker. When I gaze into his eyes I just forget about everything else. I really it’s so easy to connect with him in particular. Though I can also respect his need to take a break when he’s through with playing. I really have taken some of my best wildlife shots ever, at least as far as big cats are concerned.
I’ve also got movies at the nursery. They have cubs a few days old that we are not allowed to hold but there is so much organization involved to keep them healthy. We have to get everything sterilized, etc. And the girls who are in charge of them have got the not-so-envious job of stimulating their anus with cotton wools till they pooh everything out! I will never look at cotton wool in the same way again, I tell you… Then they bottle feed them and after that, they pad their little bellies till they burp so they don’t get collicks, just like human babies. In the wild, she told me that the mother does all that, stimulates their anus with heavy licking till they empty their bowel, and also triggers the burping with heavy licking. This is why we are always told to stroke them fairly hard on their body as they have been deprived of maternal love and it helps them feel the emotional gap of what they have been missing out on – it feels like a lioness licking.
The other day I was also taken to an area of the park where they have a stunning leopard. But no one can go in as he could take anyone who weighs 60kgs up a tree! He doesn’t know when to stop playing… just today actually, a game park ranger who had known some lions for years got eaten by a pride of them. He had a flat tyre, got out of his car, and knelt down to use the jack, and bang, they no longer saw him as a man and got him. The only bit that remained of him was his shoes! The engine was still running. Shows that we are dealing with real predators here…
Most days are the same here, but some volunteers prefer some job better than others and it’s a struggle to get the rota going or to get any decent structure in the day. We also can’t seem to go anywhere on our days off as we cannot get transport anywhere, which is SO frustrating too. This has caused a lot of friction… to the point that we had to have an emergency meeting with a Lion Park manager to try and resolve conflicts and issues. We had 3 people in tears and it was just not pretty. We all come from different countries – UK, France, Netherlands, Norway, Australian and as such have got such different attitudes, we keep clashing. The Aussie girl in particular is very brash and has got such a loud voice, she drives me crazy. She has ruined a lot of my movies as all I can hear is her voice in the background, grrr…
To make matters worse facilities are not very good.. we have had no hot water for the last 3 days, the toaster is broken, we have rats in the kitchen… it is cold at night, 2 people have become sick… and tempers are flying. There are odd moments when I do think ‘gee, I think that 2 weeks will be more than enough!’… some want to leave already and feel the novelty has worn out and we are too different to pretend getting along for much longer… It’s therefore NOT all honkey-dorey. I think the age gap is too big between us. The younger ones must be used to having their mothers tidy up after them and leave the kitchen a mess, with piles of dishes in the sink whereas I clean up as I go along…
But then every time I go into the lion cubs’ enclosure or play with Masai, I feel totally privileged and incredibly fulfilled and forget all the bickering. I feel I have been here a lot longer than 2 weeks really. I still adore having the giraffe around for breakfast… though this morning I turned my back for 2mns to get my hot chocolate, and in the meantime, she’d eaten my bun (they have such long tongues that are like chameleon’s).
The other day we took the 4 musketeers (i.e. the 4 x 2 months old) on the air strip nearby and it was so lovely watching them run behind us, with their little black ears sticking out. I did a real cute video of that too…
We then tried to take Masai onto the same air strip to give him some exercise but he heard the white lions roar in the distance and was totally petrified. I think a chip in his brain must have warned him that lions eat cheetah cubs and so we had to take him back to the safety of his enclosure where he was obviously a lot happier.
I have tried to get some nice photos of me holding the cubs but it’s so hard. One of us is very poorly and coughs pretty much all night long and as a result I have had interrupted sleep for several nights. I probably only sleep about 5 hours per night… so I have bags under my eyes all the time which is such a shame as I may never get the chance to hold a lion cub again. I think I will need some expert to help me air-brush the bags before I share the pictures, ah! I just don’t like my face on any picture… Come to think of it, I probably need to change my face altogether !!!
We did go out to the restaurant once, before we stopped being civil to each other and I must say they had fantastic food. I had the best tuna steak ever… totally melted in my mouth. But it all went down hill after that…
The other day some of us (not me though) went to the shopping mall to send some emails and buy more food and they were told that 2 hours earlier there had been a violent shooting. A gang had come in to steal jewellery and had opened fire on anyone around. I don’t think anyone actually died, but it really shows how dangerous this country can be. This is why, in many ways, I feel safer emailing from the camp ! The only danger is an electric shock in case the giraffe dribbles over the keyboard ! (and she’s been hanging over my head for a little while…). I just wish you could see her… she’s a darling.
I went to assess the manager’s mother today, for her sight loss and gave her a few tips. She was SO grateful. That made my day too. It helped me remember what ‘normal work’ was like… here I must say that it doesn’t really feel like work. I’d do it for pleasure… the only bit that is still a bit difficult to get used to the smell of the pooh which seriously ponks.
I probably won’t get the chance to email again before I leave the country now. Only 2 days to go… I can’t believe it !!! And yet I guess I will also look forward to going home to London knowing that I have 2 trips lined up within 2 months ! NOT bad. I have to pinch myself every day… being able to experience so many of the world’s wonders is a blessing. And these little cubs are true treasures. I will miss them SO much… I dreamt about my last day last night and I was sobbing in my dream. To think I will never see their beautiful little faces again and that someone else will hold them next week… sigh.
I hope that you are all keeping well, once again, thanks for the many emails… most appreciated. Especially when the going got tough (with my peers) it was nice to have some news from real friends… !!!
posted by Sylvie at 3:56 PM
<< Home