Scarred already.... but happy !!!
Well, what can I say? This has been such an amazing experience already and I am SO glad I did it. Our little group has bonded quite well. There are some people that I like more than others but all in all we manage just great and everybody is quite supportive and helpful. I ended up sharing my tent with the 2 people I dreaded the most - the Dutch lady (who smokes at every chance she gets) and the Aussie girl (a bit too loud for my taste). But I decided to see it as 'character testing' and make the most of it and focus on the *good* side and ... it worked. We are all very civil with each other.
The tents aren't very spacious but at least I have a bedside table and we have electricity inside which helps at night as it's pitch dark in the bush. We also have a sensor light right outside so that if we need to use the toilets at night, it will help us find our way better. It is only a 30 second walk from our tent to the toilets but it can be 30 seconds too many in the pouring rain I'd say. So far, so good, I haven't needed to get up in the middle of the night. My tip? I just stop drinking altogether as of 6pm to play it safe !!! I never drink much anyway (I'm like a camel), so it's not like I need a cup of tea on the hour as the Brits do ! :)
The beds are quite comfy. We have duvets and I have 2 blankets on top too (most people were warm enough with just the duvet so I was able to grab more for myself). It does warm up as the night goes on (4 body heats?). It's never too hot to sleep properly though, which is a blessing as, if so, I'd definitely need to drink more as my throat would get dry. It's also not too cold to get dressed in the morning, which is a relief. I always have my shower as soon as we get off duty anyway (as we have hot water from solar panels so I want to make sure I get there 1st) so by the time my alarm clock goes off in the morning, the other 3 are usually having their showers (which is probably down to dribble by then as the water pressure isn't great at all). So I have a tiny bit of personal space to get dressed, etc. Some people sometimes retreive to the tent early to read books (I guess we all need *some* privacy at some point). We usually chit chat after dinner till 10pm - or play cards (I don't), or write post-cards (I do!), etc. The one bloke on the team has adapted remarkably well to being around 7 females constantly... I'm not sure I'd have been as ok had it been the other way round. He has a super digital camera so he can give me tips, etc. He loves animals as much as I do. He's blond and blue-eyed, but at 20... no thanks! :)
Last night we had no hot water and no electricity... till 8pm. Hot water never came back on at all. So, it was a very quick shower for all. The light in the morning is amazing... Imay have said that already? But it's worth repeating if so because it's just incredible.... I mean, to zip the tent open and overlook the plains and see all the game grazing in the sun rise (zebras, all sorts of antelopes, etc), I just pinch myself each time. We have many ostriches on the ground too... and Prudy and Grumpit, the two giraffes (Prudy being the one who comes to beg for food). At night we can always hear the sounds of many lions roaring away... but you soon get used to that. And after the 1st night in our tent, I soon realised I wouldn't swap a good hotel with my own en-suite for that kind of experience. So long as I feel safe enough.
Most of the volunteers who were here over the last month have had all their cameras and cash stolen. One girl who's been left behind and is with us this week said that they took all her best shots away too in the process -obviously. So now she has 3 days left to do new close-ups of her playing with the cubs, etc. as a momento of this very unique and rewarding experience. It must be devastating. That's why I try to take good shots with both cameras, to have a back-up. It got SO bad with SO much being stolen that i-to-i were actually warned not to send any more volunteers until they could pin-point who did it. All the staff are being grilled, including the security guards. So far, no good. In Africa it's very hard to point the finger to anyone in particular, even if all the evidence goes towards one person more than another. But i-to-i were like 'you gotta be kidding, this is our most popular project, we cannot possibly stop sending people there'... so the Lion Park had to double security instead. But imagine how disappointed I'd have been if they'd told me, just a week before I was due to go, that the whole thing was OFF, having looked forward to it for 18 months... phew.
Duties are varied and most are fairly pleasant. However, I find I need to shower twice a day if I can, as inthe morning, if we have the raking duties (i.e. to keep the grounds nice & tidy, free of leaves, etc) you do breathe an awful lot of dust, boy... (that fine African soil goes right up in the air, all over your hair, clothes, etc).
My favourite duties are undoubtedly interacting with the cubs, mainly the ones that are just over 1 month old because they love the attention so much - and badly need it. Playing with them is viewed as a 'duty'. I'd almost say 'I can't believe I'm paid to do that'... but I have to remember that I actually DID pay to do that ! :) The four we can play with were abondonned by their mothers so miss the social interaction and the licking she should have given them, etc. So we give them our fingers to suckle on, we sometimes sit on the floor, put them on our legs and they either start chewing our forearms, or our shoes... or if we turn them over and put them on their back (still on our legs) they just love having their little bellies patted... I've taken some great shots of a few falling asleep into our arms, just like babies...
They are so mischevious too and when we take them out of their enclosures to the lawn so they can have a proper play it's really hilarious. They are just starting to learn to stalk and they do it like amateurs... I really need to make a video of that ! I've just bought a 2GB memory card for the digital camera so that I can do 1h30 of video movies. That should be much more fun than still photos - though I have already got some really fun shots.
The nursery duties are good too but boy, does it stink in there. You just cannot breathe for the smell of poo. Thankfully I haven't been asked to clean it in there yet as I'm not sure I could actually do it. You almost want to throw up, it's that bad. Some of the volunteers cut up the meat for them but I cannot bring myself to doing that being a vegetarian... too much like a blood bath. Sometimes, on the 'big feed' days we actually bring dead horses from neighbouring farms for the 100+ big lions to feed on. We get through an enormous amount of meat every day. The farmers, when they lose a horse to natural causes have to pay to have them cremated, so it's cheaper for them to bring them here for the lions to feed on !
Unfortunately none of the cubs that we currently have need to be bottle fed. The ones that are 5 days old can only be touched by a nurse who has had special jabs, everything needs to be sterilised, etc. We can watch her do it (and have - they are only just starting to open their eyes) but we are not allowed to touch them ourselves yet. Not sure they will be old enough to be bottle fed by the time we leave. But we can at least play with the 4 'musketeers' (as we call them) that are just over one month. There is also another set of 3 lion cubs that are just over 2 months old and we have to run them from the nursery to their enclosure in the morning (enticing them with meat and shouts of 'kitty, kitty, kitty'... !) and then stay in there with them, on a rota basis. These guys are the only ones that can be stroked by the general public so we just need to keep an eye on the kids - no tail pulling, etc.
The "giraffe food" duty is the most boring. You just sit there and wait for people to buy giraffe food off you. I don't like standing still so I'm happy to leave that to my peers who enjoy it more - say because they enjoy reading a book or something.
One of the other 'chores' is to play with the cheetah cub 'Masai', who is about 6 months. He is still a little bit fluffy around the head but he's so lovely. He is the only one who is all alone so as soon as one of us goes in he starts purring as he's so grateful for the entertainment. We tend to play tug-of-war with his monkey toy (I hold the head, he pulls on the tail). He's not so good with a ball... but he's just loving all the cuddles and does tend to want to chew on my thighs if I kneel down too low (most big cats will do that - they respect you a lot more when you stand up: if you go down to their level, they see you as equal and start jumping all over you).
Talking of which, yesterday I was working in the enclosure of the 6 month old lion cubs. We have six in there. We have to rak their enclosure, pick up the poo and change their water. Well, I had been in the cage just 10 seconds when one jumped on my back, one grabbed my forearm and one grabbed my ankle.... I was like 'Help ! what do I do NOW ?'.... they don't mean to hurt you but they still bite enough to give you bruises - even through long sleeve jackets and trousers. One girl who'd worked there before said 'just slap them on the nose, they'll soon get the message'... so I gave one a little pad... nothing... I had to slap a lot more for him to let go. My peers came to my rescue by throwing some splashes of water over the other two. So now we all know to watch each other's back. NO kidding. You soon learn to sweep the enclosure with your back to the cage, especially when you are near the pond as they'd easily push you in for fun. You can tell that these guys will not be able to interact with humans for much longer... another month or so and they will need to be sold on. But in the meantime, they are still very lovely to be around... very beautiful faces and very cat-like and child-like in their behaviour, jumping on our brooms, etc.
We have to wear our 'volunteer T-shirts' every day - they are a soft beige and totally shapeless, not even an interesting neck-line. I hate them. We all look huge in these things, not great for pictures at all. I've had a few shots of me taken with the various cubs (all ages) and I haven't got ONE that I like yet. And I hate wearing the same thing on every photo - dead boring ! The cubs always look great, but I look SO round :( And yet I don't eat much at all, honest... most days I even skip lunch in favour of a 100% fruit drink. And I've only had ONE ice-cream... though it's beautiful weather here and 28C most days. It only rains a bit in the evening.
On the first day we were also taken around the beautiful camps of the white lions. Boy, are they majestic or what ! Stunning, really. I have seen some little white lion cubs too, but only in the incubator, we are not allowed to touch them either. They are 2 weeks and just like fluffy toys !
Whilst at the nursery, we also have to hand-feed the cubs... they have just been weaned off so they tend to lick the milk off the more solid food (we give them solid, soaked in milk, in a bowl) and stop there. We then have to cup the rest of their food into our hands and put it back under their nose so that they learn to like solids. This is fun as their tongues is not too coarse and all but the food just stink like fishy cat food.
On the first day my trousers were covered in it and everywhere I went I just felt I smelt like cat food. I just had to wash my trousers as soon as I could - knowing full well they'd get all dirty again the next day, but I just don't like bad smells - especially on me. We tend to rotate anyway, and work at the nursery every other day.
It's all good fun and just doesn't feel like work at all.... we are pretty much allowed to do whatever we like best - as it's fairly quiet during the week. The week-ends should be much busier we've been told. In fact, we're having such a good time that when the manager yesterday said '4 of you can have a day off tomorrow', nobody wanted to have it off !!! I had to go to the mall because I needed to top up my mobile phone, buy a memory card so I could do videos, and wanted to update my blog, but I do miss the cubs already !!! I just cannot remember the concept of 9-5 work life or even city life. The air smells so beautiful here too... really fresh.
I happened to mention to the manager of the park that my day job was to assess visually impaired people and he said that his mother had macular degeneration so I will go and visit her next week to see if I can give her some advice on how to cope with her sight loss better. I don't think that there are any jobs like mine here so she might struggle needlessly when a few practical tips could make her life a lot easier I'm sure... so, I shall do my good deed ! I might even leave her my pair of UV Shield... as I can buy another pair once in the UK.
I am not sure when I will access the internet again. We tend to have very little warning for when we can go on days off. In fact, the whole organisation is a bit dire, but we make do. But it's very African like.... you rush, rush, rush to get somewhere on time... and then stand still for an hour waiting for orders... !!! We do struggle a bit with that concept... like today, we had to wait for 9omns for someone to make the time to drive us to the shopping mall... everybody seemed to get easily side-tracked, hum.
I can't wait for you to see the photos... they will speak a lot louder than words ! I have taken some really beautiful close-up shots of the cubs, and playing with each other, or sleeping cuddled up to each other... We have to be SO selective as we'd be clicking all day.
We have been told to take our cameras with us at ALL times so, since we have to keep the cameras with us, inside the enclosures, if I see something really cute or unusual I'll just run to the camera and click away. I have been using the film one as much as the digital one. I stupidly forgot to buy a new polariser for my film camera (I lost the TWO I had in Australia !!!) and so I am just a bit worried that some of the shots will be a bit bleached. The digital is better for great shots that are in the shade as I can lighten up things on the computer once I get home. I avoid using a flash as much as possible to make sure I don't get the nasty 'red eye' thing... as the cubs have got such beautiful, expressive eyes. But their last feed is at 5pm and then they are locked away for the night, so I mainly see them in natural light anyway. Even the way they call each other is cute. They are very heavy (lots of food in their tummies, fed 3 times a day) and you can only carry one in your arms at a time and when we bring 2 first and then go back to pick up the last 2 from the lawn, the 1st two cry all the time until they are all reunited again. It really made me think about how cruel it is to shoot them... it's not just the physical damage done to the one that gets killed but the mental damage to the ones left behind that's also harrowing it seems.
Righteeo, I've been rambling long enough ! I'll just make a separate update for a few more African jokes... I do enjoy them, I must say !!! :)
Well, what can I say? This has been such an amazing experience already and I am SO glad I did it. Our little group has bonded quite well. There are some people that I like more than others but all in all we manage just great and everybody is quite supportive and helpful. I ended up sharing my tent with the 2 people I dreaded the most - the Dutch lady (who smokes at every chance she gets) and the Aussie girl (a bit too loud for my taste). But I decided to see it as 'character testing' and make the most of it and focus on the *good* side and ... it worked. We are all very civil with each other.
The tents aren't very spacious but at least I have a bedside table and we have electricity inside which helps at night as it's pitch dark in the bush. We also have a sensor light right outside so that if we need to use the toilets at night, it will help us find our way better. It is only a 30 second walk from our tent to the toilets but it can be 30 seconds too many in the pouring rain I'd say. So far, so good, I haven't needed to get up in the middle of the night. My tip? I just stop drinking altogether as of 6pm to play it safe !!! I never drink much anyway (I'm like a camel), so it's not like I need a cup of tea on the hour as the Brits do ! :)
The beds are quite comfy. We have duvets and I have 2 blankets on top too (most people were warm enough with just the duvet so I was able to grab more for myself). It does warm up as the night goes on (4 body heats?). It's never too hot to sleep properly though, which is a blessing as, if so, I'd definitely need to drink more as my throat would get dry. It's also not too cold to get dressed in the morning, which is a relief. I always have my shower as soon as we get off duty anyway (as we have hot water from solar panels so I want to make sure I get there 1st) so by the time my alarm clock goes off in the morning, the other 3 are usually having their showers (which is probably down to dribble by then as the water pressure isn't great at all). So I have a tiny bit of personal space to get dressed, etc. Some people sometimes retreive to the tent early to read books (I guess we all need *some* privacy at some point). We usually chit chat after dinner till 10pm - or play cards (I don't), or write post-cards (I do!), etc. The one bloke on the team has adapted remarkably well to being around 7 females constantly... I'm not sure I'd have been as ok had it been the other way round. He has a super digital camera so he can give me tips, etc. He loves animals as much as I do. He's blond and blue-eyed, but at 20... no thanks! :)
Last night we had no hot water and no electricity... till 8pm. Hot water never came back on at all. So, it was a very quick shower for all. The light in the morning is amazing... Imay have said that already? But it's worth repeating if so because it's just incredible.... I mean, to zip the tent open and overlook the plains and see all the game grazing in the sun rise (zebras, all sorts of antelopes, etc), I just pinch myself each time. We have many ostriches on the ground too... and Prudy and Grumpit, the two giraffes (Prudy being the one who comes to beg for food). At night we can always hear the sounds of many lions roaring away... but you soon get used to that. And after the 1st night in our tent, I soon realised I wouldn't swap a good hotel with my own en-suite for that kind of experience. So long as I feel safe enough.
Most of the volunteers who were here over the last month have had all their cameras and cash stolen. One girl who's been left behind and is with us this week said that they took all her best shots away too in the process -obviously. So now she has 3 days left to do new close-ups of her playing with the cubs, etc. as a momento of this very unique and rewarding experience. It must be devastating. That's why I try to take good shots with both cameras, to have a back-up. It got SO bad with SO much being stolen that i-to-i were actually warned not to send any more volunteers until they could pin-point who did it. All the staff are being grilled, including the security guards. So far, no good. In Africa it's very hard to point the finger to anyone in particular, even if all the evidence goes towards one person more than another. But i-to-i were like 'you gotta be kidding, this is our most popular project, we cannot possibly stop sending people there'... so the Lion Park had to double security instead. But imagine how disappointed I'd have been if they'd told me, just a week before I was due to go, that the whole thing was OFF, having looked forward to it for 18 months... phew.
Duties are varied and most are fairly pleasant. However, I find I need to shower twice a day if I can, as inthe morning, if we have the raking duties (i.e. to keep the grounds nice & tidy, free of leaves, etc) you do breathe an awful lot of dust, boy... (that fine African soil goes right up in the air, all over your hair, clothes, etc).
My favourite duties are undoubtedly interacting with the cubs, mainly the ones that are just over 1 month old because they love the attention so much - and badly need it. Playing with them is viewed as a 'duty'. I'd almost say 'I can't believe I'm paid to do that'... but I have to remember that I actually DID pay to do that ! :) The four we can play with were abondonned by their mothers so miss the social interaction and the licking she should have given them, etc. So we give them our fingers to suckle on, we sometimes sit on the floor, put them on our legs and they either start chewing our forearms, or our shoes... or if we turn them over and put them on their back (still on our legs) they just love having their little bellies patted... I've taken some great shots of a few falling asleep into our arms, just like babies...
They are so mischevious too and when we take them out of their enclosures to the lawn so they can have a proper play it's really hilarious. They are just starting to learn to stalk and they do it like amateurs... I really need to make a video of that ! I've just bought a 2GB memory card for the digital camera so that I can do 1h30 of video movies. That should be much more fun than still photos - though I have already got some really fun shots.
The nursery duties are good too but boy, does it stink in there. You just cannot breathe for the smell of poo. Thankfully I haven't been asked to clean it in there yet as I'm not sure I could actually do it. You almost want to throw up, it's that bad. Some of the volunteers cut up the meat for them but I cannot bring myself to doing that being a vegetarian... too much like a blood bath. Sometimes, on the 'big feed' days we actually bring dead horses from neighbouring farms for the 100+ big lions to feed on. We get through an enormous amount of meat every day. The farmers, when they lose a horse to natural causes have to pay to have them cremated, so it's cheaper for them to bring them here for the lions to feed on !
Unfortunately none of the cubs that we currently have need to be bottle fed. The ones that are 5 days old can only be touched by a nurse who has had special jabs, everything needs to be sterilised, etc. We can watch her do it (and have - they are only just starting to open their eyes) but we are not allowed to touch them ourselves yet. Not sure they will be old enough to be bottle fed by the time we leave. But we can at least play with the 4 'musketeers' (as we call them) that are just over one month. There is also another set of 3 lion cubs that are just over 2 months old and we have to run them from the nursery to their enclosure in the morning (enticing them with meat and shouts of 'kitty, kitty, kitty'... !) and then stay in there with them, on a rota basis. These guys are the only ones that can be stroked by the general public so we just need to keep an eye on the kids - no tail pulling, etc.
The "giraffe food" duty is the most boring. You just sit there and wait for people to buy giraffe food off you. I don't like standing still so I'm happy to leave that to my peers who enjoy it more - say because they enjoy reading a book or something.
One of the other 'chores' is to play with the cheetah cub 'Masai', who is about 6 months. He is still a little bit fluffy around the head but he's so lovely. He is the only one who is all alone so as soon as one of us goes in he starts purring as he's so grateful for the entertainment. We tend to play tug-of-war with his monkey toy (I hold the head, he pulls on the tail). He's not so good with a ball... but he's just loving all the cuddles and does tend to want to chew on my thighs if I kneel down too low (most big cats will do that - they respect you a lot more when you stand up: if you go down to their level, they see you as equal and start jumping all over you).
Talking of which, yesterday I was working in the enclosure of the 6 month old lion cubs. We have six in there. We have to rak their enclosure, pick up the poo and change their water. Well, I had been in the cage just 10 seconds when one jumped on my back, one grabbed my forearm and one grabbed my ankle.... I was like 'Help ! what do I do NOW ?'.... they don't mean to hurt you but they still bite enough to give you bruises - even through long sleeve jackets and trousers. One girl who'd worked there before said 'just slap them on the nose, they'll soon get the message'... so I gave one a little pad... nothing... I had to slap a lot more for him to let go. My peers came to my rescue by throwing some splashes of water over the other two. So now we all know to watch each other's back. NO kidding. You soon learn to sweep the enclosure with your back to the cage, especially when you are near the pond as they'd easily push you in for fun. You can tell that these guys will not be able to interact with humans for much longer... another month or so and they will need to be sold on. But in the meantime, they are still very lovely to be around... very beautiful faces and very cat-like and child-like in their behaviour, jumping on our brooms, etc.
We have to wear our 'volunteer T-shirts' every day - they are a soft beige and totally shapeless, not even an interesting neck-line. I hate them. We all look huge in these things, not great for pictures at all. I've had a few shots of me taken with the various cubs (all ages) and I haven't got ONE that I like yet. And I hate wearing the same thing on every photo - dead boring ! The cubs always look great, but I look SO round :( And yet I don't eat much at all, honest... most days I even skip lunch in favour of a 100% fruit drink. And I've only had ONE ice-cream... though it's beautiful weather here and 28C most days. It only rains a bit in the evening.
On the first day we were also taken around the beautiful camps of the white lions. Boy, are they majestic or what ! Stunning, really. I have seen some little white lion cubs too, but only in the incubator, we are not allowed to touch them either. They are 2 weeks and just like fluffy toys !
Whilst at the nursery, we also have to hand-feed the cubs... they have just been weaned off so they tend to lick the milk off the more solid food (we give them solid, soaked in milk, in a bowl) and stop there. We then have to cup the rest of their food into our hands and put it back under their nose so that they learn to like solids. This is fun as their tongues is not too coarse and all but the food just stink like fishy cat food.
On the first day my trousers were covered in it and everywhere I went I just felt I smelt like cat food. I just had to wash my trousers as soon as I could - knowing full well they'd get all dirty again the next day, but I just don't like bad smells - especially on me. We tend to rotate anyway, and work at the nursery every other day.
It's all good fun and just doesn't feel like work at all.... we are pretty much allowed to do whatever we like best - as it's fairly quiet during the week. The week-ends should be much busier we've been told. In fact, we're having such a good time that when the manager yesterday said '4 of you can have a day off tomorrow', nobody wanted to have it off !!! I had to go to the mall because I needed to top up my mobile phone, buy a memory card so I could do videos, and wanted to update my blog, but I do miss the cubs already !!! I just cannot remember the concept of 9-5 work life or even city life. The air smells so beautiful here too... really fresh.
I happened to mention to the manager of the park that my day job was to assess visually impaired people and he said that his mother had macular degeneration so I will go and visit her next week to see if I can give her some advice on how to cope with her sight loss better. I don't think that there are any jobs like mine here so she might struggle needlessly when a few practical tips could make her life a lot easier I'm sure... so, I shall do my good deed ! I might even leave her my pair of UV Shield... as I can buy another pair once in the UK.
I am not sure when I will access the internet again. We tend to have very little warning for when we can go on days off. In fact, the whole organisation is a bit dire, but we make do. But it's very African like.... you rush, rush, rush to get somewhere on time... and then stand still for an hour waiting for orders... !!! We do struggle a bit with that concept... like today, we had to wait for 9omns for someone to make the time to drive us to the shopping mall... everybody seemed to get easily side-tracked, hum.
I can't wait for you to see the photos... they will speak a lot louder than words ! I have taken some really beautiful close-up shots of the cubs, and playing with each other, or sleeping cuddled up to each other... We have to be SO selective as we'd be clicking all day.
We have been told to take our cameras with us at ALL times so, since we have to keep the cameras with us, inside the enclosures, if I see something really cute or unusual I'll just run to the camera and click away. I have been using the film one as much as the digital one. I stupidly forgot to buy a new polariser for my film camera (I lost the TWO I had in Australia !!!) and so I am just a bit worried that some of the shots will be a bit bleached. The digital is better for great shots that are in the shade as I can lighten up things on the computer once I get home. I avoid using a flash as much as possible to make sure I don't get the nasty 'red eye' thing... as the cubs have got such beautiful, expressive eyes. But their last feed is at 5pm and then they are locked away for the night, so I mainly see them in natural light anyway. Even the way they call each other is cute. They are very heavy (lots of food in their tummies, fed 3 times a day) and you can only carry one in your arms at a time and when we bring 2 first and then go back to pick up the last 2 from the lawn, the 1st two cry all the time until they are all reunited again. It really made me think about how cruel it is to shoot them... it's not just the physical damage done to the one that gets killed but the mental damage to the ones left behind that's also harrowing it seems.
Righteeo, I've been rambling long enough ! I'll just make a separate update for a few more African jokes... I do enjoy them, I must say !!! :)
posted by Sylvie at 9:47 AM
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