South Africa Part 2

Friday 17 October – As I woke with anticipation for the events that would follow on Friday, I paused to pray and really take in the moment of spending time in South Africa and the majesty and beauty that comes with that. The air was fresh and clean and with the knowledge that the day was going to be a good day without even knowing what was to happen exactly I was excited to be alive and living my dream.

After a quick animal check to make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be, we met up with Kevin and loaded Icarus into the truck. We drove for a bit and then let Icarus out of the truck and Kevin walked with him while we sat safely in the game truck behind him. Icarus had his own ideas about this walk so unfortunately we didn’t get much viewing but that’s ok, as a lion will go with his instincts and his instincts were to follow the calls of the other lions back to the sanctuary. I managed to get a couple of photos. J

We then headed back to the camp where Mandy and Kevin and their daughter joined us for lunch. It was a lovely afternoon of chatting and asking questions and playing with the hyena cub. Was a great opportunity to enjoy the company of people that I greatly admire and I am so blessed that we were able to do this.

In the afternoon we headed back to the enclosures to give the cats some enrichment by throwing elephant dung into their enclosures. What this does is stimulate their senses like it would be in the wild and provide them with different smells and keeps them active. When you have an animal in captivity, it is your responsible to ensure that they have the best life possible and that sometimes means replicating things from the wild and this is what we did. As one of the vollies, Leanne, was throwing the wet dung into Vayetse’s enclosure I turned at the wrong time and got spashed with dung in the face. Smack bang on the forehead and almost in my eye. I laughed so hard. As did all the volunteers. It was rather amusing and we are still laughing about it now. I only wish someone had caught it on camera.

Smelling like elephant dung, we went into the striped hyena enclosure and spent some time with the two boys Sparkey and Dhuba. It must have been the smell of the dung that made me attractive to the boys and become what we call the ‘chosen one.’ As we split up in the enclosure and just sit down and allow them to come to us, I was frequently visited by both of the boys. They have the calmest nature. And this is a type of enrichment too, our visits. Hannah got some photos of me and I got some of her. I thoroughly enjoy this bonding time with the animals.

Hannah collecting elephant dung

The boys in a bit of a scuffle

Vayetse

Livvy giving the big yawn

Sparkey

Secrets from a hyena

Sundowner Hill

Jade and I. 

After we watched the sun go down at Sundowner Hill we headed back for Potjie dinner. Dinner was laid back and great fellowship with the fellow vollies.

Saturday was clean and feed day again. Unfortunately we were a little pressed for time as Lozanne needed to go fetch a dead cow for the lions and therefore we didn’t have a truck to take food to the lions early. When we did, we split into two groups, north and south to get things done faster but unfortunately still ran out of time for cleaning but everyone got fed. I didn’t take much photos today as I like to have ‘live in the moment’ days. But I did get a couple of photos with the mongoose.

Sunday – GAME DRIVE DAY!! One of my favourite days. We just got back from this actually. This morning we did a quick animal check and then headed out to Mongena. Mongena had a lot of expectations to live up to as the game drive last year was amazing. And it didn’t disappoint. Lunch was delicious and very well priced, zebras were roaming in the grounds and we got to see some wonderful animals on our drive. Including a cheetah and her 3 cubs. Mind you the cubs are almost fully grown at 16 months old but it was still wonderful to see. Let me tell you the story in pictures.

Tonight we are going to have a bonfire with marshmallows before we say goodbye to some of the vollies that leave tomorrow. One week down. It went so fast. I’m so glad we are here for another week. More adventures to come!

Alison