Good Morning People =)
Yesterday was my last entire day at Lionsrock. It was a wonderful and warm day and we brought enrichment to as many cats as possible. I said goodbye to the ones I will not see anymore on Monday and it felt strange…because I did not realize that I really leave Lionsrock on Monday. After one month being here, everything has become so familiar. I can’t imagine not seeing the cats anymore for a long long time. At least I know one thing for sure: I will come back. I will come back and see whether Tarzan has finally found a female to live with, whether Andy has been brought together with another lion, so they can play and have fun together, whether Simba got better and happier, and I will see the new tiges in their big enclosure (1ha per animal), remembering how scared they were when they arrived at Lionsrock.
I will see all the lovely people here again. Elke, who is such a dedicated and sweet animal keeper. Islam, the manager of Lionsrock, who is the master of braai and always smiling. Brown, the best bar keeper in the world. John who will be married by the time I come back =) And Johannes, who works hard every day and cares so much about the animals and who has introduced me all of them on my first feeding round. I also hope to see again the people of Four Paws who make it possible that Lionsrock exists the way it does: In favour of the big cats, providing them a beautiful and appropriate home. Per (the master of Springboki) is an amazing Person who keeps alive many animal welfare and, together with his wife, Jacqueline, runs (amongst other Projects) a big hospital project in Kenia. If there were more Pers and Jacquelines in this world, it would definitely be a better one.
Uh. I have to stop being sad. Because my adventures are not over yet. And I will have time on Monday to say goodbye to Andy and Simona and the other lions at Adaption 🙂
And noooow let’s go to Nambiti (Kwazulu Natal)! Safari time! Suzanne and I have rented a car for the weekend and in one hour we will head to the Ndaka Safari Lodge. It’s about three hours from here (which is not a big distance here in South Africa). On www.ndaka.co.za you can read more about the place. Our program is simple: Lunch, Game Drive, dinner, sleep, Game Drive, breakfast. In the area of Nambiti, there are (amongst a variety of other animals) the BIG FIVE (Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard). The term Big Five originates from the colonial area when it was heroic to shoot big animals for trophies. Trophies of the Big Five were the most wanted, because they are the most dangerous animals to hunt. Still today, some people are going crazy for trophy hunting. I hope this will stop…At least some Airlines (South African Airlines, KLM and Emirates Sky Cargo) have now banned the transport of trophies (not the Swiss Airline, sadly) and Australia has even totally banned the import of trophies. I hope many others will follow.
I’m so excited to go on Safari and I hope we will see the Big Five. To shoot them with the camera, not with guns!!!
Have a wonderful Weekend! I have to go on adventure now! 🙂