Rhinos mating, Addo Elephant Park, Cheetah darting

Cheetah family

Thinking back about this last week, I suddenly realized that we have already (!!) reached the middle of the course… and how, like during all good things, time flies here! But this isn’t very surprising, seeing how interesting and intense our program is.

We all had a really good week last week, because this week was full of new and uncommon events: we went fishing in the Bushman’s River (where we… almost… caught a Catfish); we went to Addo Elephant National Park, where we saw no leopardL, but many elephants, as well as Warthogs and Buffalo at much closer range than in Amakhala – the animals were very relaxed in the park. We also visited the Reptiles and Raptors center – we saw some amazing lizards, snakes and birds (even got to hold some!).

Lunch @ the bushmans river

At the end of the week, we left home for a three-day sleep out on Amakhala, where we saw rhinos mating (!), while actually focusing on trees, grasses and flowers with all their fascinating properties and uses, that Cobus and Jandre explained to us in all the needed details. I think with the knowledge we have gained in the last 3 days, all of us can now survive in the bush without a problem!

On Saturday we even went on a Boat Cruise, where we saw many beautiful river birds while having a 5-star lunch prepared by Amakhala’s best cook: Sarah!

You are probably thinking that with all this, our week couldn’t get any better…

Well, it did!… when we got the chance to observe and assist a group of vet students (with our Amakhala vet, of course) darting our two female cheetahs to give contraception to one and to place a collar on the other one! What an operation! And for once, we could break the rule of minimum viewing distance to dangerous game: normally, its 15m… well we were standing right next to them and even stroking them! What beautiful animals (and they have such smooth tails)!

Journey of Giraffes