hard work

The last couple of days I've been anything but a pampered guest. I decided to help out in the creation of two waterholes. Dirty, hard labor, but very rewarding. First we dug the holes--about 6-8 feet across and two feet deep. Then we lined them with stones, fitting them together like a puzzle.

The next day we mixed cement to cover the rocks. There's no better way to do this than getting IN the hole, letting our bare feet squish through the cement, filling every hole around every rock and then smoothing--all with our hands and feet.

Then they dried and we filled them with water--one for the cheetahs near the lapa (their fence had been moved back, excluding their other waterhole) and one for the wild dog puppy next to the cheetah enclosure. I can't remember the last time I got so dirty. I had cement dried between my toes! But it was such a sense of accomplishment. I was so tired the last night I barely remember hitting my pillow. But oh such good sleep that I really felt I earned!

And now, because this probably isn't very exciting for those of you working on things you can actually put on a resume, I'll include this hilarious picture I took of a volunteer named Melissa. In normal life, she's a police detective just outside London, but on this day, she was a visitor to one of the meerkat enclosures. Meerkats love to get as high off the ground as they can. A moment to remember!

The Brothers

One of the things I love about coming back to Harnas on a regular basis is being able to watch animals grow up from little babies to juvenile to full adulthood. I've been lucky enough to do it with many animals I've loved--Jakob the baboon (whose tail was cut off by its owner as a baby because she didn't want to cut holes in his diapers), Pride the cheetah (who is a star here at Harnas--raised by hand but now hunting for herself and 2 cubs in the Lifeline area), and the Brothers are just a few of examples.

The Brothers are a group of 3 lions who were born here on Harnas--sons of Macho and Simba. I got to meet them as babies in December of 2008 when they were just a few months old. How adorable they were, tumbling over each other in the grass, stalking anything that moved, and making everyone howl with laughter over their awkward antics. (see pic 1)

I visited again in January of 2010 and stayed for 3 months. They had grown so much were still so gentle. In fact, they became know as gentlmen--never bringing their claws out or jumping people the way their younger siblings from a later litter did. They'd sit and let me pet them, never complaining when over and over I'd be driven to hug them like in this photo. We'd take them for walks, and they always walked along placidly, accepting drinks of water from my water bottle when offered.

Last Christmas when I visited they had been moved to a large enclosure of their own. They were reaching sexual maturity, and with male lions, that is when they can become dangerous. They still came to the fence, though, rubbing their heads on it and making appealing whining noises. It was hard not to jump inside and hug them.

And now--oh now! I saw them today on the outside feeding tour. Their manes are coming in and they are magnificent--full lions who have become kings. They still seem tame, though. Unlike other lions, they don't fight for the meat thrown over the fence. They seem to say to each other, "You take the first piece, my brother!" "No, you go ahead. I got the first one yesterday." "Okay, but only if you're sure." "Please, I insist."

Gentlemen still!

The Trouble with Cheetahs

This is a picture of Leuki. He lives in one of the enclosures with two females, Shingala and Jeannie. Well, yesterday a group of volunteers took them for a bushwalk. Usually this goes fine, since the three have been raised by hand and are very tame. They're really wonderful cats. But yesterday, at the end of the walk, they decided to get a little fiesty.

Getting cheetahs OUT of a truck is easy. It's getting them back IN at the end of the walk that can be a little hard. You've heard of herding cats? Well, consider herding 150 pound cats. Yesterday they threw three pieces of meat in the truck and all three jumped in, but before they could close up the truck, Jeannie jumped back out. It was simply too hot to eat, and the meat just wasn't enticing enough.

Johan knew enough about cats to realize that opening the door again to get Jeannie back in would just allow the other two to jump out again. You can see what that would lead to. So they took Leuki and Shingala back to their enclosure and came back for Jeannie.

By the time they got back, Jeannie had discovered her freedom, but eventually Johan got her back in the truck and headed home. As he bumped over the road, though, the tailgate came crashing down as it was held on only one side. (The other is broken.) Like a flash, Jeannie deserted the truck. By this time, the truck had entered the runway area where there are lots of herd animals--springbok, wildebeest, sheep, goats--and her instincts kicked in full force.

Before they could do anything, Jeannie had brought down a sheep and killed it with her powerful jaws. And she didn't want to give it up. They finally had to lift Jeannie and the dead sheep at the same time and put them in the truck. Jeannie, of course, wasn't too happy about this, but to revolt, she'd have to let go of her prey. So in she went.

They couldn't let her keep the sheep though. Apparently, she'd eat just a bit of it, and the rest of the sheep would be wasted, so they had to throw a bucket of water on her to irritate her enough to drop it so they could haul it away.

The sheep went to the slaughter room so it could feed lots of animals, and Jeannie returned to her two friends as Queen of the Hunt. The amazing thing is that although she was raised by hand at Harnas and never had to hunt for herself, she knew exactly what to do and how to do it. One minute she's lying on the ground, being petted while she purrs; the next she's a natural born killer.

Harnas magic

At least one friend in my exercise class at home thinks I stay in a tent while I'm in Africa. I hate to dispel that romantic notion, but I actually have a lovely one-room bungalow--called Mowgli.--that has electricity, an indoor bathroom, and lovely African decor. I'll admit it even has an a/c unit--although I won't use it unless it goes over 100 degrees some afternoon. Volunteers definitely rough it, but these days I'm a pampered guest.

My first full day was beautiful. I spent the morning walking with Pickles and visiting old friends, including 3 cheetahs who let me scratch and pet them while they kept up their fabulous purring. Then I met some of the new arrivals at Harnas, but I'll tell you about them at a later date.

After lunch I was heading home from the office to rest duyring the hottest part of the day and suddenly over the bridge came 3 baby baboons. They had been with Marieta on the far side of the bridge where she was overseeing some work. I flopped down on the lawn in the shade of a big tree and they joined me and Pickles, where they used my body as a jungle gym for the next couple of hours. Two other dogs joined us--Brollocks (a black lab--in the picture) and Lexi (a great dane) and the baboons climbed all over them as well. Lexi even wrestled with the male baboon, Ronnie. (Yes a great dane with a baboon. It's Harnas, after all.)

One of Marieta's worker women brought by 3 bottles of formula so I got to feed them, and then the smallest, a female named Rosy, fell asleep on my chest while Ronnie and Rica climbed in the tree.

As I leaned back on my elbows, surrounded by dogs and baboons, I looked across the lawn and saw about a dozen baby ostriches--about the size of turkeys--run awkwardly towards us, only to be driven wildly off course by a baby horse frolicking in the grass.

It was one of those magical Harnas moments when I shake my head and smile, knowing there's nowhere else on earth this could happen--and nowhere else on earth I'd rather be.



harnas again

No picture today, I'm afraid. The wireless is down at Harnas for several days and so the women in the office have been kind enough to let me use the wired computers. But I can't input pictures from my camera to this computer. Ah, Africa.

I arrived last night (Friday) and promptly realized that I'd left my adapter back in Windhoek at Casa Blanca. Fortunately, I found a volunteer leaving today who sold me hers. So I have power but no internet for awhile. So it goes.

The first creature I had to find--even before any person--was Pickles, my African dog. It didn't take long. I spotted her little white body across the lapa lawn and called to her. There was a pause during which she tried to place my voice, and then the streak of white. She practically knocked me over, despite being all of about 20 pounds.

One problem, though: I had been warned that Pickles had been "adopted" from Marieta by a mechanic here named Conrad, and he might not be too happy with my kidnapping Pickles from him for 3 weeks. I braced myself. When he finally showed up after work to the dinner area, Pickles went wild to see him, and it became clear to me that he adored her and vice versa. My heart melted and we worked out a deal: I would get custody of her during the day when he worked, and he would take her home to sleep each night. It was lonely in bed last night, but we did the right thing, as any parents would: think of the child first.

Last night was heavenly. I spent the evening with about 8 staff members from Harnas--many of whom have been friends of mine for several years, including Marieta (newly nicknamed Mamba). We spent hours eating, drinking, and laughing while I got filled in on Harnas gossip and wild stories. Every once in a while a silence would fall as we stopped to listen to the lions roaring back and forth to each other. It doesn't matter how often you hear it, the rumbling roars of the kings of Harnas fill you with awe and wonder.

I put my head back and closed my eyes and felt so happy to be home in Africa again.

Windhoek

There's something so wonderful and encouraging about flying to the other side of the world, making your way through airports, customs, and immigration, and then walking out into a busy airport and finding a man standing there with your name--YOUR NAME--written on a card. I felt validated. They know me here, I felt. I'm at home (at least one of my homes).

And that's what happened today about 2:30 p.m. Namibian time, after flying from Raleigh (where I went through security) to New York (where I went through security) to Johannesburg (where I went through security TWICE--long story) to Windhoek (pronounced vind-hook). It all took about 24 hours, during which I slept only about 4 hours. But it was worth it to walk out of the airport and shed the last layer of many, leaving me in a tank top but still sweating. Ah, summer!

Things got a little interesting then, though. My transport took me to a guesthouse called Casa Blanca, where they claimed never to have heard of me. A very long story that includes a previous guesthouse  being bought, moved, sold again, and disappeared. It all turned out okay, though, because they found a room for me--a much nicer room than I'm used to for the same price as the old room. Here's the courtyard by my room. I took a swim and then a shower--24 hours of grime gone.

Tonight I dined with the owner, a woman of German descent who came here seeking adventure in 1965, fell in love with Namibia, and stayed, married twice, and had 4 children. I greedily downed my meal while she told me fascinating stories of her life during the past 47 years in an amazingly changing Namibia. Now I feel quite dizzy and tired, the last day and a half catching up to me. Tomorrow (I hope) another transport will pick me up at 9:00 to take me out to Harnas, another 3-4 hours to the Kalahari Desert. I'm ready. Being here again has touched that part deep inside me that says "you're home."

Back to Harnas

Hey Everyone, (If anyone is out there . . . )

I'm heading back to Harnas next Wednesday, arriving in Windhoek Thursday and the sanctuary Friday. I plan on writing the blog when I'm there--at least until the end of the Mayan calendar, and after that if we're all still around. (I hope you're waiting to buy Christmas presents until after the 21st. No need to spend all that time if the end of the world is here. :)

So look for blogs starting mid-to-late week, and I'll see you next on the other side of the world!