A visit to the cheetah preserve

This past Friday (April 27) was Freedom Day here in RSA. This year marks the 18th anniversary of the new democracy.  With a long weekend, Jon and I spent Friday doing a little work (grading papers for me and answering emails for Jon), a little shopping and caught a movie (The Avengers).  Saturday we drove about an hour north of Jo'burg toward Hartebeesport Dam and to the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre. You can visit the link to learn more about the Centre's work.  The Centre began over 40 years ago with a woman who turned her family's vegetable farm into a safe haven for cheetahs and other local wild animals who were being wiped out by farmers trying to protect their livestock.  It has since become a renowned centre for rehabilitating specifically cheetahs, wild dogs and several types of birds - mostly cranes and vultures.  We spent four hours there watching the cheetahs run in a specialized area where they can stretch their legs.  It was an incredible sight!  They are the fastest creatures on earth, hitting speeds of 120 km per hour (75 miles per hour). We then toured the facility, learning so many interesting facts about all the wild animals on the preserve and how saving them from extinction is vital to the eco-system. 

One of the most important missions of the Centre is their education program.  They have a 9-year-old cheetah named Byron that they estimate has been petted by over 100,000 children in SA. Byron travels to schools who cannot afford to come to the Centre and acts as a ambassador teaching children the importance of conservation.  We got to pet Yates, Byron's replacement, who is currently in training.  We got to pet him and you cannot believe the purring!  It was so deep and his whole body rumbled.  It was an amazing experience!

Petting Yates, an ambassador-in-training

the beautiful markings on one of the wild dogs

Entabeni Game Reserve for Easter

View from our cabin porch. Those are warthogs in the photo.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday. Here in SA Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays so Jon and I both had a long weekend to enjoy some time together.  We spent the weekend at a place called Entabeni Game Reserve, a private game reserve about 2 1/2 hours north of Jo'burg.  It is a beautiful place in the mountains with incredible views and amazing animals.  We were lucky enough to see three of the Big 5 animals - lions, elephants and rhinos - along with a host of others. The lodge was romantic and secluded. Our stay included 2 game drives per day with a ranger, one at 6:30 in the morning and one at 4 each afternoon. It has begun to cool off with typical fall temps, cool each morning and night.  We would return to the lodge in the mornings to a fire and big breakfast. Evening drives ended with hot cider or sherry and then a 3-course dinner.  It was a perfect getaway.

A crocodile sunning himself in the middle of the track. We
had to back up several hundred yards to go around him.

A mother and her calf take a stand against unwanted
advances from a male rhino.  Right after this photo they got
in a fight. The baby even tried getting between them to defend his mom.

The female won this round. The male ran right past our
vehicle with a wound to his head and some blood
dripping down his face. The ranger says the male will try
again next month to win the female's affections.

We could hear the elephants before we saw them.  They make
incredible noise tromping through the bush.

Lion cubs (about 8 months old)

The cubs play and dad yawns. They woke him up and he let them know
he wasn't happy with a growl and a swat of his paw.

We drove to the upper escarpment (the top of the mountain)
with our ranger one morning and saw giraffes among other animals.

The cabins

The lodge at dinner time

Adventure Team-Building with My New Middle School

We survived the first obstacle course!

Our middle school students and teachers recently spent 4 days out in the bush at an adventure team-building camp. We crawled through muddy obstacle courses, learned to cook eggs by burying them in the ground, practiced rescue skills like building rafts and making stretchers with minimal resources, and "stalked the lantern" by crawling silently through the bush at night, looking for the single lantern acting as a beacon for the teams.

It was so much fun, not to mention dirty and exhausting and bug-ridden and hot. I was cleaning dirt out of my ears for at least 3 days after I returned!

After our first obstacle course - just a little dirty

Our rafts didn't float too well

Navigating one of the courses

The bunkhouse-complete with thatched roof

Roasting marshmallows on our last night

A mother and baby giraffe sighted in the bush