September 7, 2007

I’m sitting in the sun where the only sounds out here in the Karoo are the goats whimpering and the water bubbling in the pool. No kombis honking with the constant stream of traffic and people yelling out the window, “Town! Town!”

We began our journey to the Great Karoo at 8:15 this morning where all 12 of us (plus our guide and driver) piled into a Kombi. It reminded me of our family motorhome trip to Michigan…except that came complete with beds, food, and a bathroom! I sat in the backseat, and what later became known as “business class” between Laura and Alex. Our first stop on the trip was the Cheetah Reserve where we fed kudu and the black wildebeest and saw springbuck grazing in the field. After feeding time, we crossed a rickety bridge that you could see the ground through the gaps in the planks, and directly below us was the cheetah cage. Under a large willow tree were four male cheetahs, all brothers. Our guide explained that brother cheetahs stay together for life and if separated from each other they can literally die of a broken heart. The guide also explained that cheetah males don’t stay and care for their young, they mate and go their separate ways, while the female has a three month gestation period and hunts and cares for the cubs once they are born. Female cheetahs generally have 2-6 cubs with each litter, but if she were to have 6, the chance of all surviving is very small, because the babies are very tiny when they are born and are prone to disease and are often attacked by predators. We walked around the reserve and would try to spot all fifteen cheetahs that are protected in different cages. Thirteen of the fifteen are wild, and two have been trained and have appeared in movies. We were able to go into the cage of the two tamed cheetahs, their names were Savannah Nakeeta. When we walked into the cage, they both walked up to us and found a spot to lie in the shade. I bent over and pet Savannah on the head and he just sat there and purred. Our guide told us that never in the history of South Africa has there been a human attacked by a cheetah. It was one of the neatest experiences to be so close and touching such a strong and powerful animal.

When we were done petting the cheetahs we went into another cage where there were two seven week old lion cubs. When I first walked into the cage I saw one of the cubs crouching behind a stump with a baby goat standing right next to it! It was so funny seeing the goat and the lion hanging out together! The cub ran into his house, while the goat ran happily toward us, it kind of reminded me of a happy puppy dog! Our guide went into the house to get the lions and brought them out for us to hold. We took tons of pictures and traded turns holding the baby lions. They were so soft and if felt like I was holding a heavy lion cub stuffed animal. They were so cuddly and playful (especially when the two lions were let free and could wrestle and play with each other! How amazing is that though…I got to hold a baby lion! Tonya and I took pictures to send to the NP Times! It was the highlight of my day to hold that little baby! The guide told us that these two cubs were taken from their mother because she was a young lion and inexperienced in mothering her cubs, and actually had laid down on one of the cubs and suffocated it, so these two cubs were rescued. After spending two hours at the reserve, we refueled with biscuits (cookies) and coffee and did a little shopping (I even bought a few gifts for a lucky few!) and we were back on the open road (literally the open road!) Our next stop was our final destination for the day, our bed and breakfast, Noorspoort. The home was built in the 1800’s and was absolutely beautiful! I think that it is a tie between the Grand Hotel on Mackinaw or this B&B for where I want to get married! The rooms were all so cozy with fluffy comforters and lace curtains. The furniture was Victorian but also looked modern like something you would find in a display room at Ikea. I took plenty of pictures because I know that Mom would love to see them. I also brought along a blown up picture of Sheena and Chad so I took pictures of them throughout the house for them! I hope that they like the album…it was fun making it and it made me think of them all weekend and I could be happy, rather than sad about not being at their wedding to celebrate with them! The staff at the B&B made lunch for us (there was pasta, sweet crusted pizza, homemade bread with sweet tomato jam, deviled eggs, and cookies!). We sat on the veranda and ate our lunch and then we went our separate ways on the grounds. I sat in the sun to journal while other roamed the farm looking for the goats, pigs, and other baby animals. The B&B was full so we actually were driven to the guest house which is 4 kilos away from the house. The house we stayed in was surrounded by mountains and was in the middle of nowhere. As we were pulling into the driveway a monkey dashed across the road and into the bushes! The house was quite large with twenty two beds, two of which were triple bunk beds! Six of us girls piled into a room with three sets of double bunks (Carrie, Brenna, Kasy, Laura, Katherine and I). After claiming our beds for the night we went back to the B&B and fed the baby goats then took the monster SUV into the town for a tour. We rode to town in the monster and explored the little shops (which were actually very small and didn’t have too much) then we made our way down to look at the large Church at the other end of town. The owner of the B&B then brought us to a township and we held the world’s longest worm (it was over 6 feet long!) It felt so disgusting and I actually thought that if a person could feel peristalsis of the intestines, that is what it would feel like! The man who “farms” the worms sells them for R10 a piece to local fisherman. As we rode out of the township in the monster, I felt that we were in a parade because all of the children from around there came running outside to wave and chase after us! We drove back past the B&B to a large cliff and rock formation where people climbed and we had a bonfire and braai. We began the meal with stick bread, which is basically what the name indicates, a piece of bread dough wrapped around a stick and roasted over the fire. When you pull the bread off of the stick it is hallow on the inside so you are able to fill it with jam or butter…it was delicious! We learned about the rock formations and that were we were sitting was once a sea bed. For dinner we had kudu, lamb, potato salad, mealie, vegetable salad, and wine. We sat around the fire and played drums. We stayed out there past dark and at 9:30 we went back to the B&B to listen to a lecture on star formations. The sky was a little cloudy, but we were still able to see Scorpio, the pointer star, the Milky Way, and Magellan’s cloud. We finally came back to our guest house and went to sleep for the night! We had our own personal watchman guarding the house for us! Although the house was a little creepy…it felt like a situation and the setting of a horror movie…ten college girls alone in the Karoo staying in a home all alone, with no phone, or car to escape…