Goodbye Okonjima!

I would never have guessed that I would be looking forward to collecting cheetah poo first thing on Monday morning, but compared to bush chopping and prickly pear, this one is a breeze.  It is really relaxing to walk in the enclosures, looking for old bones and fresh poo, knowing the cheetahs are hiding in the grass, watching me. 

I love the sensation of being outdoors in the cool mornings, before the heat of the day takes over.  There is lots of fresh poo today and it smells but I still love this job!

On the way back from watching the feeding run, Shakira climbs her tree again and we wave goodbye.  She loves her perch and I just wish I could have gotten just that little bit closer, but I have certainly seen my leopard on a tree. (Hey Nicola, I know it isn’t as good as yours..but it will have to do :) )

We also visit Wahoo one last time and I wonder if I will see anything different, the third time around.  One of the joys about the wild is that one must always expect the unexpected. 

We are just about to leave the hide, we get a radio message from one of the guides.  He is calling to say that Nxosi, one of the resident leopards in the area has just been spotted circling our car!  We have been asked to stay inside the hide till we get the all clear.  We wonder if they are having us on but realise later on that jokes such as this are just not on in the wild.  Rion and a couple of guys step outside, only to spot the tracks of a leopard right outside the hide door!  They scamper back inside.  Just when you thought you had seen it all, you are reminded that anything is possible in Africa!

We stay in radio contact for what seems like ages till one of the guides comes by our hide, stick in hand to lead us out.  Our third visit to Wahoo turns out to be the most exciting of them all.  We look around for Nxosi but unfortunately, he is deep in the bush and we don’t spot him but we’ve had our bit of excitement for the day. 

We are in for a few surprises in our last week.  Clive has negotiated for us to spend Tuesday morning at REST, Rare and Endangered Species Trust. www.RESTafrica.org

We get to spend the morning learning about their program in exchange for helping them with a few chores including some fence rolling.  Maria is impressed with our effort and spends the rest of the morning sharing her passion with us. Founded in 2000 by Maria Diekmann, a local cattle rancher, REST is a non profit organisation that currently focuses on the plight of the Cape Griffon Vulture in Namibia.   In addition to this vulture, the centre also cares for the Lappetfaced vulture and the Bateleur.  It is quite amazing to see these birds up close.  While ancient cultures revered the vulture, most modern cultures do not and hence vulture conservation has often taken a back seat.  This is sad as they play a big part in the ecology of the wild, cleaning up all dead animals in the African bush.  We really enjoyed our visit here and Clive tells us they are negotiating to do more exchanges such as this between PAWS and REST.

Clive usually does a trip to town once a week and I’ve always made use of the opportunity to get to an internet cafe and post my blog and get supplies.  This week it’s Wednesday and about half the camp have decided to have a day in town.  I am just about to leave camp and decide its about time to have some African pampering.  I get my nails done and have my hair coloured which turns out to be quite an experience.  I walk in to the shop and about 6 African girls crowd around me, feeling my hair!  They just love my straight hair here and it isn’t the first time it has been admired or I’ve been asked if it is my own!  Which of your parents are black they enquire this time.  Well, I explain they both are/were black.  Well then, quips one, why do you have Chinese hair? 

I burst out laughing and explain my sub-continental background before we get down to business and they do my hair!

We’ve been tracking leopards all week with not having much luck, except with zebra and giraffe sightings till Wednesday arvo.  We get a strong signal almost right away from Oshiwa but unfortunately Shez blows a tyre and we have to stop to repair the puncture.  We have not had much luck with vehicles these past few weeks.  Funnily they always seem to break down right by a leopard!  After we fix it, we realise that Oshiwa has moved on but we pick up her signal once again and find her under a tree. 

Oshiwa’s is the ‘love child’ :) of MJ and Mufana  and is just 2 years old. She is rather shy, having been born in the wild and is not used to humans or vehicles.  Every time we get close enough to get a few shots, she moves on and the photo above was the best I could do.  Our leopard sightings however are not over for today.  We pick up Nxosi soon after and follow him for awhile but our only sightings are of him in the long grass and then sadly it is time to head back.  We pass by Wahoo on the way home and wave goodbye.  Three leopards in one day – not bad after the recent drought!

Tomorrow is our last night and we will be heading out for sundowners, so I guess this was officially my last game drive.  I look longingly at the landscape and realise I will always remember and miss the wide open spaces of Namibia.   

Clive gives us the day off on Thursday to visit REST one last time before we leave.  We are having a great last week and both Alice and I are really happy.  We help out with a few chores and then watch the birds being fed.  The Cape Griffon Vultures come down from their perch and we get to see them up close tearing at the meat laid out for them. 

Once a week, food is also left out by REST for the vultures and other wild birds in the area in what is commonly referred to as the Vulture Restaurant.  We get to watch the action at the water hole from their fabulous hide and we are quite excited at the prospect.

As REST are now in a new location, their vulture restaurant is just getting established.  Unfortunately, for us they’ve had a big gathering of about 80 birds (for the first time) the day before we’ve got there, just after the food was left out.  So our time in the hide is not that eventful.  Still, we have had a great experience with the birds they care for and we’ve had a day off work.  It doesn’t get better than that! 

And so it is time for our last ride in Shez.  We set off for Sundowners, armed with a few Savannahs and Windhoeks.  Alice and I feel a little sad.  We’ve been here 4 weeks and spent quite a bit of time with each other, bush choppping, chatting about our respective futures and generally having loads of fun with both Rion and Felix.  We’ve got to know the boys really well and know we will miss them as much as they will us.  (or so they tell us anyway).    Alli (as Felix likes to call her) goes back to Uni next week and is looking forward to reconnecting with her boyfriend and family.  We have both really enjoyed our time here together being the ‘old hands’ and the last 2 weeks have flown by.  Our last Sundowner was very special.  There was a stunning moon as we were driving back, and heaps of animals came out as if to wave us goodbye.  We were also rewarded by an entire family of Oryx, who came by to drink at our own little water hole. 

Alli and I are very emotional on our last morning as we bid goodbye to everyone.  We feel really sad to leave a place that has been home for the last 4 weeks.  Clive drives us to the airport on another beautiful Namibian morning.  Tongs, one of our resident cheetahs is sunning herself by the roadside as we make our last drive out of the reserve.  Goodbye Clive, Rion and Felix.  Bon voyage and good luck Alli!  Goodbye Okonjima! We have made memories that will last us a lifetime and you will always hold a special place in our hearts!  

 A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.  ~Jean de La Fontaine