Vegans Love Carnivores

It seems that if you want to work in a conservation organisation in Africa you need to be able to work 80+ hours a week without any days off!  I was hoping that things would be a little more relaxed here at CCF, knowing that I was told that I’d be able to take 1.5 days off per week, but it seems that this is not the case.  There are people who have been working here for 6+ months and may have only take 2 days off.   Some of the staff who work on the cheetah reintroductions work two straight weeks of 18 hour days – how does anyone do that without dying of exhaustion?!  I have no idea.  I asked Laurie when was the last time she had a holiday in the last 10 years and she said “make that 40 years”.  I honestly have no clue how you can go on that long without needing some time out.  In any case, I am HOPING to take my first day off today.  I already managed to sleep in until 8.30 am, which was amazing.  However, I do have a small excuse as to...

Oh my gosh, three consecutive days of travelling through three countries has really worn me out.  I had my last day in Zimbabwe on Saturday, where I spent the morning doing a lion walk with the youngest set of cubs.  It was nice to go out on a proper walk with them, as I previously had only done one training walk and a client walk, and that was just to collect spoor measurements.  We had a nice stroll in the bush and then down to the river, where the lions sat on a boardwalk ready for some photos.  It did seem a bit “circuisy” getting them to sit and pose for pics, but I guess that’s what brings money in to the Park. The day before leaving Yvonne the new lion researcher and I took a canoe out in the morning and went paddling down the river.  It was extremely peaceful and very serene; I just wish in a way I had come out at sunset because I’ve been told the sun reflecting in the water is a spectacular site.  We spotted lots of different birds along the way,...

I now only have two full days left as the lion researcher at ALERT.  It is a bittersweet time, as I wish I could stay to see how the cubs in the Ngamo release site grow up, but I can safely say that I am not going to miss anything else about this place.  It has certainly been an interesting time here in Zimbabwe and I feel like it was a good experience for me to come out here and learn about this project, but I am ready to move on now.  I shall however certainly keep updated with the Ngamo blog to read up about how the new cubs are doing and will hopefully keep in contact with the new researcher about things. Just a couple of days ago Kenge the new mother in the pride started to integrate her cubs with the rest of the lions.  She brought her two beautiful cubs out from their den in the morning and spent around 10 minutes with the rest of the group, before the cubs decided it was time to head back home.  The cubs are adorable bundles of fluff and it was so ni...

I finally made it to Namibia after a bit of a hectic journey.   First of all my train from Shepherdswell to Canterbury was cancelled and subsequent trains were massively delayed, so I had to phone a taxi to get me to my coach on time.  Then when I arrived in Windhoek I expected to be greeted by the taxi service I had booked to pick me up, but no one was there.  Fortunately a lovely lady called the taxi company for me (as my phone doesn't work here - stupid Tesco/O2) and got them to come out immediately.  Apparently they hadn't received confirmation that I definitely wanted the taxi, even though I had confirmed by email 3 days before and had got a reply from them saying all was fine...  So anyway they had to delay the bus waiting for me in the town centre by over an hour for me to get on it after being delayed by the taxi.  Very glad it was delayed, as the bus only goes once a day and otherwise I'd have been stranded in Windhoek! Got to meet two other...