Vegans Love Carnivores

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,...

Wow a lot has changed since my last blog update!  It’s funny what difference a week makes to the life of someone. As I mentioned on my blog in the beginning, I came to Africa via Namibia to talk to Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) about my future PhD that I will hopefully be starting in September 2012.  I also wanted to know if there would be a possibility of me working there after I finish here at ALERT in March.  They said they hadn’t got any positions open at that point but that they would let me know if anything did come up.  I thought that was probably just them being nice to me and didn’t expect anything to come of it.  However, a few weeks ago they contacted me to say their ecologist is leaving next year to continue her postgraduate studies and CCF asked if I would like to take her position.  Of course, I jumped at the chance, as CCF is somewhere I have been longing to work ever since I first heard about it.  It would tie in nicely with me finis...

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...