Africa 2012 Photography Travels

Namibia part 3 – Take me to the cats.

As I already told you, there were two things I wanted to do in Namibia. See the red dunes in the Namib desert. And see some wild cats. So with only a few days left of my two week easter trip, I made some research and found a place called N/a’an ku sê Foundation which is just about 50km from Windhoek. It is a wildlife foundation with a game park, lodges, and various kinds of wild animals that have been found either hurt or abandoned, and that the foundation now takes care of. Some of these being lions, leopards and cheetahs – I had found my place and booked a “feeding tour” for only 25€.

I had seen lions before, but not his close, and not this angry. There was a fence separating us from the animals, but there were little children in the jeep I was with, so the lions got their hopes up. The guide fed them by throwing meat over the fence and the jumps were impressive. I guess they actually could have jumped those fences if they wanted to. The ladies were the hunters, as we all know, but it was interesting to see how the lion actually was dominating the two females completely. He was in charge, no doubt. And he was a quite upset king.

When we got to the cheetahs, I was in awe.. apparently, once you tame a cheetah – they stay tame forever. These huge and gracious creatures were sweet as kittens and even made the kind of “mjau” sounds we all know. I asked if I was allowed to touch them. “At your own risk” the guide said, while patting one himself. So I put my hand through the fence and a cheetah walked up. It looked at me and then stroked its head against my hand, and licked it. The tongue felt kind of like the tongue of a cat, only even more rough. The feeling was overwhelming.

We continued to the leopards, which, as the guide told us, unlike the cheetahs – never can be tamed. These are the animals that unconditionally will rip your face right off. The guide didn’t have to explain that to us again when we got to see them, it was actually really uncomfortable being close to these demon looking animals, despite the fence. The were projecting the kind of “I can see right through you, you bad human, and I shall cut your throat and drink your blood while you sleep.” message that you sometimes get from evil house cats. Difference was these kittens had slightly bigger fangs. Let’s just say that leopards don’t seem particularly friendly.

On our way back to Windhoek, we met a man that was taming a wild horse, and found a really nice tree. It had been the prefect last day in Namibia, and I was driving, of course.

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