Tuesday 1 November 2011

Day 2!!!

Good afternoon my dear friends and family...
I hope this blog finds you all well. We are 2 hours ahead of you up there in England so the time is 13:35 for me and around 11:35 for you!
The journey to ShadyNook cottage was a loooong and hot one. I was met off the plane by Quentin who works at the farm and a fellow volunteer was also waiting for me who had just arrived. I guess I kept them waiting longer than they would have liked! Woops...after a 50 minute drive we arrived at the farm but only to pick up a couple of other volunteers who have been here a while, and I have to admit the first thing i noticed about them was the vast amount of cuts and bruises they seemed to have! Nonetheless, they were really happy and friendly so this didn't faze me too much, and after just a morning working here i too am not covered in scratches and small bumps so i guess it just comes with the territory.
After getting all our shopping out of the way we headed to our digs, a cottage called Shadynook which is beautiful and has everything you could need including a nice big terrace with a very pretty view of the river. However, I must add that when we parked up 'at' the cottage little did i know that with shopping, luggage and other bits and pieces on board the truck we now had a monkey bridge and significant trek to the cottage! Ill be honest and say that my legs did go a bit wobbly on the bridge which i hadn't expected to swing quite so much and by the time we had carried everything to shadynook i was more than happy to flop into a cold shower and rinse away the sweat!
We had a really pleasant evening complete with a good old braai! Yum! We relaxed until it was dark and got to one another a bit, but i was exhausted and retired to bed at 9.30pm...

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of the lions roaring which was incredible, despite being almost 2km away it sounded like they were at the front door! It was very exciting. And this morning has been everything that i had hoped and imagined it would be. We arrived at the farm at 8am where were introduced to 2 baby black leopards and 2 baby hyenas, we went into there pen and had a good play with them! So so sweet, the leopards have HUGE paws and are still quite clumsy and the hyenas are a lot cuter than i had ever thought. They are very shy but the leopards are very confident and playful...hence my scratched arms and legs!

We left their enclosure and did our orienteering around the farm with all the big cats! Incredible...I am rushing now as my time is nearly up...but it was unbelievable, the lions are magnificent! Apart from a fence i was up close which was awesome! (there's that word! awesome!). Then before i knew it we were being invited into an enclosure with two adult hyenas and one leopard which was scary but brilliant, however i am now missing a lace to my boot which is making it difficult to walk...yes, one of the hyenas decided to eat it! But they were lovely and did lots of sniffing!

After that we returned to the cubs and sat with them for ages and had a good play...my boot got bullied some more....this could be a recurring problem!

Anyway...i have to dash! But i am well, safe and loving being here with the animals!

Until next time, Holz. xxx

3 comments:

  1. Wow, Sounds like you are having an amazing time already. Take Care xx

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  2. Fabulous Holly - sounds incredible and each day will be a new adventure. Also, sounds like you need to get some string for your laces:-) Very brave on The Monkey Bridge = Shakin Stevens...

    Looking forward to your next entry. Have fun and give my love to SA - the land of The Rainbow People xxxx

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  3. Glad to see you got there safe sis!it sounds amazing, I'm very jealous. Take care.x x x

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