The Circle of Life has begun!

Well 20 hours and 4 planes later we finally made it to the great continent of Africa. That’s right I said Africa!! When we got here it was 5:15 am, and pitch black outside, which you think would make seeing wildlife difficult to see, but obviously you haven’t been hanging out with the fisheries and wildlife students because we can spot that stuff for miles away. So to our new friend the giant grasshopper we would like to say “Koda” or hello in the Himba language. We then waited for our rent-a-car person to pick us up and get us into our pimped out safari vehicle, complete with tent toppers and four wheel drive. Along the way we spotted just the typical African animals; Giraffes, Baboons, Zebras, and a Hartabeest. Next stop, the most amazing shower of our lives.

After that shower we headed out to the Amani Lodge where we met Tarzan, vine-swinging, long curly brown hair, loin-cloth and all. Okay, not really the vine-swinging but I swear everything else is true. Actually his name is Oliver and he was the son of the owner of the lodge. We met the two pet Warthogs of the lodge and had them suckling on our thumbs before the night was over. We then climbed up into our safari vehicles and headed down the fiery pits of hell, also known as the Namibian Gravel roads, and our first stop was the leopard. He was very quiet and everything you think a big cat would be, beauty and all. We also saw four Cheetahs where Tarzan threw them a rack of meat and we watched them pick it apart and make all sorts of the Cheetah noises. To be completely honest the Cheetahs reminded me more of dogs than they did actual cats, they made barking noises and growled till their faces turned blue. Our last stop of the safari was the lions, that was after our sister vehicle got stuck in the mud on the trails due to all the rain that Namibia has been having. So when we saw the lions we were looking I am sure great for dinner, but unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to go into the pen with them, which I totally would have. Wouldn’t you?? But anyway, the lodge was interesting to view and to gain a new perspective into the whole wonder of Namibian cats and the conservation efforts that have gone into conserving these animals, even if Tarzan’s viewpoints were a little far-fetched from our own, never-the –less it was a great way to start off our African adventure. Believe me this was only a taste of what we will be experiencing.

Monica