Mabula Private Game Reserve in the Waterberg has introduced two male cheetah, transported from Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in the Western Cape. This is the first time cheetah have been introduced to the reserve.

Upon arrival in the reserve, the two animals spent a few weeks in a boma where they were carefully monitored by Reserve Manager,Ryno Erasmus, as well as Dr Yolanda Pretorius from the reserve research division, and her team. “Time in the boma is very important as it allows animals to become familiar with their surroundings and curbs their instinct to run away, in an attempt to return to where they came from,” says Erasmus.

The two-and-a-half-year-old cats are completely independent from their mother and have been hunting on their own for at least six months.

Porini Rhino Camp is located in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a 90,000 acre wildlife conservancy situated between the foot hills of the Aberdares and the magnificent snowcapped Mount Kenya.

My flight up to the Nanyuki airstrip was an adventure in itself – Safarilink laid on possibly the smallest plane I have ever been in – just a 6 seater. It was more a case of would the plane fit into my bag rather than would my bag fit into the plane, but it was actually quite a fun 45 minutes flight.

We landed, got our bags, and were met by our Porini camp guides, and off we set. We crossed the equator (which in itself was hugely exciting, well, it was for me anyway), and very soon we were in the conservancy.

Our first sighting within just a few minutes of entering the conservancy was a reticulated giraffe – stunning markings on its coat, which are clearly defined, and it very kindly posed for a few pictures. A few km down the road, there were 3 cheetah brothers, lying in the shade with incredibly fat bellies, having just made a kill. A little further on, zebra.

Then a herd of probably the most ferocious cows that I have ever come across, with HUGE horns … yes, the local people still wander through the conservancy (even though it is Big 5 territory) to graze their cattle. Bizarre, but a way of life that is actually quite endearing and certainly unique !

We arrived at the camp, and was greeted warmly by Paul, the manager. My tent was extremely spacious – a double and a single bed, a desk, and an en-suite bathroom with bucket shower, flushing toilet and sink / basin. I love the fact that there was also a pot of detergent just in case I wanted to wash anything – which I did, because the roads are a bit dusty !!

When I got back from my evening drive, I was escorted to my tent (the camp is not fenced, so you cannot walk around after dark on your own), and my guide waited for me to quickly pull on a jumper, and then escorted me back to the boma fire, where a gin and tonic was waiting for me. Very civilised ! My morning wake up call was accompanied by a perculator of hot coffee and some biscuits – again, a really nice touch and very welcome at 6 am in the morning !

The camp is run off solar power, so if you wake up in the night, you need to use your wind up torch, but this does just add to the excitement of being on a true safari. And listening to the sounds of Africa through your canvas tent walls while you are tucked up in your bed is a truly magical experience.

All the meals that I had at the camp were exceptionally good – 3 course dinner, cooked breakfast, buffet lunch – and the service was also superb – there was always someone on hand to charge your phone / camera battery, offer you a coffee, and so on.

I visited the Chimpanzee Sanctuary during my stay here – the Sanctuary does do a lot of good for these rescued chimps who have been previously abused, so it is worth taking the hour out of your game drive to go there. However, you cannot go into the chimp enclosure at all, so be prepared to view them in their huge enclosures (acres of land) through a wire fence.

For the rest of my game viewing, I also saw the rare Grevys zebra (there are less than 20 on the conservancy), elephant, white rhino, gazelles, waterbuck, impala, monkeys (both vervet AND a black and white colobus monkey), baboons, warthogs … it was a very impressive list all in all, and please bear in mind, I was here for just one night only !!

An extremely enjoyable stay, definately worthy of 2 nights of anyones holiday.

What a fabulous picture!

This has just been sent to us by Kicheche Camps in Kenya.

I am now inspired to run a Photo of the Week competition!

So watch this space for more stunning pictures!

Southern Africa has a long history of people and wild animals living side-by-side, and folklore plays an important part in all the major cultures of the region. Over the course of the next couple of months, we will be publishing a different one every week and we hope they will be of interest to those of you who have either an interest in animals or who appreciate the folklore of other countries.

Here is the first one !

When the Cheetah Cried

One day, a hunter left his village to go and find food for his family. He passed a small clearing, and noticed a young Impala who had strayed away from the main herd. While the hunter was working out the best way to catch the Impala, he noticed a mother Cheetah in the long grass near the Impala.

Suddenly, the Cheetah leapt out of the grass and with great speed bore down and caught the Impala before it had a chance to run away.

The hunter marvelled at the Cheetah’s hunting ability, and wished that he could have a Cheetah to train to catch food for him. Suddenly, he noticed her 3 young cubs sitting nearby in the shade of a tree, watching their mother kill the Impala for their dinner.

“This could be the answer,” thought the hunter. “Why don’t I steal one of the cubs and take it back to the village with me, so that I can train it to hunt for me instead.” Quick as a flash, the hunter ran over to the cubs, and picked up the nearest one. “Why not take all 3,” he then thought. “That way, I’ll be able to catch 3 times as much food for my family.” The hunter scooped all 3 cubs into his bag, and ran off.

The mother Cheetah dragged her kill back to where she had left her cubs, and was distraught to see that they had gone. She cried and cried for hours, and the tears made a dark stain down her cheeks.

An old man passed by and asked what was wrong. When he heard that the cubs were missing, he realised that the 3 cubs that had been brought into his village that morning by the hunter must belong to the mother Cheetah. He promised to return the cubs to her immediately, and went to the village.

The old man scolded the hunter for not only stealing the cubs, but for dishonouring the tribe’s hunting traditions of using their own abilities and skills.

When the cubs were returned to their mother, she was very grateful, but the hours of crying meant that her face was permanently stained with the dark stripes.

This week has been witness to a remarkable milestone in the 16 year history of the AfriCat Foundation, with 1,000 big cats now rescued!

The sheer determination and unshakeable belief that has allowed the foundation staff to achieve this goal is staggering. Every single one of the rescues has meant a lengthy drive or light aircraft flight, careful liaison with the owner of the land or the community (at best curious and at worst plain hostile towards the predator) and then the laborious and dangerous task of extricating the cat to sanctuary.

In many cases, that is simply the beginning of a period of rehabilitation with the aim of releasing the cat back into the wild.

So who was lucky number 1,000? He was a 3 month old leopard cub rescued along with his mother (cat no. 999) from a farm in the Grootfontein area. Fortunately both mother and cub were in excellent health and were released together into the wild just 24 hours after their rescue.

The 1,000 cat statistic represents 650 cheetahs and 350 leopards. It does not include the scores of smaller predators that find themselves in need of AfriCat’s help. Every single one of these predators would have been destroyed were the AfriCat Foundation removed as an alternative option.

If you consider the fact that 86% of these cats are released back into the wild to continue the species, the impact AfriCat has on preserving Namibia’s predator population is quite amazing. The influence that AfriCat has on the awareness and tolerance for predators is impossible to quantify but just as significant long term in the survival of these species.

The AfriCat Foundation is able to operate because of private funding and the support of their single biggest donor, Okonjima, where guests can stay one (or ideally 2) nights at either Okonjima Main Camp or Bush Camp, and participate in the many activities on offer including the tracking on foot of the rehabilitated cheetahs on the Cheetah Tracking Trail, or radio-tracking leopards from an open game viewing vehicle in the 4,000 hectare rehabilitation area; bushman trails and walking trails; and a visit the Cheetah Project, an invaluable insight into the welfare work of the Foundation.

The AfriCat Foundation is a leader in the rescue and relocation of big cats (mainly cheetah and leopards) in Namibia, and probably the best way to gauge their impact is to look at their statistics for the last 13 years:

Total cats rescued 946

Total cats released 796

In reality those figures equate to thousands of hours of animal welfare, complicated rescue missions, expensive veterinary procedures and an unwavering belief that one organisation can make a difference.

Harder to quantify is the impact made on the thousands of individuals who have visited Okonjima and gained a better understanding of the real issues faced by large predators in Namibia. These include tourists who become donors or ambassadors for conservation in their home countries and Namibian school groups who return to their villages with an interest in their national wildlife treasures.

The last two school groups to be hosted at Okonjima in 2008 came from Windhoek and the Kavango Region. They stayed at the Environmental Education Centre and the primary goal of the programme is to bring about change in the national attitude to predator conservation. Most of the children had never been on a school trip before and none had seen a cheetah or leopard in the flesh. The experience of both combined was dramatic and will remain with the students for years.

Okonjima and the AfriCat foundation are leaders in the field of animal rescue and rehabilitation, and we strongly recommend that anyone visiting Namibia consider staying at Okonjima Main Camp or the luxurious Okonjima Bush Camp and to see for themselves the excellent work that is done at this inspirational place.