We left the hotel early again so we could watch the cheetahs run, but this time the drive seemed far more sedate. The high risk high jacking, "Surprise" stop signs, the narrow roads, the potholes and the other crazy drivers were still ever present, but we had the morning light, (lesedi) so everything is always much better.
When we arrived at the Cheetah park we were greeted by the security guard and then headed to the reception to sign in. After the briefing and history video we walked to the cheetah run, my advice don't blink !!! or you will miss them. The run is set up like a greyhound lure run and depending on the personality of the cheetah determines how the handlers conduct the run. For example one cheetah gets driven to the run whilst another prefers to take a leisurely walk to the run, but once they get to the run they are off. Then its a bit of a lie down for a little rest.
Next we went back to the Boma (it's like a big hall with an amazing thatched roof) to pat a cheetah, but before we could we had to have the mandatory safety briefing. Byron would be walked in and lie down on a standard height table. Approach Byron from his tail and only touch his tail if the handler says so. Now the really important ones.
1: Take your hat off, the cheetah needs to be able to recognise you as human so it knows not to attack you.
2: Take your sunglasses off, because the cheetah will see its reflection and think it's another cheetah and attack you.
3: Don't kneel down, the cheetah will think you're food.
4: Children don't run around, cheetah will think you're food.
5: No loud noises or sudden movements or the cheetah will attack you.
Lisa's experience of patting Byron the cheetah in her words :- It was really cool to stroke a cheetah. He was lying with his head lifted up and purring like the biggest cat you ever heard. He seemed very happy to lie there and be stroked and his fur was quite soft for such a big animal.
My experience, of patting Byron was intense. I obeyed all the rules, took off my hat, removed my sunglasses and made no sudden movements. However Byron sat up and eye balled me, we were literally the same height and the handler was this short girl who looked about 12 who I suspect would not be able to hold Byron back if he wanted to go somewhere. I get that he's tame but when you're face to face with a cheetah and he's not looking too pleased with you, you step back when told to do so. After that he calmed down and went back to laying down so I eventually got to pat Byron the cheetah.
Fun Facts about the cheetah interaction.
The males are used for the interaction because they :-
1: Tend to be more social than the females.
2: They like to be groomed so patting works for them.
3: More docile than the females, so easier to handle.
Interestingly there is a cheetah called the King Cheetah, the difference between normal cheetahs and the King cheetah is the markings on their coats. Normal cheetahs have spots v's the King cheetahs lozenge patterned coat and the King cheetah is bigger than the normal cheetah. The King cheetah occurs because of a recessive gene which both parents must have.
We then did an open truck tour of the Cheetah Park, where we got to see Wild Dogs, Long Brown Haired Hyenas and Honey Badgers, as well as several other cheetahs.
Next a 30 minute drive to the Elephant Sanctuary. Our guide Simba, gave us the history of Elephants, the difference between the Asian Elephant and African Elephant and the various sub species of the African Elephant. Who knew it was so complex...We fed a big bull elephant, got up and personal with a couple of forest elephants and Lisa got a "kiss" from one. I'll let her describe that...
An elephant kiss on the cheek is like a big, sloppy vacuum cleaner sticking to your whole cheek for a second, weird feeling, but it sure makes you laugh!
We then walked a couple of elephants, you have to curl your 4 fingers and put them inside the elephants trunk, mine went well but Lisa's had to stop for a toilet break, good times.
From there a peaceful drive past the dam and back to the hotel.
Another early start but well worth the effort. Tomorrow the Adventure bus tour begins.
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