We walked the cheetahs at an animal rehabilitation facility...people doing great things to help animals in need. Saw many special cats - leopard, serval, African Wild Cat, caracal...
The bird is the blue crane, South Africa's national bird.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Walk With a Cheetah
We went out with an Israeli couple to walk Shaka and Tandi, his sister. When we approached their gate, I saw such expectant faces. I said, "They want to go on a walk!" As soon as they heard the word "walk" they ran at a dead run towards us. We did not know how to react with two cheetahs coming so strong! :)
Walking with Shaka the cheetah was a huge highlight and favorite of this trip. Here is how it is done: He walks me!
He wears a harness that the guide uses to control him, if needed. Attached is a double leash so up to two people can "walk" him, but we usually took turns. I held the end of the leashes draped over my hand, but not held with a closed fist. When he walks, I walk with him, but behind his head. When he stops, I stop. If he runs (and he did!), I allow the leash to leave my hand, and I run after him until he decides to stop (a great work-out!). :-) When he is not allowed to follow his nose to nearby monkey land, he flops down to display his disgust. Eventually he continues on to walk, sniff (which he loved), and run. Exhilarating!
Shaka loved being stroked. You do not touch their face or near their mouth (quite sensible), but scratches and rubs on the head and strokes down the back are thoroughly enjoyed by him. Sandy and Kate, I thought of you with every stroke and soaked up the amazing experience for you as best as I could. Unfortunately, all of the pics Cxx took of me with him are lost with the phone. I was busy taking mostly videos. It seems I cannot post the videos here right now. Will post the best of what I have. Enjoy!
By the way, we walked by a blesbuck and some llamas, and boy - they were completely scared of them. We were shocked! It is their height that frightens them. They approached to intimidate the cheetahs, and the cats could hardly get by. Too funny!
Their treat at the end of the walj is raw chicken with the bones broken. Both of them leaped the fence to get their reward. :)
Robberg Island
This is just down the beach from Beacon Island Hotel. Martin, Christine, and I hiked around a portion of this island. Here is one of the world's living dunes. Simply beautiful! From the top we could see dolphins and seals swimming together in the clear water...and heard Mr. Norman (the elephant seal) barking. :)
More Plett
Pic of elephant seal barking at us. Huge guy! The seals just didn't know what to do with him. :)
Beacon Island Hotel
This is a hotel that works as a time share. We spent four to five days using this as a home base to explore and play in Plett and Plettenberg Bay along the Garden Route. This is one of the favorite vacation places of locals. Delightful!
Our first whale watching trip ended up with NO whales...in the middle of whale season. Our guide was simply flabbergasted. This had never, ever happened to him before. Instead of seeing the usual, we were treated with the unusual. The ocean was calm and beautiful. On this trip we saw the sunfish, albatross, and elephant seal that normally are not seen in this bay. We also saw many playful seals and the dolphins. Just no whales. No problem - the trip was rewarding with all that we saw and with the pleasant conditions.
We did take another trip - free of charge - the morning of our last day. The seas were very rough, but one humpback was spotted before we had to return to the bay due to the waves becoming too rough. There we came upon Southern Right Whales. Enormous! Couldn't capture them with pictures because they don't rise very high. Tried just taking videos. Will have to see if I caught anything on them :)
The Two Heads
The ocean is a powerful force! Over time, it wore through the moutain here and created a sea lagoon on the other side.
The motorcycle was made out of strips of tin cans by a local artist selling at The Heads. This was one example of many types - animals, vehicles, people, etc.
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