Na an ku se photos

Zane petting Simira, a tame Cheetah.

Hanging with the Meerkats.

Zane and Marlin.

Petting a Caracal, they could be quite friendly.


Feeding Marlin.  He liked to store food in his cheeks.

After the shower, now bedtime with Kayla, baby baboon.

Getting in some Caracal time.

Lunchtime for the king.

Leopard.

Glenn and his best friend, Troy.

Petting Simira, tame cheetah.

Feeding ribs to the lions.

Duma the leopard.

In the cage with the young cheetahs.

Cheetah cub.


Cheetah.


Baboons on drugs, recovering from surgery.

Na an Ku Se Wildlife Sanctuary, Namibia

A great start to our adventure!
We have just spent two weeks as volunteers at Na an ku se wildlife sanctuary in central Namibia, but it seems more like a lifetime (in a good way).

The sanctuary accepts wild animals (with a focus on large carnivores and baboons) that have been orphaned or troublesome animals that have been captured, and try to rehabilitate and release the animals back to the wild when possible. When this is not possible they keep the animals and provide them with good living conditions. In the past two years they have released approximately 24 large cats. The sanctuary is also affilitated with a medical clinic for native bushmen, who they also employ, and run a school for their children. We met and worked alongside many inspring staff members and volunteers from the UK, Germany, Holland, France, New Zealand, and the USA and elsewhere.

While there our duties included preparing food and feeding the animals: wild cats (lions, leopards, cheetahs, caracals) baboons, meerkats, horses, pigs, fowl, rabbits, etc, checking and repairing the enclosure and border fences, walking with and sleeping with the baby baboons, helping at the school, and helping with various building and repair projects.

We had many amazing experiences: we threw meat to lions; we petted tame cheetahs and caracals; slept with, were bitten by, and peed on by baboons; cut various carcass parts with a bandsaw and fed them to large cats; stood inside enclosures with wild cheetahs; helped transfer a wild cheetah from a trap to a holding cage, and much more.

Be sure and check out www.ecotourism-namibia.com.

Glenn

Update from Namibia

1 wk in namibia have fed lions leopards cheetahs,pet tame cheetah.played with and sleeping with baby baboons.all 3 of us fine

Johannesbug

We have arrived in Africa! Conclusion - Africa is a VERY long way from New Zealand! 2 flights of 17 hours duration. As we were flying west, Zane enjoyed a 34 hour birthday including 7 meals and a visit from the Pilot. We leave shortly for the airport, only 2 hours today, landing in Namibia. Now if we could just get our sleep patterns in the same time zones as our bodies!
Glenn

Itinerary

We are off on a Family OE (Overseas Experience) before we all get too old. Join us somewhere if you can!

Our itinerary is as follows:

Sept 11: Depart NZ for Southern Africa

Sept 12-26: N/a’an ku sê Wildlife Sanctuary, Namibia (Volunteering)

Sep 28 - Nov 15: Land Rover Tour Of Namibia: Namib Naukluft National Park, Etosha National Park, Bushmanland and Khaudum National Park, and Botswana: Chobe National Park, Moremi Game Park (Okavango Delta), Khama Rhino Sanctuary, Kwa Tuli Island Camp and more ...

Nov 16 - Dec 6: Tanzania: Zanzibar and ???

Dec 7 - 11: New York City - The Big Apple

Dec 11 - 16: Upstate NY, visiting relatives

Dec 16 - Jan 4: Castle Valley, Utah. Center of the Universe

Jan 4 - 19: Southern California, catch up with old friends and neighbors.

Jan 19 - Mar 26: Costa Rica: Sanish Language School, Volunteering at Pacuare Reserve (Sea Turtles) and more ....

Mar 26 - May 1: Ecuador, including Galapagos Islands

May 1 - May 26: Peru, including Maccu Pichu

May 26 - June 20: Somehow get from La Paz, Bolivia to Santiago, Chile

June 20 - 23: Easter Island

June 23 - 29: Tahiti

June 29: Return to Auckland