Happy Tuesday

Today was a lot of cleaning from the storm on Saturday. We started after breakfast trying to repair the serval pen. This was not as easy as it seems. There are three servals, Mulan, Tarzan, and one I can't remember. :)  We had to clean their cage in the morning which they hate, so they were NOT happy when we tried to move them. Mulan and the third serval were somewhat easy to grab and move to a separate cage. Tarzan was not. After 20 minutes and 4 group leaders trying to grab him, we had to finally give up.  We'll try again tomorrow to move them so we can fix the pen.  Instead we helped the other group sweep up leaves that had accumulated from the storm. 

Because of all the rain, the lion walk got cancelled this morning. Instead, we got to interact with the cheetah Bailey and the three girls. Bailey is a three legged cheetah who came to Glen Afric after living at another place. This former place had pens right up next to each other and had Bailey next to a lion cage. He fell asleep one day and a lion chomped on his leg. It had to be completely amputated and he was moved to Glen Afric. 

Tomorrow I will get to go on a horseback ride again and more cleaning. Hopefully the servals will be happier and we can fix their pen. We also are supposed to get an animal interaction with either Boris and Monty (two male lions) or Roxy (.the hyena). We are also supposed to get another storm so hopefully the wifi stays. 

See you Wednesday. 

Hello again!

Hello! Wifi is working again on my phone, which means I finally get to post about what I've been doing. The days all run together but here are some of the highlights:

Ostrich wrangling. We've had to wrangle two different ostriches three times. To do this, you have to form a big circle around the ostrich and walk the bird to where you want to go. It's a lot harder than it sounds because the ostrich is usually not happy about it and tries to escape. One of the ostriches had eaten a plastic bag which we also had to pull out of its throat. 

Interacting with the girls. The girls are the three lion "cubs" (they're 18 months old). We did a training with them where we led them with sticks through a course where they would have to walk and jump from one platform to the next. They would get meat as a reward for completing the course. We also got to go into their cage and pose with them and pet them as they walked by. It was so cool to be up close with them and watch them just pace or sleep. 

Quad riding. On Sunday we went quad riding. This was of course the day that I got burnt on my arms and legs. Thankfully I was wearing at t-shirt so I didn't get burnt on my shoulders. We saw a few animals during our trip and of course the views were amazing. 

We also went on a game drive around the Glen Afric camp and saw the free roaming animals that live here. There were some baby zebras and wildebeest. We also saw a giraffe and a herd of springbok. Most of these animals were bought from game places and live on the farm. They are pretty much left to themselves but if there are any injured animals they will try to help them. We had a hail storm on Saturday night that was really bad. It injured at least two of the ostriches. One lived in quarantine (the name for the camp where the vollys (volunteers) live) so it could live with its young while they are being looked at while they grow before they are let back on the camp. He got hit in the head by a piece of hail and had to be put down. The other got hit in the head and had its eye damaged. It was out on the camp so we had to move it back to quarantine. 

This week we might be walking with the girls out on the camp which should be amazing! The last week has gone by so quickly. I'll be excited to go home but will definitely miss this place. 

Hopefully the wifi will continue to work... If not, see you when I get to London!

TIA

This is Africa, which basically means things work sometimes and sometimes they don't. And in this case it means the wifi. So as much as I would love to post something everyday I have a feeling it won't be happening. 

So, while I have the wifi here we go:

Arrived in JoBurg after an 11 hour flight filled with crying babies. Monday is shit Monday. We clean out elephant stalls and  horse stables in the morning and then in the afternoon take all the shit that's been cleaned from the week and dump it on a hill. Tues - thurs we clean the stalls again in the morning and then the afternoon it changes daily. Today was interaction day so we trained with the tiger cubs and he lion cubs. Then we got to pet the cheetahs

London Calling

Hello from London! London has been a blur! By the time I board my flight to Johannesburg, I will have been up for 30+ hours plus or minus an hour or two that I slept on the plane. 

For my layover, I did the Original London Tour which was great! It's a hop on hop off tour that takes you basically all around London. Our guide told us a lot of facts about London, none of which I will remember because I've had no sleep. ;)

Special thanks to Patti, Sheila, and Sadie for recommending the hop on/off tours. It was especially nice because it was colder and rainier than I had planned for and so I was freezing most of time BUT I could still view the city from the safety of a somewhat warm bus. 

London was gorgeous even in the rain and I would love to come back for more than just 14 hours. 

See you all in JoBurg!

Leg 1 complete...

Only two more to go! 

Hello from JFK! Leg one was a success, even with a handful of screaming babies on the plane.

I now have two hours to find some food, exchange money, and prepare for London! I'll be arriving around 7 London time but it'll be midnight for me!  Let's hope I don't lose my mind... 

See you in London!