Getting Started

After 3 flights and a long car ride that combined to over 30 hours of travel time, I arrived at the Cheetah Conservation Fund. I was taken to my room at a camp named Light Foot. Being on planes for the past day and a half drained me. Despite the simplicity of the day I still saw quite a bit of wildlife, including: kudu, warthogs, skink, ostrich, cheetah, oryx, baboons, really cool birds, and some gnarly insects. After it all I only had the energy to eat dinner and head to bed. Sleeping here in the middle of the bush in Namibia is a bit different from home. It is pitch black, animals are always making noises in the night, and bugs think your bed is as cozy as you do. Nonetheless, I slept pretty well. The next day was orientation, but I got a bit of a surprise to start the day off. There was a cheetah run planned with the cheetahs that have been here at CCF the longest. They are called the ambassadors. Cheetah runs are kind of like a greyhound race in the way that there is a toy on a string that zooms around a course that the cheetahs love to chase. Seeing the fastest land animal bolt after this toy was quite the sight. The rest of the day was spent orientating me to CCF as an organization.