Well, I’ve been here at CCF for just over 2 weeks now and things have gone great so far and it feels like I’ve been here a lot longer. However, I almost never made it here as upon arrival at Windhoek airport I was told by the ever so delightful immigration staff that as I had no work visa I would be refused entry and was going to be sent home! I then had to endure 8 hours sat on a bench in arrivals not knowing if I was going to have the shortest African adventure in history! Fortunately half an hour before the deadline my work visa was approved and I was granted entry, to the obvious disappointment of the immigration staff who seemed to have taken great pleasure in my suffering throughout the day.
My 8 hour delay meant it was far too late to get to my first stop, Otjiwarongo, and so I had to spend a night in Windhoek. However, it was here my luck changed and I ended up having a very pleasant evening at a backpackers. I found a shop round the corner that did sausage and chips and drank a bottle of Amarula with my some fellow travellers. I also met a very nice woman who had visited CCF several times and offered to give me a lift a lift to Otjiwarongo the next day. When I arrived in Otjiwarongo however I discovered that all the phone lines had gone down and I was unable to call CCF and get someone to pick me up! But my good luck continued and I met another very nice woman who took pity on me and gave me a lift straight to CCF. To say I was relieved to see the place again is the understatement of the year!
So, over the past 2 weeks I’ve basically been the shadow of a fellow brit called Stephen aka Esteban (sorry mate!), who has been looking after the cheetahs since the keeper who I’m replacing left about a month ago. I’ve been learning the feeding routine and most importantly learning how to tell which cheetah is which, there are 47 cheetahs and I need to know them all before Stephen leaves!
Have to say its been hard work but I’m absolutely loving it, I’ve been loving the cheetahs, the African landscape, the sunsets, the amazing night sky and most of all my favourite African cider, Hunters Gold! Its hard to believe that only a couple of weeks ago I was stacking shelves in tesco. This job really came at the right time, although I had fun at tesco I really wasn’t happy with how my life was going and have to say I don’t miss Andover one bit! Although I miss some of its people of course.
Well, next Sunday Stephen leaves and I’ll officially be a CCF cheetah keeper which is very exciting!
My 8 hour delay meant it was far too late to get to my first stop, Otjiwarongo, and so I had to spend a night in Windhoek. However, it was here my luck changed and I ended up having a very pleasant evening at a backpackers. I found a shop round the corner that did sausage and chips and drank a bottle of Amarula with my some fellow travellers. I also met a very nice woman who had visited CCF several times and offered to give me a lift a lift to Otjiwarongo the next day. When I arrived in Otjiwarongo however I discovered that all the phone lines had gone down and I was unable to call CCF and get someone to pick me up! But my good luck continued and I met another very nice woman who took pity on me and gave me a lift straight to CCF. To say I was relieved to see the place again is the understatement of the year!
So, over the past 2 weeks I’ve basically been the shadow of a fellow brit called Stephen aka Esteban (sorry mate!), who has been looking after the cheetahs since the keeper who I’m replacing left about a month ago. I’ve been learning the feeding routine and most importantly learning how to tell which cheetah is which, there are 47 cheetahs and I need to know them all before Stephen leaves!
Have to say its been hard work but I’m absolutely loving it, I’ve been loving the cheetahs, the African landscape, the sunsets, the amazing night sky and most of all my favourite African cider, Hunters Gold! Its hard to believe that only a couple of weeks ago I was stacking shelves in tesco. This job really came at the right time, although I had fun at tesco I really wasn’t happy with how my life was going and have to say I don’t miss Andover one bit! Although I miss some of its people of course.
Well, next Sunday Stephen leaves and I’ll officially be a CCF cheetah keeper which is very exciting!
Bye for now!
