Tales of Seven

Cheetah Purr

One of the most beautiful, heart stopping things about my visit to Harnas was the opportunity to hear a cheetah purr. It is a full V8. It is no holds barred. Something to make a visitor forget absolutely everything else but that moment.

 

 

2 Minutes at Harnas

Namibia, Africa

A short 'video of moments' from my visit to Harnas.

    

Cheetah

Harnas Wildlife Foundation, Namibia

 Beautiful Duma

Sleep Out Night and African Morning

Harnas Wildlife Foundation, Namibia

It's just dusk and I quickly grab a sleeping bag and headlamp, packet of repellant, long pants, fleece. It's sleepout night and I'll be spending mine with Duma and Goeters, two of Harnas' cheetahs. Entering their enclosure, I set up my sleeping bag on a wood platform, barely able to make out shapes in the dark. The sounds of the lapa bar carry over for a couple of hours, then it is just the beautiful sound of african-night.  Lion roars, crickets, the sound of Duma circling under the platform, purring and rubbing up against its edges. The sound of a lone mosquito.  Brilliant star filled sky above, spots of clouds.

Duma joins me once for a few minutes, then a second and third time before settling in for the night. First there is the purrrrrrr below the platform, the sound of cheetah rubbing against the wood corners. Then a lanky figure leaps up gracefully onto the platform, strolls over. Then paws are placed on the corner of my sleeping bag by my head. A slumping down hard against me. Purring, a few licks, a nibble on the corner of my fleece collar, cheetah head on my shoulder, we both go to sleep.

A final 5am wake up, Duma leaps down, stretching one paw out, then the next and next, then saunters off to Goeters. I pack up in the still-near-dark and walk back to the village as the sun rises. Eyes of bat eared foxes shine across the lawn, a herd of springbok bound out of the way. 

Back at the village, I wash the scent-of-cheetah off me and my clothes. There are the sounds of birds, Africa waking. A hot cup of tea out on the picnic benches, 3 zebras frolic at the watering hole. 3 giraffe lumber in.... a handful of cookies with my tea. An ostrich pecks at the BBQ, then trots off to play with the hammocks, fascinated.

Sun rising, warms my back, wet hair drying. A mob of mongoose enter, criss crossing the area for bits of food, heads just barely bobbing above the slightly-taller-than-them grass. Wildebeast enter, springbok moving nervously away. The rest of the village still sleeps.

 

 

Feeding of the '23'

Harnas Wildlife Foundation, Namibia

 On our last day at Harnas, a feeding of the 23 wild cheetahs...

 

The Color of Rain

Harnas Wildlife Foundation, Namibia

 

Robin blue sky with white clouds

hot dry air

... then warm wind rising

Navy blue sky, light gray clouds

the scrapescrape of branches on tin roofs, wind cooling

waves of dark rain join sky to ground in the distance

flash of lightening, rumble of thunder

Pewter gray clouds against the green and wheat landscape

a drop, drop, then opening of the skies, deluge

 

 

A Light Jog With Herman The Mongoose

Harnas Wildlife Foundation, Namibia

My task in the afternoon is to take Herman the Mongoose out into the bush for a few hours of bush R&R and a light program of digging. I capture him just fine and we head out, Herman chirping away in the cage.

A suitable distance from the farm, I release Herman. All goes well ... for the first 30 minutes. Herman digs. I take some time to listen to 'the bush', chirp back to Herman and watch and encourage his digging. It's all very Disney. Then Herman sits on his back legs, looks out to the farm, back at me, then *runs* (and I mean runs) away.

This wasn't part of the program. I grab my pack, the cage, my water bottle, and run after him, cage and pack bouncing off me. I look like a woman with too many bags in the Christmas shopping rush.  "Herman, come Herman " I call. I see an occasional glimpse of him, hear chirping, but he's still running. All I can think is that I can't lose Herman. I *can't* lose Herman. 400 meters later, he pauses, I catch him, breathless and in disarray.

On gathering advice prior to taking him back out again (we still had 2 hours left), I'm advised to "Just walk the other direction (away from him) and he'll follow you."  Aren't lessons so much more poignant when they follow a 400 meter dash?  Done. More Disney. Less running. A perfect closing afternoon with Herman the Mongoose.

 

 

Lions are a Chatty Bunch

Harnas Wildlife Foundation, Namibia

We walk down a path marked by wooden markers with white tips to our cabins. All manner of animal footprints indent the sand, the air is cooling, and the sounds of night rising.

It's our first night in Harnas and already we have the sense we are 'in the middle of it'. At orientation, an ostrich strolls by, flapping its wings, picking at the ground, and clapclapclapping its beak together. Wildebeast gather at the watering hole just behind our benches. We are warned not to dry hand washed clothing during the day as ostrich are likely to make off with clothing. Oh - and it is the start of snake season. Watch where you step.

But it's around 12am when the most moving 'in it' moment occurs. Lion roar. First one, then another, calls overlapping. They are deep, guttural, entire body sounds that carry for miles and own the land. I wake up with a start. It sounds like they are 'right there' and I imagine my cabin (and in fact my very corner of the cabin, with just mosquito netting between me and the outside) is closest to the sound. 4 times that night, the lion roar 'goes off'. I learn later that our lions are in enclosures a fair distance away, but for that one night, it felt like they were walking right amongst us.

Lion roar is what first welcomed us and what wished us a goodbye on our last night. Magic.

 

 

 

 

 

Arrival at Harnas

Harnas Wildlife Foundation, Namibia

We arrive at Harnas. One road out of Windhoek, one turn down a dirt road, miles of red earth. A brief pause in Gobabis, a small dusty town with brightly colored buildings, a bustle of humanity, the long, patterned cotton clothing and horn-shaped headdresses of the Herero people. 

As we enter the gates of Harnas, I can't help but be reminded of Jurassic Park. The gates are large and ornate, and bordered by rows of tall, electric wiring.

"You're very lucky to arrive safely. Enjoy your stay at Harnas."

In upcoming posts I will not be sharing any details on how Harnas works or runs its program. These are to be discovered by those who visit and represent the secret sauce developed from years of experience, listening, and improvement.

Rather I'll be sharing some of the amazing moments that can only come from being in the middle of something very extraordinary.

 

 

Namibia Bound

Just 3 weeks away from my next trip, I'm in the final phases of prep for a trip to the Harnas Wildlife Foundation in Namibia including the gathering of a visa, immunizations and supplies.

Namibia holds my destination point, the Harnas Wildlife Foundation where I will be spending two weeks doing hands on volunteer work with an amazing group of people known for their unrelenting efforts to protect local wildlife.

About 100km north of Gobabis, it will take 33 hours by air and 4 hours by land to get there. I can't wait to put my feet on the road!  (And thank you, Graham, for catching that I wrote "33 years". That would have been one, mighty journey ;)..)