Where in the World is Meredith?

Yesterday we fed the cheetahs! It was so much fun. First, we had to add in their supplements and some kibble to the meat to make sure they get a balanced diet. Then we each got turns doing the three different kinds of feedings they do depending on the cheetah. Some cheetahs get their piece of meat tossed over the fence, some get it put through a special door in their enclosure and others sit for their food and you put the bowl down in front of them. One of the cheetahs got hit in the face with his breakfast when he was trying to catch it (he isn't totally used to getting his food thrown to him yet) and when one of the girls in my group was tossing some meat over a fence it got stuck on the top and when they tried to get it down it fell on her head (which was really funny), luckily she was wearing a hat. That afternoon after a lecture about genetics and a vet talk some of us tried acupuncture which was really cool. For dinner, we all went over to one of the volunteer houses and made

Today we started on our enrichment projects, I was making a ramp and platform for the Jackals! I think I may have some pictures, but I believe someone else took them so I will have to get a hold of them. In the afternoon we had a lecture and then we applied topical flea & tick preventative and shoo fly spray to the cheetahs! It was so cool and I had a lot of fun. After dinner, we had a movie night and watched Contagion which I'm sure was picked to proceed our lecture tomorrow on genetics and disease outbreaks. I have a bunch of pictures but they are currently not wanting to upload so I will post them once my camera behaves.

Sorry that I haven't posted in a few days but I was in Kruger National Park and there is no wifi there. I had the best time and took so many pictures! We saw rhinos, giraffes, elephants, zebras, warthogs, wildebeest, water buffalo, hippos, crocodiles, impala, kudu, tons of birds, and plenty of other animals as well. I am currently in the process of editing my pictures and will add many to this post once I have them edited, I just wanted to post something!

Photo of Bliss interacting with an enrichment item courtesy of Dr. Ruth.

Today we switched it up and had our lessons in the morning and did our chores in the afternoon. Between lessons and lunch, we started observing the animals we are going to be planning enrichment for. My group was assigned the Black-Backed Jackals so we sat and watched them for an hour or so and recorded their behaviors. We also watched them give the wild dogs their enrichment that we made yesterday (and cardboard animal filled with food). After lunch, we did "camp cleaning" which was making fire barriers (getting all the dry leaves and grass away from the edges of the cheetah enclosures so if there ever was a fire it wouldn't be able to spread between enclosures) and taking down dead branches and trees. For dinner, we watched the sunset and had burgers and fries on the plains. Tomorrow we leave for Kruger for a few days and I am so excited!

Pictures from today! Not pictured is our morning of making blood popsicles in balloons and giving Bliss (the baby white lion) some already made blood popsicles for enrichment.  Vallen the Black-Backed Jackal getting a physical exam  Spot the Cheetah Brenan and Rainah Nova getting some acupuncture Me and Nova 

After spending roughly 36 hours in travel I made it to South Africa safe and sound. Today was our first day and we took a tour of the wildlife center and had our first lecture. My bed in the little house we are staying in   Kolobe - the name of the house we are in (it means warthog) One of the Cheetahs (Nova I'm pretty sure) Spike the porcupine She loves to be scratched behind her ears and on her chest. She also loves to give kisses. Here she is licking my leg while I scratch behind her ears. We are now best friends One of the Bat-eared Foxes The pack of wild African dogs  One of the wild dogs waiting for food Free roaming Giraffes on the plain This little guy thinks if he hides behind this bush we can't see him Me and the giraffes  Beautiful animals with a beautiful backdrop Doing the splits to pick up a bone to munch on (they chew on them for calcium) Molly the caracal

In just a few days I will embark on my next journey, this time to South Africa! I will be volunteering at Feracare Wildlife Centre for 2 weeks and going on a safari in Kruger National Park for a weekend. I am so excited and cannot believe that I have yet another fantastic opportunity to see the world. This time around I am going to try something new and do more photo based blog posts. I am going to try and take tons of pictures everyday and post the best handful from each day with a caption to put together a little walk through my day. I hope it works, I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it gives you peace of mind (mom ♡ ). T-minus 4 days! XOXO Meredith