Day Twenty: Just another day in ZA

For once, I don't have any Fury and Thunder antics to report. They both were on my bed last night, but were unusually unobtrusive. I slept very well, and it was so exciting. That is, I slept very well until my alarm went off at 6:30. Then it was time to get up and get morning chores done so we could run Jemima. We have been having some bad luck with runs recently. On the one hand, the machine likes to get the lure string all tangled and it become a hot mess. On the other hand, the cheetahs have this tendency to jog instead of run. This morning, Jemima jogged all the way down the run stretch and then decided to dive into the hole where the lure is pulled into and subsequently pull the machine cover off and away. It was more funny than anything else, because all was put back together and no animals were harmed in the making of this morning comedy.
After this run, we went back for a cooked breakfast (!!!) and then went out to paint some more squares! You can just imagine our excitement. I wish I could write more about this other than the fact that there was a lot of wire squares and even more black paint, but I can't. It is what it is: boring and tedious, but necessary to maintain the facilities. The most exciting thing I can report is that the ostriches were watching us and on our way out they were eyeing me in such a manner that I feared for my life. Normal-sized birds make me uneasy enough...when these ostriches start looking at me funny with their beady little eyes, I get very concerned.

 After we wore ourselves out with painting, we went back to the house and Leante presented the Kruger Trip slideshow to me. I leave for Kruger at 5:30 AM Sunday morning, and the slide show just gave basic info about location and animals and rules. I am very excited for this trip, even though it involves a whole bunch of driving.
During cheetah time, I got to meet a different sort of cat. Since I haven't met Pablo the caracal yet, Dane accompanied me into his cage and he gave me lots of smiles:

Pablo the Caracal

Pablo isn't mean, he is just wary of people. When we finish with clearing away phase two, he gets a new enclosure in that area! I think he'll like it a whole bunch.
Also, I think this is a good time to mention that Dane is a fantastic field guide. In fact, he is so good that he can actually call the animals to him at will. Observe:

Technically, that Jameson's Firefinch he is holding is dead. WE DIDN'T KILL IT. It got stuck in the cheetah kitchen and we found it. It was a very pretty little bird, and South Africa seems to encourage a dark sense of humor. Thus this photo.
After this photo shoot, I sat with Jemima, who was feeling very cuddly today. We sat together for nearly an hour, which is pretty good for fidgety cheetahs. Finley (who shares Jemima's enclosure) was being stranger than usual today, chirping and climbing trees and almost running over Leante.The cubs were lazy, but so were we, so it all worked out okay.
Dane and I finished up the day with a lovely sunset picnic. We booked it to the top of the hill, just barely beating the sunset.

 After we ate, we went for a night bushwalk. It was very successful! We saw zebra, red hartebeest, impala, and blue wildebeest within the first ten minutes. A little later, as the sun was almost gone, some bushes ruslted and I nearly jumped out of my skin. The rest of the walk was pretty quiet until we startled a zebra, which was pretty cool. The stars here are phenomenal...so bright and clear, they can pretty much swallow you up whole.
Here is the answer to yesterday's photo question:

Giraffe is circled in red. Male eland is on the left in blue, female eland is on the right in blue.

Here is another photo...what can you see?

Tomorrow I think we might go to the air show at the airport next door. Hopefully I'll have some good photos!
Over and out,
Taylor