Yes, the moment you all have been waiting for has arrived – the cheetah petting.
So in our packet of fun things to do whilst here in Botswana, there was a flier for the Mokolodi game reserve, the place BUP took us after our orientation a few weeks ago. A small line on said flier indicated that you could pay 175 pula and pet cheetahs for half an hour. Why this line was not bolded, starred, and in all caps is beyond me, but luckily for our group of adventurous and highly observant interns, we found out about this deal and chose to take full advantage of it on this past Sunday.
We got up early, because our reservation was for 10:30 and we wanted to make sure to be there on time (even if nothing here ever starts on time). We called a cab. We squished all five of us in, again. We disembarked at Mokolodi.
OK, enough with the dramatic lead in. WE WERE IN A FENCED ENCLOSURE WITH TWO MALE CHEETAHS FOR 45 MINUTES. IT WAS AWESOME. Mokolodi is actually a game preserve, so their main reason for being is not actually just to show off to tourists, it’s to take care of animals. The cheetahs were acquired as cubs, after a farmer shot their mother because “she was killing the livestock,” or some such nonsense. So the cheetahs have been raised their entire lives in captivity, and are as harmless to humans as an enormous clawed animal with really sharp teeth and primitive instincts can be. They also purr just like cats, which is creepy/cool. They were about the size of a golden retriever – maybe a little taller and definitely much slimmer. They sit and lay down just like cats, and I got a video of one rolling over and showing its belly the way your favorite furry friends do when they’re relaxing. When the first one started walking towards us when we entered the enclosure, my basic instincts definitely kicked in – I wanted to run as fast as possible in the other direction. That being said, they are totally mesmerizing. When we started petting it and taking pictures, Olivia, Lina, and MK went before me, and when it got to be my turn I just pet it on the head and looked extremely self-consciously at everyone else taking pictures. Then… it happened (drum roll)… in retrospect, I think it was just playing, but the cheetah suddenly put its paw on my knee, claws extended just enough to feel through my jeans, and it opened its mouth and put it on my wrist. It didn’t bite me, but the unexpected physical contact was enough that I nearly peed my pants, I’m not going to lie. And everyone else was so shocked that they stopped taking pictures, so the closest thing we have to documenting this insane once-in-a-lifetime experience is the picture I uploaded on the side bar. It was terrifying, AND SO FREAKING COOL! Also, that is a substantial animal. Even its paw was a good 10 pounds. There is no doubt in my mind that if that cheetah had decided it wanted me dead, there would have been absolutely nothing I could have done about it.
We oohed and ahhed for about 20 more minutes after that, took a picture of the hyena in the next enclosure through the fence, then headed back to the main building. We got some more pictures of impalas and a kudu, and I was pretty ecstatic to FINALLY get a picture of a Pumba (my camera battery was dead last time), so I took about 12,000. We also took a picture with our guide at the end, though we couldn’t decide whether he was mad at us or just had a really odd way of making jokes.
We cabbed it half-way back to UB, and stopped at a place that Dr. Kung had recommended for brunch. It’s called Sanitas Teahouse, which is a nursery that’s set way back from the road, but in the middle of it is a reaaaaaaallllllly nice restaurant. It was so pretty, and the food was SO AMAZING. I know I haven’t waxed poetic about food in a while, and that’s because our diet during the week mainly consists of ramen noodles, pasta, and veggie burgers, so now I can make up for lost time by describing how every single one of our meals was SO FREAKING GOOD. Everyone but Lina got a cappuccino (though delicious, I do have to add the disclaimer that at this point, ANYTHING remotely related to real coffee would make us all giddy, because our meager subsistence on instant coffee is SERIOUSLY not cutting it). I got a morrocan chicken wrap with feta and a side salad. The greens were so fresh they didn’t even need salad dressing, and the chicken was just savory spicy goodness. Olivia had some kind of burger with amazing cheese on it that I can’t remember the name of. Julia and MK both got some kind of chorizo incredibleness, and even Lina’s bagel with kalmata olives and mozzarella and tomatoes was drooltastic. In fact, I’m making myself a little hungry just remembering it all, so I’m going to have to stop. I will add that since they have a nursery outside the restaurant, they also sold really fresh vegetables, and we bought some spinach and tomatoes that we were really excited about. Suffice it to say, we were incredibly happy with the whole experience, and hope to make Sanitas a tradition from now on.
We meandered back to the road and caught a combi back to UB, which miraculously had enough room for all five of us! We had just enough time to set down our stuff, pee, and attempt to refill our water bottles – except that in true UB fashion, the water was turned off – before heading out to the stadium for the Zebras game. We ended up arriving after the game had started, and the stands were PACKED. It was actually kind of insane – we had to walk in front of the stands in order to get to the section where there were some seats, and people started cheering. I repeat, they were not cheering for the players or something that was happening with the game, they were WAVING AT US AND CHEERING. I think it must be something like what celebrities feel like – it was a little overwhelming.
We eventually found some seats, and after goggling at some outrageously distracting costumes that some fans had dressed up in, we settled in to watch the game. I haven’t watched soccer in a while, so I had to ask Olivia a lot of questions, but it was fun. Also, they have vuvuzelas here too, and they’re obnoxious but also really entertaining. People basically have vuvuzela conversations – one person blows theirs, and then another person blows back, and they trade back and forth for a while. If they get really excited about something then they start blowing together and hitting the walls of the stands, which are corrugated metal and therefore make a huge amount of noise. Also, we quickly figured out why the fence separating the stands from the field had barbed wire on top – people legit started climbing the fence when they got excited. It was extremely entertaining. Side note: the last intern we were expecting finally arrived yesterday, so she came to the game with us. Her name is Sarah, and she’s living upstairs with Kat, Becca, and Kim.
After the game, Sarah and Becca were determined to meet some of the players. Personally, I was more interested in the crowd who gathered outside that started singing and dancing (I tried to get a video, but you can’t see much), and then trying to get home before dark. But we went and stood by the gate at the back of the stadium, and eventually the players came out, and Becca and Sarah got invited to go on their bus for a little while. Then Julia, MK and I headed back to the dorm, while Lina and Olivia went with Becca, Sarah, and a security guard who knew one of the players to go take pictures at their club house or something.
The rest of the night was relatively uneventful. Julia and I were pretty hungry, so she made some kind of concotion with the spinach, tomatoes, and some chickpeas and feta that we already had, which was AMAZING. It was really simple, but very filling and tasty, and I’m going to have to learn how to make it. NOM NOM.
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