SAFARI TIME!!!!

This past weekend was incredible!!! We left work Friday at noon to take a 3-hour-drive to Nambiti (a game reserve) where we would be staying for the weekend.

As soon as we entered the game reserve, our ranger, Ruan, picked us up at the parking facilities to take us to Nambiti Hills Lodge (our beautiful five-star home for the next few days).

Here are some pictures of my beautiful room and the lovely view.

The lounging area had an amazing view of the game reserve! We spend our nights relaxing here by the fire, having some drinks, and getting ready for our 6am morning drives.

Throughout the weekend we went on a total of four safari drives searching for The Big Five, a.k.a the five most dangerous animals consisting of buffalos, lions, leopards, rhinos, and elephants. In between the drives, we went back to the lodge to have the most amazing breakfasts, dinners, and snacks while the staff spoiled us.

We also visited the KWA Cheetah breading project, an organization, who's goal is to repopulate and avoid complete extinction of Cheetahs in the world. It is very sad to hear that it is presumed that in 15 years, these amazing kind big cats will be completely extinct.

We were not able to see any leopards in the wild, but at the Cheetah project we had the opportunity to meet one. Leopards are extremely dangerous because they will kill for fun, unlike the other animals who would kill to eat or to defend themselves. We were not allowed to interact directly with the leopard but we did get the opportunity to see him play with his favorite toy (a bottle of water, and the ranger's socks).

Africa has amazing wild life and it is all in danger. Thanks to the efforts of many people Nambiti has been able to offer some of them a sustainable environment where they try to keep them safe. Even though they have many protected species, men still find the way to ilegaly kill some animals. This year a couple of rhinos were killed by proffesional hunters who land on helicopters inside of the reserve and cut their horns leaving the animal to bleed to death. It is very sad to think there is still people in the world who would create a demand for such products that are risking the excistance of an entire species.

I would like to thank everyone at Nambiti, and Nambiti Hills Lodge who made our trip the most incredible experience. I will make sure to come back in the future. I would also like to thank the people at the Cheetah project for letting us interact with their animals. These are definitely memories to treasure.

Our last two weeks in South Africa are ahead and I can honestly not believe how fast time went by. I will wrap up my biggest project this week and prepare for  the final presentation next week.

Bittersweet feeling!

Home is two weeks away, but then again, South Africa is now home as well!!!