Living Among Lions

            The past few days have been very special when it comes to life here at CARE! On Friday I was looking through some old pictures and remembered that exactly a year before I was jumping off a cliff in Grand Teton National Park with friends. I definitely still remember the thrill of taking that leap, falling for what seemed like a long time, and landing in the frigid water of the Gros Ventre River. Going from that one summer to serving as a play structure for rambunctious little baboons in South Africa the next… One of my friends told me that my life is other people’s bucket list of dreams.

            I felt pretty un-American being here in South Africa for the Fourth of July on Saturday. I may not have eaten any barbecue, drank any beer, or seen any fireworks, but being here around the baboons made it worth it. On top of that, in the early afternoon I heard some other volunteers say that they’d just seen an elephant down by the river. Soon after, someone came into the Mountain Lodge saying that the elephant was walking right through the sanctuary. We grabbed our cameras and headed outside. Sure enough, an adult elephant was slowly making its way along the path, picking at some of the trees as it went. I got some pictures and several little videos of it as it went- I wish the wifi here was better so I could post them. Either way, though, that certainly was more beautiful than any fireworks display I ever have or ever will see. After hanging around the enclosures for a while, the elephant turned and headed back down toward the river.

            Later that afternoon I was scheduled for an hour down by the river with the newest little baby baboon (whose name is now Quinn) and several other volunteers. He’s been here at CARE for almost two weeks now, and already seems to have grown so much. He’s definitely becoming more adventurous, wandering just a little bit more from Becky, the volunteer that’s being his surrogate mother, as he plays. Due to the elephant, we decided to walk down to the rebuild area of CARE to let him play, instead of the river. As we were sitting on the ground there by the rebuild, we saw a little group of vervet monkeys playing not far away. I’ve seen them before, playing around near the baboon enclosures, but hadn’t really gotten the chance to just sit and watch them until then. It was a really nice way to end my South African Fourth of July.

            The next morning I had the job of making bottles at six in the morning. That’s the earliest shift there is, and only two volunteers are scheduled for it. It was only the second time in three weeks that I’ve gotten it, though, so it wasn’t too bad. Back at White Shark Projects I was getting up before that almost every day, and it was colder there than it is here, so that six o’clock start for bottles really didn’t feel so hard. After that, I had another hour down by the river with little Quinn and a few other people. Almost as soon as we sat down by the river, I heard the sound of a lion roaring. It was pretty far off, but it clearly was a lion. The beautiful roar echoed through the air around us, and we all just sat in silence for a few moments, taking it in.

            That afternoon I had some free time, so, after going to spend some time with the lovely sanctuary baboon Patats, I decided to head back down to the river on my own to just hang out down there for a bit. I sat down on the sand and surveyed the other side of the river. It was pretty common to see hippos, crocodiles, impala, and occasionally wild baboons hanging out around the opposite bank. While I did see a crocodile out basking, there was no sign of impala or baboons. Taking a better look at a sunny patch, I realized why- a group of lions was sitting out in the grass, enjoying the afternoon sun. Lions were the first animal that I remember being able to call my favorite animal when I was little, and seeing a pride of wild ones sitting right across the river was breathtaking. The fact that I was by myself I think made it even more special. I’ve now seen three members of Africa’s Big Five in the wild, and seeing the lions was definitely a very special moment. I stayed down by the river almost that entire hour, until my next shift was due to start.

            This morning I got another hour to socialize with Patats- she truly seems to enjoy having some company, so volunteers actually get scheduled to go and just sit with her. After that, I had an hour at the nursery hanging out with Yolo and Darcy. They both seemed to be especially cuddly this morning, and almost the entire hour I had at least one little baboon resting on top of me.

            It’s a little after five in the evening here at CARE, and I just got back to the Mountain Lodge from hanging at the rebuild with Quinn, Becky, and two other volunteers, Emma and Nicole. We got two new volunteers in yesterday, and two more came in today- the lodge is very full now! This house has over twenty people who spend their days working with baboons, and there are only two showers- I’m amazed no one has been murdered yet. Statistically, it should have happened by now. I guess that’s enough for today. This post’s food for thought: “You know you are truly alive when you’re living among lions.”- Karen Blixen