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Cheetahs of the Hammerstein Restcamp |
As we threw our luggage quickly in our rooms, we arrive at the meeting point too early. That’s why we have the opportunity to look into a enclosure near the Lodge, where three young cheetahs are lying – and purring! They purr like normal cats, like our (little, cute, loved, cuddly…) Minka, but much deeper and louder. It would be the clou if one of the cheetahs started miaowing…
The guided tour, however, starts with the big cheetahs. Their enclosure is few meters away from the Hammerstein Lodge. When the ranger opens the gate, a woman in front of me asks anxious if she should walk in. I answered “Yes, just go in”. As nothing happens, we follow her. We can’t see any cheetahs, but the ranger warns us to stay together.
Actually, we have to walk to the end of the enclosure until we see a female cheetah. “this is Cleopatra”, the Ranger explains and looks after Cäsar, the male. As he comes from behind, it’s gets clear that we passed without noticing him. “Cäsar doesn’t like it, when so much people visit his wife”, the Ranger tells us. Well, that’s not exactly what we wanted to her, but the scene stays peaceful. The two cheetahs let us watching them calmly and a few of us even dare to leave the group to better take photos.
In contrast to the cheetahs, the female leopard in the next enclosure isn’t really amused. In the beginning, she lived in the apartment of a former ranger, but “at the age of 2, she got too dangerous”, the new ranger clears up.
However, we are allowed to go into the red cats’ enclosure. They needn’t be fed often because they nourish on the birds and mice that ran through their enclosure. It’s a family who hides behind a bush. While the two full-grown red cats just lie around, the little one plays with his mothers' tail. For us, it’s just a great experience!
In the end, we return to the enclosure with the three young cheetahs. We have to pay separate for it. Therefore, we aren’t just allowed to go in the enclosure, we may also pet them or take photos together with them. After a few minutes, the enclosure gets empty, and that’s why we can calmly cuddle the scrubby pelt of the animals without a rushing ranger around us.
A red cat outside the enclosure makes the cheetahs nervous and attracts attention. As she begins to hiss, one of them even jumps at the fence, where he gets stuck with his claws.
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