Petting Cheetah's

There is a small safari park about 30 minutes from my house called Mokolodi. Two other journeygirls, Reema and Stacie, were coming down to visit from Francistown (6 hours north) so we decided to go for the afternoon since we had never been. They have two cheetahs at this park who they call “semi-tame”. When they were a year old their mother was shot by a rancher so they never finished learning the necessary life and hunting skills to survive on their own in the wild. After signing a release saying we would not hold the park responsible in case of being attacked, we were able to go into the part of the park where the cheetah’s were living (a large gated area) and hang out for awhile. We took turns petting the cheetah, which actually did purr (very loudly). You had to be careful because sometimes they would get excited and want to play, like a house cat. They are such beautiful animals!

Our safari guide Ezekiel was another story. He’s been a guide for awhile and has opportunities to travel all over the world. He was even in the States for a couple of years working in the Africa wildlife park at Disneyworld. While working at Mokolodi he has guided people like Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Let me tell you about his experience with President Bush. A month before he arrived the Secret Service came out to plan out the route that would be driven on the safari (amongst other security planning stuff). The park actually trained the animals by putting snacks in designated places at designated times along the route so that the president and his familiy would see all the animals in the park on their drive! (the president had no idea about this). Ezekiel said that the president was very nice and friendly, even asking him about his family, etc. He said that before he met the president he didn’t have a good impression of him (not uncommon overseas because of the war), but after meeting him his mind was changed. He even still keeps in email contact with him!