Report from Stefanie Schmidt
It was already the second time that I went to Harnas and also this time I have experienced a lot. I knew most of the animals from last year, but naturally there were many new ones and a lot had changed on the farm as well. This time was an unforgettable experience too and it will not have been my last vistit either.
Zion and Trust
Before all I was looking forward to seeing my darling Zion again. He was actually the main reason for visiting Harnas a second time. Last time I had him in my group from beginning throughout all the 3 months and it was love on the first sight. Also this time nothing had changed. At the beginning he always scared me away when he was moving just a bit on his platform, but well, he was nearly twice as big as last time. His brother Trust has become a real little teenager too and he is very crafty indeed. Schalk lovingly calls him "terrorist". That makes you understand why I was hesitating at the beginning. After a few days I was friends again with both and spent as much time as possible with them. I was even allowed to make myself comfortable on their platform- well, ok I have to admit, both were deeply asleep. Therefore they were not really interested in what I was doing, but at least they didn't chase me away.
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We drove for a walk in the bush with Frikkie and the lions as often as possible. Both of them loved it like crazy, but after chasing each other a few times, they were so exhausted, that they laid down in the shade and didn't show any intention of getting up again. They eventually reached the car lead by dog mama Tara and were driven back to their beloved platform.
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Mimi und Kevin
When I was at Harnas last year, Mimi and Kevin were still so small, that you had to take them in your bed during the nights. So I had the chance to share my bed with Mimi for a while. I was hoping to share her nightly company again this time, but both of them have definitely grown out of this age. In the meantime they have become real teenagers and are much stronger too. Mimi is still a real mummys-girl and would like to spend the whole day on somebodys lap, whereas Kevin doens't like it at all. He likes to draw Mimi back on her neckhairs, and thats when the quarrel is escalating. At these moments I always decided to turn away and avoid getting inbetween them. But nevertheless they are still looking forward to having people playing with them (but of course only if they like you). They are still staying just the two of them together which can be quite boring at times.
Aiko, Aisha und Kiki
Aiko, Aisha and Kiki are three lovely cheetahs, who stayed in my group this time. The most beautiful thing was the morning feeding. As soon as they saw us, they came running in such a speed, that you couldn't be shure if they would stop at the right moment. After that we had to go into different corners to avoid them steeling eachothers food, so we counted to three, put the feeding bowls down and filled them with milk afterwards. As the whole procedure is quite tricky, we were happy like "snowkings" when everything worked out well and our cheetahs were satisfied.
Visiting them outside feeding time always ment to recieve a thourough cleaning, which you couldn't really stand for a long time, as cheetahs tongues are known to be quite rough.
Jacob und Ieta
The baboons have had quite an addition, among them Jacob, darling of all volunteers, and Marietas baby Ieta. Usually Ieta doesn't leave Marietas side, but at times she needs some minutes off and Ieta has to spend some time together with Jacob in the enclosure. But both of them know exactely how to attract peoples attention, a sad sigh here, a pityful groan there and no volunteer is able pass by just like that. And to thank you, they pee on you. Lucky enough they are so cute with these eyes, that the volunteers let them get away with it.
Die Babies
The goats Snowwhite and Milkyway, the sheep Thommy, the deer Bambi and the two springbucks Peter Pan and Alice were new to me. They are actually out of "feedingbottle-age", but as they are real crazy about it, Marieta has decided, that they may still get milk for a while. But feeding the little yobbos didn't turn out to be too easy. Each time at least for people hat to do the job, as each of them is getting a diffrent amount of milk, prefers a diffrent bottledummy and is drinking at diffrent speed. Nevertheless we had a lot of fun with them, they are just too cute!
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Duma und Joney
The cheetah Duma is no longer staying with Zeta (who is now together with other wild cheetahs) but with Joney, who is as tame as she is. Both of them are very popular among the volunteers, as they win over everyones heart as cuddly as they are. Two of us even spent a night together with them in their enclosure. Duma liked it as much as to position herself right across them and was purring soundly. After Joney had joined her there wasn't enough space for the girls so he and Duma had to make some room. In the end both of them had a purring cheetah at their side and all four of them had a nice night.
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Poepie
Last but not least there is Poepie, a one year old vervet monkey. As Marieta attaches great value that he has a warm bed in the night, Poepie became my sleeping companion. That it wasn't an easy task, became soon apparent. Before I fetched him, all things had to be stored away carefully, otherwise Poepe wouldn't leave much of it. Afterwards he jumped and climbed all around the room, draw my ears, lips and nose and then thudded on me to fall deeply asleep from one moment to another. Anyway, while sleeping he was the cutest little monkey and he slept through the night snuggeled up to me until the next morning.
The Flinstones- Night
The traditional "Dress-Up-Night" coulnd't be left out of course. Our motto was "The Flinstones". Jo gave us some old sacks to make our costumes. At the beginning everyone was quite sceptical if we would ever be able to make sth useful out out of them, but with the help of some old clothes that we cut, some mudd and hairspray we could present our dresses pretty well. The family was taking part and they were dressed up too. So in the evening we ate together in the Lapa (decotated in flintstone-style by Juan and Peggy) and were partying until late!
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Visit from the vet
A special highlight was the visit from the veterinarian Mark. He came because of the transport of five wild lions from Etosha to the farm in Windhoek. And as he was there anyway, he checked some animals and castrated some of the cats. Before all we were happy that he checked on the young goat Star, who had been badly wounded by a wild dog and had only just escaped death. She had lost her sense of balance for a while, therefore she coulnd't stand upright without help, and as she woulnd't eat she became very weak. We had already lost hope, but volunteer-girl Georgie took care of her night and day, warmed her bottle again and again and exercised with her how to walk. At the beginning she didn't seem to get any better, but suddenly she started eating again and from then she was better each day. We were all really impressed by Georgie�s effort, it was a real 24-hour-job. In the meantime Star is back with her mother and her siblings, fully enjoying her little goat-life.
Amongst other tasks he was treating the lioness Savannah, who had two abscesses on her hind leg. The vet Mark allowed us all observe and some of us could even assist. The short operation went off successfully and we hope that Sher-khan will let her in peace after all that she has been through.
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