We woke early and went with Vanessa to Shingwedzi ‘ the place of the rocks’ which is Ann’s game farm to the north. It was about 180 kilometers on the road, 100 kilometers north of DeWildt and as it turns out, not far from Warmbad (also called Bella Bella) where we got turned around last week. It was cold and rainy but it was an interesting drive despite Vanessa’s nearly constant cell phone conversations. Much of the trip was on dirt roads and the VW kombi showed it. Vanessa dropped us off to wait for Ann while she, Ina and Gerod, Shingwedzi’s managers, went to promote Shingwedzi to inn owners.
Ann arrived about 12:30pm and after a light lunch, the three of us crowded into her truck to release a wild dog and distribute horse meat and chicken for cheetah food. The dog had been the alpha male of the pack here but had been ousted by his sons and was at DeWildt recovering form his wounds. He was to be put into a small enclosure adjacent to the pack’s large enclosure until he was again accepted. After we released him I was taking photos when the pack came back to greet him, surprising and surrounding me. Stupid, huh!
All looked to be well so we drove to Jubatus, Howard Buffet’s cheetah farm, for a look around. His place is immense and we saw cheetah, bleisbuck, zebra, kudu, waterbuck, and impala. On the way home we stopped to deliver bloody, smelly horsemeat for the cheetahs and dead chickens for the crocs.
Vanessa returned home for tea with a group form the Limpopo Tourist Board whom she was courting. She informed Ann that the wild dog had jumped over the 10 foot fence and not been accepted back into the pack was fighting for his life. Ann and Jocko managed to recapture it, a little bloodied but generally OK. It will either go back to DeWildt or have to sort its self out with the pack who might kill it. In the meantime it makes the most mournful sounds.
