Day 1

Driving. That’s pretty much all we did for day 1 as I switched projects again and moved on to Harnas, east of Windhoek. Most of the day was spent in the car. We arrived in the evening in Harnas after experiencing a few car problems (the suspension broke when we were 20 minutes away from Harnas). We settled into our tents, met the lovely Maria who would be our ‘minder’ for the week, and met the other volunteers as we enjoyed a good dinner. Then it was bedtime, though the sound of lions near us was going to be a new thing to get used to.

Day 2

On Tuesday, we had our intro talk with Maria and a tour of the main volunteer areas. Off the bat, there are loads more animals here that just roam around. Ducks, geese, dogs, cats, mongoose, tortoises…they have it all and you would always have to watch your step to make sure you wouldn’t accidentally send an animal to the onsite vet. After our tour, we helped out at food prep to make sure the team would get everything chopped up before afternoon feeding.

After a good lunch and some sun bathing, my team, Team Cheetah (again), were tasked with small animal feeding. This included throwing chopped up meat to the mongoose, feeding veg to the turtles, bones and scraps to the vultures, cat and dog feeding and parrot feeding. It was good fun and, as we are a smaller team in Harnas, the work already felt a lot more hands-on than in N/aan Ku Se. It was a good opportunity to also get a sense of how things are run here.

The night ended with some good food and lots of chats with the other volunteers. We discussed Harnas and the differences/similarities it has with N/aan Ku Se. This is where it might be good to mention Grandma’s House. This house is in N/aan Ku Se and an old woman lives there, surrounded by a billion animals including many dogs, chickens, geese, monkeys, karackals, impalas and bunnies. While some people loved going there because of how busy it was, there were also concerns about the amount of animals being kept there. In our discussions, it turns out that the founder of Harnas is, in fact, Grandma. This explained the volume of animals being kept in this sanctuary and we would learn a lot about why there were so many throughout the week…

Day 3

On Wednesday, we got up early to take part in rhino and giraffe tracking, which started at 7:30am. We met our three rangers who would be showing us the ways of tracking on foot. It wasn’t long before we bumped into the first three rhinos. They were very calm and didn’t seem to mind us too much, so long as we kept our distance. They eventually got tired of our staring and trotted along, so we started making moves to find the giraffes. These ones took a little longer. Because of their long necks, they have good sight and will often run away as soon as they see something that might be considered a threat. However, with a bit of silence and patience, we eventually found the 5 giraffes, including two babies. They kept their distance, but us group of humans were able to maintain eye contact with them for quite some time, before they made moves. They are stunning animals – so quiet and everything they do seems to be in slow motion, but they are amazing to watch. We then continued to try and find the last three rhinos that roamed the reserve. Along our way, we learned a lot about native plant species and how they are used to treat various diseases (I have a bunch of leaves in my bag as I sit here in the airport). We eventually found the baby and his mother, who was understandably very protective of her kid, so we couldn’t stay too long. 

After our tracking, we cleaned out waterholes…not very exciting but very tough work.

In the afternoon, we did carnivore feeding. In Harnas, there are over 20 lions (I’ll get back to this later), 8 cheetahs (I think) and 3 leopards…so carnivore feeding takes some time. Carnivores generally are fed horses and donkeys as these resemble zebras, impalas etc. So we had to throw horse necks over high fences (I missed several times). I won’t include pictures of the meat as I know many of us view these animals as pets so it’s not easy on the stomach to see them chopped up in this way. But it is quite grim…Aside from the blood and guts, it was really amazing to see these animals who I’ve admired for so long and have watched on my screen. Lions are just so amazing and seeing them run actually made me emotional (sorry about the soppiness, but I LOVE LIONS). They also have these incredible eyes and it feels like they are staying right in your soul when you make eye contact with them. It would give anyone goosebumps and I could talk about it all day long, but today’s paragraph is already getting very long.

P.S. The below pics are not mine, that’s why the quality is so good – they’re from Chris, another volunteer with a good camera.

After that amazing and almost religious-like experience, myself and a few other volunteers were doing ranger patrol tonight, which meant we would be camping under the stars again. We were accompanied by the K9’s as well, which was so fun, though it’s hard to see how they could be threatening because they were so cuddly. I won’t go into too much detail as it was quite similar to the previous rangers that I did, but as a brief summary we: ate dinner, did some GPS tracking, patrolled the reserve, drank tea around the campfire and went to sleep. 

Day 4

On Thursday, we watched the sunrise as a group from the watch tower, which was beautiful, before having a race back to the tents. I did not win. I was wrecked as we made it back to the main camp, but I was very glad when I was put down for game counts that morning. It was an easy activity for my tired body as I got to sit in the back of the safari truck and keep an eye out for animals. Unfortunately, it was a quiet morning as many animals had already started to seek refuge from the heat and were probably tucked behind bushes from which we couldn’t see.

Lunchtime was spent eating and then napping as we had to be refreshed for the afternoon, which we were all very excited for.

In the afternoon, we met the San Bushmen, one of the world’s oldest tribes. They hosted us for a workshop in bushmen skills, where we were taught many of their hunting techniques, medicinal hacks and traditions that have been passed down from their ancestors. It was really interesting, and though many live more ‘conventionally’ nowadays, it was still a great insight into the tribal culture that is evident right across Namibia.

That evening, we had a few drinks and chats at dinner before making it back to our cabins as a thunderstorm broke out. The thunder was definitely harder to sleep to compared with the lions.

Day 5

On Friday, I did the carnivore feeding again, which was as amazing as the first time, but the only difference being that it was easier to throw the meat as I got the hang of it. I made a very good throw of a horses neck to Anna the Lion, if I do say so myself. After carnivore feeding, I helped out in food prep, where the team were busy cutting up extra food to carry over the weekend, so we got right to work with our blunt knives and oranges. Those baboons better be grateful…it was no easy task.

In the afternoon, I joined the research coordinator in sorting out camera trap pictures. However, once she found out I was from Ireland, we were quickly sidetracked. This lovely coordinator has been looking to do her masters in Ireland, and has already enquired to both Trinity and UCD. She was so excited to hear about Ireland and is really eager to get a scholarship sorted so that she can do her masters in wildlife management/conservation. However, she is getting overwhelmed with the paper work and various requirements that seem to come with international scholarships. So, could I ask for some help? If anyone knows anyone working in the scholarship departments in Trinity or UCD, could ye please reach out? The coordinator is an absolute sweetheart and I would love to even be able to pass her an email to the right person. Thanks in advance!

That evening, we all got dressed up nice to celebrate the start of the weekend after a busy week. Like most evenings, we spent it having some drinks and chats over some good food prepared by the lovely chef.

Day 6

On Saturday, we still had to get up at 6:30 to complete some necessary tasks. However, as it was my last weekend, I was given the privilege of doing the cheetah experience with Leo, the head coordinator. It was a lot more informative than the one that I did in N/aan Ku Se and I got quite a bit of an insight into the history of Harnas and a bit of the history of Namibia and its wildlife conservation legislation. After Namibia gained independence (first from Germany and subsequently from South Africa, it began to set in place strong legislation to protect animals, for which Leo respects, stating that these laws are super tight and strict. Namibia is also the most fenced country in Africa, with major reserves spread across the country ensuring that animals are kept safe from poachers and other threats. South Africa, on the other hand, continues to allow big game hunting and does little to protect its animals when compared with the laws of Namibia. 

We also learned a lot from Leo about endangered animals and the biggest threats they face. Starvation caused by global warming/human activity is among the biggest of threats to most animals, but to cheetahs more specifically, its genetic diseases. Across Africa, there are about 4 different cheetah breeds. However, these are concentrated in very specific areas and so many cheetahs are, in fact, incest, which has led to a lot health issues, including liver disease. Namibia, and Africa as a whole, has now started to cross breed, sending cheetahs to different parts of Africa in order to widen the gene pool and hopefully reduce health issues, leading to greater population numbers. When it comes to lions, their greatest threat is themselves. A male lion has a very low sperm count and so it takes hundreds of rides (yup) in order for any successful pregnant to take place. However, during this time many male lions could approach a female, and so when the cubs are finally born, a male lion will often eat the cubs because he is unsure if they are his. Male egos….

We also learned some of the history of Harnas, and why it has so many damn animals in captivity. The previous owner (Grandma) was obsessed with animals, and prior to strong legislation, the old administration of Harnas would take in any animal they received a call about and almost immediately began habituating them. As we have previously learned, a habituated animal (one who is used to humans) is very difficult to release into the wild, and so the practices of the old administration were quite harmful to animals. It also used to operate almost as a petting zoo, where volunteers were allowed to get into the cages and stroke and take pictures with the various carnivores. This is extremely illegal in Namibia and there was a threat from the government to shut the place down. That’s why Leo is now there as he and his team were brought in to ‘straighten it out’. He is not happy with the amount of animals they have in captivity and has a long list of animals he hopes to release into their reserve. Currently, they are waiting on funds to support the construction of a major reserve fence to ensure the safety of the animals that they hope to release, but this could still be another few years, he said. Leo also spoke about the new technology coming into Namibia now, whereby cubs and other small animals can be fed via a machine and therefore minimises the chances of any relationship developing with humans, increasing their chances of being released. So the future is looking bright…I hope! So there’s your long history lesson about wildlife.

The morning activity was followed by a long lunch break, but unfortunately there was still a lingering thunderstorm, so not much tanning could be done. But lots of reading was done, so that’s still good.

In the afternoon, we had to do small animal feeding and maintenance. As it gets a bit quieter over the weekends, we divided up the small animals among us. I was in charge of the foxes, who are adorable!! This work included chopping up a whole chicken into tiny pieces, bones and all. And I haven’t had a chance to wash my top yet, so I don’t know if I’m bringing home some salmonella in my chicken juice infested top. Sorry if that was too much information. 

Saturday night means braai night and a few cocktails with the staff. It was so fun. All the staff got dressed up and joined us at the bar, all of us sitting in our finest gowns sipping on a Rhino Passion. The braai was equally as good. We were joined by the current manager of Harnas, who dished all the gossip about Brad and Angelina’s few visits to the sanctuary (Angelina is a big funder and ‘besties’ with the owner of N/aan Ku Se). We shamelessly all enjoyed the gossip about what they were like. We spent the rest of the night dancing around the bonfire, learning some traditional dance moves from Maria…how groovy.

Day 7

On Sunday morning, I was on the foxes again. Quick and easy as I didn’t have to chop up a chicken again. I also helped feed the parrots. Afterwards, we all got dressed up in our Sunday best, just to be told that Church was cancelled. We were all pretty disappointed because we have heard from everyone that church here is so fun and celebratory, so I really wanted to see what it was like, but the pastor’s tyre blew out on his way. Sad times.

In the afternoon, I helped out with some food prep and chopped up another chicken (seriously, my t shirt is disgusting). I then went in to Leo’s office for an evaluation, both of my work and of his. I gave him a glowing review, after which he gave me a certificate in caregiving, bop bop. As I was leaving the main area, there was a panic at the meerkat corner as it was found that one of the meerkats broke his leg (he’s new and the other meerkats took a very strong dislike to him). A few of us helped to get him fed and watered as we waited for the vet to come. Poor little dude…

Sunday night was very chill as we were all quite tired from the previous night, and we had an early departure on Monday morning, so I don’t have too much to report on other than the usual signing of journals and t-shirts as we bid our farewells.

So that’s it folks, a month of volunteering done! The best month…ever?! I think it is. My next post will be on my little stop in Victoria Falls, where I’ll do a more general, cringy, emotional review of the month that’s been, so get ready!