Because of the top-notch medical and surgical care (with excellent anesthesia care) one of our patients received, he rewarded us with a private tour of Djibouti's cheetah refuge. This place is a plot of land owned by a French veterinarian who moved to Djibouti permanently to run this preserve, and it runs strictly off of donations. He founded the place in 2003 to care for cheetahs which were slowly disappearing. Now, there are a host of other animals as well.
Here is our guide giving us an introduction
We saw many different animals. I loved the baboons
There were lions that watched our every move
This little gazelle came waltzing by and even tried to taunt the lions. They didn't even give him a second look.
We spotted this cheetah finishing up his dinner
Our guide then took us to where we could see other animals roam free
This was who we saw first
He did his normal routine and was not even phased by us
Then a trail of donkeys came by
I had to get the "asses" of the asses:)
This little guy wanted some affection
This ostrich was very interested in us
Ok, still that same ostrich in the background
Our goal was to find the oryx and we finally did but that got cut short...
Um, what is that?
Well, the ostrich went crazy and decided he didn't want us there. Imagine being chased through a park by a crazy 9 foot tall ostrich with no cage between you and him and no zoo-keeper to tame him! We did a very fast-paced power walk to get away from him, but he kept coming!!! Talk about getting your adrenaline up!!! I had never been so scared in my life.
Finally our guides shook their sticks at him and got him to retreat. Now, it became hilarious. But five minutes before-- sheer terror!
Here is another cheetah who definitely loved human interaction. These cheetahs cannot go back into the wild!
He loved every minute of it!
Definitely an unforgettable experience
