Cheetahs!

OK, vacation is clearly on my mind as I'm rounding up everything for my departure. A great article in the NY Times today about the African cheetahs. I had the good fortune to visit Okonjima, Namibia a few years ago and was impressed with the operation. The AfriCat foundation has a massive sanctuary in Namibia where they rescue and save the dwindling cheetah population and re-introduce the cheetahs (whenever possible) to parks. Farmers of course never like cheetahs (or other predators) because they tend to find easy prey with farm animals so instead of killing the animals, as was done in the past, the AfriCat foundation rescues the cats and moves them.

I am especially fond of cheetahs and absolutely loved seeing them at Okonjima. There are plenty of beautiful people, places and things to see across Africa but if you like nature, Namibia is fantastic and your chances of seeing cheetahs here are better than anywhere in the world, thanks to organizations such as AfriCat. The photo links in the article are great and yes, tracking a cheetah on foot is tons of fun.