Ok, So I have finally managed to get to a computer for long enough to get this funny blog thing going! Obviously im bit into my trip now so some of this is going to be slightly on the retrospective side; but hopefully it will still make for a good enough read!

I arrived at Boskoppie on 18th Jan after a somewhat shaky start involving strange bus stations and people being late (still getting used to 'Africa time' at this point) but never the less I got there! The farm was beautiful, its wasn't really a farm so not sure why its called that, its actually closer to a holiday resort, I had a lovely chalet, the grounds were gorgeous and there was even a swimming pool! Straight away I knew it was worth the money to go there, and when I saw the cubs that I would be looking after, I was actually in awe they were so cute! At the start of my two weeks there were six lion cubs and onr tiger (aptly named Rambo) for me to feed and play with on a daily basis. Then there was of course 'Mister Mister', a tiny little tiger cub who still needed to be bottle fed (and help with various other less fun activities involving his digestive system - don't worry mum, babies are definitely out of the picture for thr near future now!) and played with constanbtly throughout the day. I couldn't believe that on my fist night he fell asleep on my bed and I spent the night looking after him and cuddling him…I even gforgot for a while that he was a wild animal really!

Mister Mister and me became good friends very quickly and I adored looking after him, even though it was long hours and sometimes very frustrating, it was so much fun! Plus, when else in my life will I be able to say I have literally hand reared a tiger cub?!Rambo on the other hand was trouble form the start! He had a habit of stalking me around the enclosure when I went to feed him, which is fine, except when he did it at night and I only had my head torch to guide me!I kid you not, when you are walking into a den of 6 lions and a tiger, its nice to be able to see when they are about to pounce on your back or jump up your leg - really helps with the whole not dropping the trays of food! I did find it quite funny that none of the lion cubs ahd names but I think that was probably because there were too many of them, and also I found they didn't have as much personality as the tigers so it wouldn't have been very easy to tell them apart anyway.

So, my hours at this place were roughly half 6 in the morning till 10 at night, which might seem like a ridiculous amount of work, expeically since I paid for the pleasure of it, but actually it didn't seem that bad at all because it was broken up with different duties and driving places and showing visitors round etc etc , so really I spent most of the time just playing with the cubs..or should I say fighting them off when they all ganged up on me!I remember thinking on my first night, how nice it was do finally do something I had wanted to do for years, to actually be there and to be experiencing these unbelievable moments like tigers falling asleep in my lap and picking up and vcuddling 9 week old lions - it took me a while to remember that this was all real and I was actually in Africa, on my own doing this; immense doesn't even cover how it felt, and that is certainly not an exaggeration of any kind.

The only bad thing about Boskoppie was that it could get quite lonely because I was the only volunteer the last week, so I would basically spend most of the day by myself, and I will admit it got ot me slightly but then I guess every experience is what you make it and I decided farily early on that I was doing something amazing and nothing would stop me remembering that on a daily basis - in other words I got over it pretty quick!

On the first Saturday there was a wedding at the farm, a proper south African shindig! It was surreal to say the least, and I had the chance to help out and wait tables which I actually really enjoyed! I met some lovely people, got my groove on in a spectacular fashion, and generally just had a laugh the whole night; which kind of showed how much I loved it there, that even when I was catering a strangers wedding with people I didn't know or didn't even speak my language, I still wouldn't have chosen to be anywhere else if I had the chance - and honestly, I'm pretty happy with that. Oh and by the way, south African wedding food - A.MA.ZING! sweet potatoe with a melted marshmellow topping as part of the main course! Crazy? Yes. Beautiful? Yeah baby!

So weddings and lion cubs aside, what more could i really expect from a volunteer project at a lion and tiger farm....umm how about being taught to strip and shoot a 9mm and a (completly illigal) israli machine gun! Bet you wernt expecting that! Seriously though, WOW they are so much fun! I can see now the attraction of being a bond girl (aside from the obvious perks of course)! It was completly unexpected, when i was told i was going to be taken shooting i expected a shot gun or something to aim at a cow - but a machine gun just to shoot at a wall for fun...oh mother may I! Definitly a high point of the project...but strange how they didnt include that in the activity list on the website...hmm...

Aside from all the blatent illigal activity (but after all TIA right) there isnt much else to add, oh except of course for the ridiculous horrendous amounts of rain! ALL THE TIME. I couldnt believe it, just rain rain rain - and dont get me wrong i dont mind the rain, but when i travel raound the world to one of the hottest places known to man i kind of expected a steady 28 degrees at least...not to be soaking head to foot every single day! although the cubs were soooo cute when they were wet, they just huddled together to try and keep warm! except Rambo of course, he thought it was really funny to jump on me and make me even more muddy! on the plus side thouugh, the one day it didnt rain...i got completly sun burnt - Hurrah!

I dont want to go on about it but i dont think you understand about this rain, it was biblical. we had to go out in the truck and actually evacuate people from the villiage - people abandoned their cars on the motorway (if you can call it that) becuase of the water! the term Bad Times doesnt even begin to cover it...

But moving on to possibly my final thought; if you ever find yourself in an enclosure with numurous lion cubs and a tiger who finds it hilarious to bite your leg off nearly (i still have the scar by the way) please bare this in mind - it is not easy to take a picture of yourself holding a cub using the timer function on your camera - there is scratching involved and i do not recommend it however funny the image of me clicking the shutter then running to grab a lion and get in the frame again is to you....get someone to help you...that is my only advise!

So that was it, my time at Boskoppie, and boy did i love it! later down the line if i find time i will regail you with stories of skinning chickens at 6am in the pissing down rain - thats always a fun place to start. And of course i will add pics when i find a good enough connection, but in the mean time I miss you all an unimaginable amount and hang in there, ill be in contact soon

Bye xxx