Things haven't been the same with Allie gone. It certainly is quieter for sure. Meg hasn't been feeling well for a while and it seems to be getting worse. Many people here have all been having some sort of stomach problems that come and go. One person was in the hospital for a couple of days, another was just given some antibiotics, and another was told they had roundworm. No one really knows for sure what it is.

Monday Meg just stayed in bed the whole day because she didn't feel well. It was odd to go to work without her because she and I always go to lunch together and things. That morning Matt and Kate were doing a Cheetah run where they hook up a lure (rag) to a line that is placed in a square around the pen with the cheetahs in it. They do it in the pen with the four boys in the pen near the office named Ron, Little C, Smart Man, and Blonde Man. We had time so we were able to watch with the tourists and go inside with them. They were pretty fun to watch, but I decided it was more fun watching them run from the back of the truck chasing you when we go out feeding. Observations with the cats went about the same as always. We had to drive backwards and forwards a ton with Merlot and Klein because they kept moving. I feel like it was good driving practice, but I nearly ran into a tree trying to drive in reverse at the same time as watch the cats. Cruise was fun as I sat on the car to watch them. This time he was socializing with different boys, which makes me think he may be okay moving in with all four of the boys. Who knows? As usual I went and did feeding with Matt in the afternoon and this time we took some of the new volunteers. It was good we took them because we had to move the 8 girls in one of the pen back to their normal pen since the fence was fixed. The car wouldn't start and we needed the extra help to push start it. When I went to go help pen maintenance, Susie was there and was telling me they had spectators. I looked over and saw three cheetahs sitting next to the fence and purring. Looking closer I realized they were the stars. No wonder they were purring…they were just happy to be with people. It was cute. That night since Gail was back we got out the projector screen at Boskop and watched Golden Eye (Bond). It was a lot of fun.

Tuesday Jess and I finished up the ball experiment on the cats. As usual they didn't react at all. When we were finished we thought we could try the ball on some of the more people-friendly hand reared cats. Kate came with us along with some people that were visiting to try the ball out with some others. We first went to the four boys known as the "Scars." It took them a minute, but they still didn't really play with it much. The youngest cub named Tiny was with them and she played the most with it. After that we tried the "Stars" who were very enthusiastic with the ball. They played soccer with it and ran all over the yard. It was funny because any time I would take the ball they would later want it back. Jess is donating the balls to us so they will now have a permanent toy. The last cheetahs we tried were the four boys that do the cheetah run in the pen next to Harry and Hermione.We thought they might play with it and some were more enthusiastic than others. Little C was hysterical and would chase it only when it was thrown but not when it landed motionless. Later we decided to throw it to Harry and Hermione and in the end Little C came charging past us to follow the ball. He made us all jump as he flew right in front of us brushing against our legs in the process. That afternoon I went with Kate to help cut up Chewbakka's food and fed the other cats.

Wednesday Jess and I finished up observations. This was the first time I got to do the scoring for it as well. I was only off by maybe one or two things so this means I can do observations without Jess and the data would still be reliable. On the last observation with the Chocolates interesting things occurred. I was just standing by Jess and couldn't really see the cheetahs when Jess started falling alongside the fence. I had her back as she slowly fell to the ground with her mouth open and her eyes glazed over. It was all very sudden and I didn't know what to do except try to carry her to the truck and get her to someone quick. I thought that maybe something had bitten her and paralyzed her or something, because there was no warning or anything she just fell to the ground. I grabbed one arm to lift her up a bit to carry her and then all of a sudden she was sitting up on her own. The first thing she said was "Well I guess that's done with," talking about the observation. I told her she had only been out a minute so everything was fine. As we walked to the car she laid down and just handed me the papers for the observation. I went back to continue watching the chocolates who had not reacted at all to the small commotion. It was by far the easiest observation for them as well. I took Jess home and I didn't leave until she was resting in bed. We think it was possibly because her ears have been clogged and that maybe she has an ear infection. That afternoon I did pen maintenance and went on a game count. We had a lot of fun on the game count because Matti is just plain hilarious. It certainly lightened my mood from the morning events.

Thursday most of the volunteers all went on a waterhole count from 5am to 5pm. I had to finish up make-up tests so I couldn't go. Jess and I took Matt to see one of the tests with the mirror, but Merlot and Klein wouldn't come. I think they finally learned we didn't have food for them. However, the neighboring cheetah Josie was there and he was great to watch with the mirror. After that we were done so I was able to go feeding with Matt that morning. We drove out to Bellebenno where the volunteers were and visited them all to make sure they were doing okay. Meg's group were decked out with lots of snacks, wine, and other things to keep them occupied so she had a great time. Most had seen things like zebra, oryx, and warthogs of course. I was sad I missed it, but feeding was fun too. After lunch I went with Staci on a hike up the small hill near CCF. The view wasn't as amazing as you'd think because trees are in the way, but it was still really nice. When we got back we just showered and got ready to go to town that night for dinner with the keepers. Matt, Kate, Jess, Staci and I first went to a previous CCF vets house in Otjiwarongo for drinks. Lizzie is a lot of fun and has two kittens I played with most of the time. She ended up joining us with her husband for dinner. It was a lot of fun, but I ate way too much food. We met up with another group after dinner for more drinks (I wasn't drinking of course) and by that time I was tired and very full. I felt really out of place because I was the only volunteer there, but I was glad I was able to be there at the same time.

Friday morning Staci and Jess left and so I didn't really have any more behavior stuff to do. Veronika was going to town that morning to get stuff for Sheri's (one of the vet techs) farewell party that night so I decided to go with her and Meg came as well. It was a busy day since it was payday and the banks were packed with people and tons of people were just sitting on the grass around town with their shopping bags. The best part was that we ate lunch at Kameldorn's which Meg and I had been told has the best burgers and milkshakes. The food definitely met my high expectations. We got back just in time for the game count Meg and I were scheduled for. We were excited because we saw the ostriches Truman and Silvia together. There had been rumor that Silvia had died possibly because no one had seen her and Matt was really hoping to see ostrich babies in the future. Later that night we had a braai for dinner up by the visitors center for Sheri. It was a barn theme and they even had decorations and things. It was awesome because nearly everyone showed up including the workers that live farther away and don't usually eat at CCF. I ended up sitting with a bunch of those guys and it was funny because they would speak in Oshiwambo and I didn't understand a thing of course. Later they were all trying to help me learn some words in Otjiherrero and Oshiwambo. As the night went on it became a great dance party although not everyone was dancing. Many left, but there were about 14 of us that stayed up dancing until 1:30 am. I wanted to go earlier, but Matt was driving and didn't want to go yet. I discovered later he didn't have to work the next day so no wonder. When I got home Meg was in bed, but the door was locked. I had to wake her up and apparently she couldn't find the keys so I had to climb through the window. It was really funny, but not so convenient in the morning. We found them later though.

Saturday I worked with James who needed help with some stuff that morning. We had to take some logs to the campsite he is building in Bellebenno and check the 180 or so swing gates along the fence. It was a lot of slow driving, but we had some good conversations. After lunch we went back to Boskop and Rosie and I watched a movie while Meg slept. That night after dinner we had a fire on the porch and sat and talked. Abi and Aaron had left that morning and Rob was out all night to hopefully find one of the rhinos. We were a small group until Sheri showed up with a bunch of others. It was a lot of fun just talking around the fire and listening to music. In the end it was just Rosie, James, and I talking till 1 am. I had two rather late nights, but both were a lot of fun. Sheri has left to Windhoek now and she certainly made a huge impact on CCF. She will be missed.