Alison Wheeler – Working Guest from UK

I arrived in Namibia on January 12th after a long trek from England. It was quite an easy trip with no hitches and It’s great to be back in Namibia. I came here with another UK volunteer named Max and we arrived just in time for dinner. CCF is about a four hour drive from Windhoek International Airport, and we travelled down amazing wide empty roads to get to the centre.

As there has been quite a bit of rain recently in Namibia (much-needed as there has been a drought) it was lovely to see so much green everywhere and very different to the last time I was here, when it was hot and dusty. After dinner I walked up to see the cheetahs – there was a group of cheetahs lying by the fence. They looked up and inspected me before deciding to resume their sleep in the sunset, stretching and purring gently.

Today after breakfast Elizabeth gave us an orientation trip showing us around and introducing us. Later we went to help with the daily cheetah feeding – they are fed in feeding cages by the main buildings which gives the cheetah keepers (dream job!) a chance to visually inspect their health and make sure they all eat well. It also gives visitors a chance to see the cheetahs up close. Becky, one of the cheetah keepers, explained to the visitors how they are fed, then we put the food in the bowls in the cages and open the doors for the cheetahs to race in.