i petted a cheetah

thus crossing off an important item from my bucket list that i didnt previously know existed

a friend and i went to the animal orphanage, which is sort of like a zoo of the all the kenyan wildlife (who are orphans). they had all the highlights, separated by unnervingly short and poorly constructed fences. the guards also let us go into the cheetah cage while they were feeding and sit down and pet them. what a day to forget the camera...

the biggest disapointment by far on this trip has been to learn that lions are not nearly as cool as i had previously thought. certainly not kings of the savannah. they are not particularly good hunters (success rate 1 in 5 versus 3 in 5 for leapords), terribly inactive, and not even very smart. i have respect that they get to lie around all day, but i would expect such physically imposing creatures to assert themselves more often.

by far my favorite animal in kenya is the jackal. smart (wiley), companionate, good hunters when necessary and ridiculously cute.

baby monkeys are every bit as cute in person as nature channels would have you believe. its also cute how the parent animals fawn over them.

it may turn out that i do not get to see a rhino. major dissapointment.

it also turns out the giraffe and elephant orphanages are in different places, so i will be going there when i find time.