Big Kitties

Out of all the animals at Harnas, I was most excited to see the big cats - the cheetah and lions. Cheetahs and lions are both are extremely difficult to spot in the wild, and game farms are one of the best opportunities visitors have to view them. I'd been itching to see some Cheetahs since I met Anne, an employee of the Cheetah Conservation Fund who stayed at Puccini House a few weeks ago. After watching the Disney movie "Cheetah", the feline was my favorite animal for a spell and I always hoped I'd see one.

The cages make the animal seem a little sad, but they are well taken care of and have plenty of space at Harnas, which occupies some 24,000 acres. Baboons and cheetahs are often regarded as nuisances by farmers and shot. The owner, Marieta, has established a reputation in Namibia for rescuing orphaned or injured animals, and many landowners will contact her directly. Some have been caught in traps or their mothers were shot by trophy hunters. Many, in the beginning, were animals South African soldiers had taken as pets during a bush war they fought in the north before Namibian independence in 1990, then abandoned as they withdrew. The van der Merwes also took in a pride of lions left homeless after the closure of a South African zoo. Ultimately, they aim to return animals to the wild, where possible. This is done through the Harnas Lifelife Project (read more here if you're curious!).


Harnas even has a "resting place" for the animals they can not save.

While I fell in love with the baby lion cubs, our campsite kitty had to be my favorite "cat" of the trip. Lady Marmelade, as I nicknamed her, sat on my lap by the fire and purred for a good hour after we fed her leftover steak scraps from our dinner.