Feeding Time

9:45 am. Day three had begun with every breath feeling as if a knife had penetrated into my chest, even worse, every drink of coffee felt as if the knife was being removed. I had gone to bed the previous night exhausted shortly after dinner, waking with the worse case of heartburn and not an antacid tablet anywhere within begging distance. A volunteer's day is not as romantic as only walking with lions at sunrise and sunset. Much of the day is spent on enclosures maintenance and feedings for the lions at the reserve.

I had been so exhausted on arrival, that I had not realized Sam was the volunteer manager when I offered that meat preparation was the least appealing activity. After getting to know his personality it wasn't surprising that I spent the first two days working in the meat locker.

The first day involved handling everything belonging to a cow, the meat and the offal's. Tissue stuffed inside your nose was a great barrier against the smell of the offal's but breathing through your mouth wasn't such a good option because within minutes there was a fly invasion of epic proportions. Once my stomach caught up to the moment, digging in and getting to work was the quickest way for the task to be over.

The morning session on the second day ended with Sam's office door locked and me dramatically yelling at him through his window! There were no feedings scheduled, so the meat locker was behind me, at least for the day. Instead I was assigned to enclosure maintenance which seemed a piece of cake after the previous day! I would gladly clean some water troughs! Armed with shovel's, wheel barrels and a water container, we were marched directly to the meat locker where everything was traded for a brooms and a water hose. The now near empty container needed a good scrubbing, especially the floor which had drain channels that needed to be cleared....enough said.

Of course, in the end, Sam had actually done me a favor because none of the unpleasant volunteer assignments such as cleaning the lion enclosures of waste and bones infested with ants and/or maggots leftover from the feedings, seemed as bad by comparison. I continued to complain in protest but after a while the jobs became routine. The smell never became more pleasant and the flies never went away but the desire to have the best environment for the lions was the least we could do. All the dirty work had a plus side when we got to watch the lions feeds.


A bit of advice:

At lunch that day a staff member in the kitchen suggested a raw potato as a cure for my heartburn. With pride, she presented me with a full potato on a plate as if it were a piece of cake. I was pain free forty-five minutes later!

Additional Footage: Susan Cameron
Adiitional Photos: Amanda Coupland

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• Antelope Park
• Lions
• Africa
• african IMpact
• Zimbabwe
• A.L.E.R.T