MVUME NDIMBA
This Tourism Tuesday, we’re taking you off the beaten track – way off – to a small town with big cats, unexpected energy, and some of the most graceful predators in the Eastern Cape.
I spent my Saturday (the whole Saturday) in Kirkwood. Not an ideal place to hang out – no disrespect to my friends from the area – but there’s something weird about the place.
Like, why do all the white women there have body? Who is making you guys thick like that?
But the real reason I was in Kirkwood wasn’t to ogle curvy Caucasians. I was there for something less controversial… That’s right, we went to check out the Daniell Cheetah Project.
Operating since 2001, the Daniell Cheetah Project is home to big cats and wild animals from all over , animals that were either bought as pets by idiots with too much money, orphaned by poachers, or just the animal version of homeless.
They’ve got meerkats, cheetahs, servals, caracals, leopards, lions, and hyenas. Their educational predator tours are a great way to understand just how unlikely it is you’d win a fight against any wild animal, let alone a gorilla.
Their main mission is to rehabilitate and reintroduce as many animals as possible back into national parks or the wild, where they belong.
They also have a petting zoo with absolutely no supervision. You can just bring your child into an enclosure full of rabbits and chickens and let them go nuts. There’s a gift shop with a restaurant, which is convenient, because there’s really not much else happening out there. Especially if, like me, you didn’t bother to check the tour times and arrived 20 minutes late for the last one and 2 hours early for the next.
One of the highlights of the tour was their cheetah, Impi, who suffers from a neurological disorder that would’ve gotten him killed in the wild, but in captivity, it just makes him a goofy boy who could still kill you with minimal effort.
The Daniell Cheetah Project is all about responsible conservation. They respect the hell out of their animals and do everything they can to avoid breeding, unless the species is endangered. I had mixed feelings because, yeah, love that they’re protecting the animals, but I also kinda wanted a picture holding a baby cheetah cub. That’s a small price to pay, though, for the protection of some of the most powerful, graceful, and elegant creatures I’ve ever seen.
I’d say make a turn, but you’re going to have to make a whole trip of it. Head out on the R75 (National), 40km outside of Uitenhage, and come see some big cats, let the babies play with bunnies and chickens, and enjoy some good, clean family fun.
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