Our first braai (barbecue) together
Credit: Dantes Liebenberg

Dave Valentino and guide extraordinaire Dantes Liebenberg
Credit: Bonnie Torkko

The marvelous wild meerkat sightings made us sigh with delight and wonder. These curious, diminutive beings were so captivated by us that they came closer and closer until we could see the whisker patterns on their sweet little snouts. And, of course, the baby meerkats enthralled us with their mischief. True Magic.

Although Dantes and I encourage people not to think of Africa as a “once in a lifetime” experience, many do. Thus, we were pleased that most of the clients chose to experience the “extended tour options” and continue on to Cape Town with us. These are some of the highlights that the clients enjoyed on the extended tour:

 

Although I prefer truly wild places, Cape Town absolutely captured my heart and, in fact, I was so reluctant to leave that I stayed in Cape Town for three extra days. The joyous vibe of the place and its people will draw me back year after year.

So, if it is true that most people will make only one trip to the beloved continent then, at least, our clients have seen and enjoyed so much by making the enchanting trek with us to glorious Cape Town.

The best parts of the tour are too numerous to mention. The worst part of the tour can be succinctly and simply stated: It ended.

But, I look forward to the September 2012 tour with 8 more terrific people. And, to the tours that follow that.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Dream. Explore. Discover.”

Mark Twain

All photos: Dantes Liebenberg

• Added digital thermometers to all the heat pads in the meerkats’ den boxes so we can monitor the temperature and replace them immediately if they stop working.
• Added digital thermometers to all the outdoor heat lamps for the meerkats. Again, so we know immediately if they are not heating properly and replace them.
• Hard-wired two generators (north and south sides of the acreage) with disconnect switches to provide electricity to the meerkat enclosures, the well, refrigerators, and other necessary appliances in case of a power cut. Now, with the generators, we don’t have to worry about running extension cords during outages or rainstorms. Now, we have alternate power quickly and efficiently with a flick of a switch.
• Added video surveillance cameras to all areas surrounding our security fences.
• Retrofitted a commercial lawn vacuum to suck up the pine needles from the enclosure roofs to give the meerkats maximum sunlight and fire safety. Previously we had to get on our hands and knees on the roof and laboriously take the pine needles off by hand.
• Added a more powerful well pump. Now, we can wash the meerkats’ blankets, irrigate the plants, and fill the pond all at the same time.
• Added an automatic water filtration system to our well.
• Retrofitted the well plumbing so the water is no longer pumped to and stored in a 2.000 gallon tank that was rusting so badly that it would foul all of our plumbing lines and irrigation pipes every week.
• Cleaned the pond of dead vegetation and silt that had accumulated for 12 years. What a job!
• Added a pond filtration system that keeps the water fresh and circulating.
• Added automatic water feed line to the pond so we don’t have to fill it with a hose.
• Fixed the old waterwheel in the pond that was falling to pieces.
• Added wooden shelves in the enclosures so we don’t have to put the meerkats food bowls on the ground.
• Cut up and split the wood from two trees that fell in a wind storm but did not damage any structures.
• Painted, painted, painted.
• Worked on our 25-year-old Dodge van endlessly and patiently until we found a replacement vehicle to evacuate and transport the animals if necessary.

We thank you, our faithful donors, for providing the funds for these projects that benefit the animals enormously. And, we thank Ron for doing the work happily, perfectly, patiently, and as a volunteer. Angels all.

 

Hurricane Katrina and the Meerkats

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina was the costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States. 1,836 people were killed and the property damage was estimated at 81 billion dollars. The most significant number of deaths occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system tragically failed.

An eleven-year-old girl by the name of Leah St. Amant survived the catastrophe, but many of her family members did not. Leah’s home was completely submerged in water over the roofline for 9 days. Leah, her mother Denise, and her sister Alyssa lost everything. In desperation, they moved from Louisiana to Indiana and lived in a communal home on a farm. The only work they could find was the arduous work of picking corn on the farm.

In August of 2006 our director, Pam, received a handwritten letter from Leah. She explained that, although she first learned about meerkats from the character of Timon in Disney’s The Lion King, she expanded her love of meerkats by watching Animal Planet’s Meerkat Manor for which Pam was the publicity spokesperson. As previously mentioned, our meerkat, “Kalahari,” was the model and inspiration for Timon. Pam and “Kalahari” were honored to work with 100 immensely talented animators on the movie.

Leah asked her mother if she could “adopt” a meerkat, but her mother told Leah that it would not be possible since they had lost everything and they barely could pay for their own food. Leah persisted and told her mother she wanted to do something for the meerkats at Fellow Earthlings’ Wildlife Center. Leah went to the Wish List on our website and within the week she had mailed us new padlocks for the enclosures and paper towels.

We were touched beyond measure. We mailed Leah a meerkat tee shirt, Pam’s meerkat book, various meerkat items, and an Adoption Portfolio in Leah’s name with an invitation for her and her family to visit us at no charge. Leah’s mother later wrote and said that the invitation to meet the meerkats at Fellow Earthlings’ kept her little daughter from emotionally surrendering to all the hurt and devastation she had experienced.

Six years later Leah, her mother, sister, and grandmother made their dream come true and flew from Indiana to spend the day with Pam and the meerkats. We will always be inspired by Leah’s generosity of spirit, strength of character, resilience, and unrelenting desire to make her dream come true. She will forever be in our hearts.