During my internship, there were also fun activities to do, and that were not missions! For example, when a group of volunteers did not have missions during an afternoon, it was possible to ride a horse! First we had to brush them, saddle them and put their net on them, and then we went in the savannah. As we walked, we could see many wild animals, such as Impala, zebras, ostriches, giraffes, oryx or gazelles. Riding a horse in the savannah among wild animals was really impressive!
On Sundays, there was also the possibility to go to the Naankuse lodge for lunch in an all-you-can-eat buffet, and spend the afternoon there to enjoy the pool. The start was at 11:30 and we were in a large van, and we had to go back around 4:00. It cost 290 Namibian dollars, which equates to about 17 euros. We were 15 volunteers and we were all able to eat together on a large table. The dishes were delicious, and I especially liked their chocolate mousse which was really good. After eating, we went in the pool and enjoyed the loungers, some even took bottles of wine! The view was beautiful, and it was nice to rest a bit. Before returning, I bought several bottles of Namibian and South African wine at the bar for my family, which seemed of very good quality. Indeed, these bottles came from «Neuras», another site of the association of Naankuse which produces wine.
There was also a different activity scheduled on Saturday afternoons, something more for fun. After going to the 2:30 meeting as usual, we had to set up in a huge safari car with all the other volunteers and suddenly, Marlice, the founder of the association arrived! She took the wheel without telling where she was taking us, and we went straight to the savannah.
When we arrived, other people were already there, as well as Marlice’s 15-year-old son, and there were four dogs, Malinois. We all got out of the car, and we gathered around Marlice. She explained to us that today we will attend the dogs' anti-poaching training! We then participated in several exercises. Marlice gave a rhino horn to one of the volunteers who had to hide it behind his back, then she dropped one of her dogs to find out who had the horn. The dog found it very easily and brought it back to Marlice! We also had to hide the horn, walking in the savannah and then throwing it as far as possible! Of course, the dogs didn’t see where we were going. Marlice then released another of her dogs, and he started sniffing the ground and running towards the horn. However, he then had to sniff the air to find the smell that was already starting to dissipate with the wind. After five minutes of searching, he found the horn and brought it back to us.
The last exercise was a chase with a member of the association pretending to have stolen the rhino horn. He had to put on a protective vest, so the dog wouldn’t hurt him. He would then have to hide behind a small hill, and then the dog would be let go in pursuit. He ran as fast as he could, and when the dog caught up with him, he bit his arm. Marlice then intervened to stop the dog and recover the horn.
The volunteers could also experiment the strength of the dogs. We had to put a protection on the arm, and when Marlice’s son gave him the signal, the dog started rushing towards us! I tried it myself, and I was surprised by the power of his jaw. It was really very impressive and scary to see the dog running at full speed towards us!
In the evening, we then made a «braii» (barbecue) like every Saturday. There were a lot of people, and we ate vegetable skewers and meat. There was also a Q&A session with the association’s founding couple, Marlice and Rudie. During the day, we had to write down the questions we wanted to ask them, and put them in a plastic box. Then Rudie and Marlice had to read them and answer in front of all the volunteers.
One of the questions was : how did they come up with the idea of founding this association? They explained that it started with the clinic. Indeed, a woman living in their village had lost her baby because he was sick and the nearest hospital was several hours away! That motivated them to create this association, and then a few years later they extended it to animals. Another question was : how did Marlice meet Angelina Jolie? Indeed, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt donated $2 million to this association in 2011! Angelina even gave birth to her daughter Shiloh in Namibia! She wanted to give birth in the clinic of Naankuse, but Marlice refuse for fear that there was a problem because the doctors weren’t as competent as they were in a real hospital.
Angelina Jolie and Marlice are long-time friends because they met during the shooting of the movie «Beyond borders». Marlice’s specialty was to train wild animals, and she took part in the film for a scene where there were flies that had to fly out of Angelina’s face! Marlice explained to us that she put the flies in a fridge so that they would be numb, then put them on Angelina’s face, and when the flies had warmed their wings, they flew away and that was part of the scene to shoot! So Marlice knew Angelina because she had to put flies on her face for four months!
Rudie also told us a lot of anecdotes, especially about a male ostrich that fought with his own reflection in the windows as soon as he was in heat! So he kept breaking the windows in the reserve, and they had to fix them every time. They had to put him to sleep to move him away, but when they put him to sleep the ostrich fell his head on an electric fence! As a result, he kept going between a sudden wake-up call because of the electricity in the fence, and then immediately went back to sleep because of the dose of anesthetic he had received! It was a totally improbable and hilarious situation! They finally managed to carry him to a car, they had to be four persons to move him. However, while they were in the car with the sleeping ostrich, he suddenly woke up and gave Rudie a great kick as he was standing just above him, so Rudie passed over the car!!
We laughed a lot about all their anecdotes, and then we continued the evening. There were many members of the association who were present, and they put music! I talked a lot with Marlice, I learned that she spoke seven languages, and that she had two sons aged 10 and 15 who both spoke ten languages and who already knew how to drive! It really impressed me. Marlice and Rudie danced a lot together and with the volunteers, we had a really good time! There is even the porcupine from the reserve, «Porcupina colada», which visited us!
I really enjoyed being able to meet and speak so freely with the two founders of the association, and I was very surprised to learn that they were supported and friends with Angelina Jolie. I learned that Angelina owned her own house in Namibia, which she had built right next to that of Marlice and Rudie! The lodge was also a good experience, but the most unique experience was attending the anti-poaching training of the dogs, and getting attacked by them!