When we visited Mauritius, we paid to stroke a cheetah, as well as walk with the lions. We were the only ones in our party to opt to do both.
We were taken to an open field where we met with two men and two untethered cheetahs. Both animals lay on their sides with their heads raised. One of the men informed us that they had listened to the animals’ breathing in order to determine the mood of each and, therefore, we were only allowed to stroke the side of the one immediately in front of us.
If I were to say I was not somewhat hesitant, I would be lying! Especially, when I found it difficult to take my eyes off the proximity and length of the animal’s teeth.
Having reunited with those in our party, we were introduced to a lioness of two years, as well as a somewhat mischievous male of one. We set off, as a group, to walk with the pair and, individually, each person was encouraged to hold the lioness’s tail, as we proceeded.
When we did stop, we were encouraged not to simply stroke the ever so patient lioness, but to literally slap her! The head guide told us that to stroke such an animal would be tantamount to the feeling a human might experience should a fly land on their skin.
The mischievous cub must have felt he wasn’t receiving the attention he deserved and proceeded to climb up a tall stump and, for a time, refused to descend.
We were given ample time to take photographs and the filming of events was not restricted in any way.
I must say that the lioness’s patience and tolerance was exceptional! She patiently lay on her left side, as any number of those who wished to partake in vigorously slapping her right side, queued behind her. Neither Tiki nor I, felt any trepidation in repeatedly slapping her when it was our respective turn to do so.
As we were relatively close to the French department of Reunion, we decided to fly there too. Alas! The day we had booked to fly over the island’s volcano our flight encountered dense cloud and the female pilot of the helicopter rightly deemed that it was too dangerous to continue. At least, we were partially refunded for the non-completion of our flight.
During our stay, we did, however, get to peruse the church that had been the victim of a prior eruption’s flow of lava.
We had been unable to fly directly to Mauritius, from Sydney. Instead, we were required to change aeroplanes in Perth. Therefore, we took advantage of this on our way home by spending three days in Perth to witness how it had changed since the early 1970s.
Whilst there, amongst other things, we visited Kings Park, boarded a ferry to travel down the Swan River to the port of Fremantle. Another ferry conveyed us offshore to Rottnest Island, the home of the quokkas. These small wallabies reminded the early Dutch explorers of rats and they consequently named the island with this in mind.