Cheetah Kisses and Broken Heart Pieces

Volunteering with ISV in Africa was a life changing experience. After I graduated from high school, I took a year off to work and save money. I saved relentlessly despite not knowing what I was saving for. Then one day I came across a flyer on a bulletin board at the University of Victoria and immediately knew what all my hard work was going to go towards. I applied right away and was the second person that year to be accepted. After a year of working and a year of waiting to leave, I finally departed for my adventure on August 4th, 2011. Now, two months later, I still think about Africa and the people I met there every single day. I volunteered at the De Wildt cheetah reserve in South Africa with some of the most amazing and diverse people I have ever met. We spent our first two weeks feeding cheetahs and wild dogs, cleaning their dishes, and removing invasive plant species that threatened the native ecosystems there. Before I went to Africa, I didn’t care much for cheetahs and was honestly more excited to see a lion or leopard; however, all of that changed the minute I was licked by a large, purring cheetah. I went cliff jumping, caving, saw lions in the wild, swam in one of the seven natural wonders of the world (Victoria Falls), and still that moment, that cheetah kiss remains the highlight. On the last day of my trip, while in Zambia, I went microlighting, which is sort of like a chair with wings, and while I soared above Victoria Falls, soaking up all the beauty of Africa, my pilot said something that meant more than any of the other famous quotes about Africa that I’ve heard (and trust me, there are many of them). He said, “When you go to Africa, it breaks your heart, so you have to go back to pick up the pieces.” De Wildt and Scarlett the cheetah both have pieces of my heart, as do Victoria Falls in Zambia, Chobe National Park in Botswana, a small island off of Mozambique that we kayaked to, and every single amazing person we met along the way. And one day, I will revisit them all to pick up the pieces. I think this is a trip everyone needs to take at some point in their lives and find out what will steal and break their heart while there.