So 35... We Finally Meet...*Strokes cat* (Blofeld and Baron Silas Greenback* style)
*If you know who Baron Silas Greenback is without having to google, you're awesome.
Anyhoo, I'm 35. It happened, which considering the only alternative was actually a good thing. So far the world has not ended (although the Mayans may have something to say about that) and I've not had a situation where I've had to actually grow up, in fact I had a funny face biscuit at a bakery yesterday, so immaturity and a love for buttery biscuits continues to reign.
My birthday present was a surprise, I knew it was an experience present but didn't know exactly what it was until the morning of my birthday. I'm extremely impressed that Aaron managed to hold out on this, as I don't do surprises well, and have been questioning him in my whiniest, pleading voice for weeks.
So the surprise was that my husband had decided to throw me into a cheetah enclosure and see what happened. Most other people just ask for a divorce, but no, he has to be dramatic...
Seriously, he was coming with me, and he didn't suggest I wear clothes he'd just washed in bacon fat, so I'm pretty sure I was supposed to survive and enjoy it. And I did. We drove to our wild range zoo, at Monarto and us and another couple followed two trainers into a cheetah enclosure, featuring three almost 8 year old cheetahs roaming around "free" inside. (The space is very large, and it's very concerned with the welfare of the animals, I only use "free" in inverted commas because we weren't in the Serengeti).
The lead trainer had been with the cheetahs since they were born, and hand reared them, so they were as tame as cheetahs can be. (Fun Fact about Cheetahs, males hang around in social groups, while females are more solitary - so their sisters had been separated from them and were off in other enclosures or in other zoos.) You could tell they adored her and were happy to just hang around her. It's because of this hand rearing and her (and other trainers) relationships with them, that they could offer this experience. Plus I'd figured Monarto Zoo weren't really looking for headlines of "Another three tourists were mauled by wild cheetahs today" so it wouldn't be offered if there was a strong chance that something could go wrong.
I was never terrified in the enclosure, but I was genuinely "alert" while I was in there, and when the trainer first called the cheetahs over, and these three big cats, slowly, deliberately walked towards us and there was nothing between me and them, I definitely felt my a lump in my throat. Then I realised they bounced over to the trainer, were loudly purring and started nuzzling at her and that they weren't seeing us as edible.
So what unveiled was an amazing experience of patting and posing with the cheetahs, and just wandering around the enclosure, while they bounced or wandered around past us etc. You couldn't just stroke them as they walked past, but the trainer would call us over into more controlled patches where we could pat them, they loved being patted with two hands on the back of their neck, it was amazing to hear how loud they'd purr and to realise you were really patting a cheetah, one that hadn't been declawed or anything horrible, just one that had come to like humans and appreciate they were good for feeding them and giving them some attention.I admit I was constantly a little wary that they might just suddenly turn, but that was actually thanks to my own cat, who has certainly been known to turn all the innocent charm on and then just swipe, so I look slightly hesitant in all the photos, but I was certainly loving it. Aaron was very calm and just interacted with them like they were housecats.
There was one particular point which I especially loved, when this regal cat was strutting on a log next to us, in full wildlife photography shot pose, and we heard this tiny little "meow". We thought it was a bird, but nope, turned around and this fierce creature opened his mouth and let out another tiny meow. It was adorable.
We even stayed in the enclosure while they were fed, we were safe because once there was food for them, nothing else existed in their world! Our hour was up as they stopped eating, and we left, amazed at the time we'd had. I HAVE PATTED A CHEETAH! AND A FEW TIMES!
We drove to the nearest town for the bakery, grabbed lunch and then drove back home so I could go over the top in icing my birthday cake. This is when Pinterest can be a bad influence. Thanks to Pinterest and some suggestions from friends, I made a chocolate cake and icing (well okay Betty Crocker made both - but I used my new mixer to blend them) and decided to smother the sides in kit kats and the top in M&Ms. Let's just say I didn't quite master proportions nor how to make the kit kats actually stick properly so there was constant repositioning but it looked not so bad. When it came to eating it though, I didn't like it! It was actually too much chocolate and I think I just couldn't take it. I couldn't even bring myself to eat some of the leftovers tonight, or make a cake for work tomorrow because I just can't think about cake. (It's horrible!!!) I assume I'll get over this pain though.
Before cake, we had dinner at my favourite Mexican place. Yum!
It was a good day, I was spoiled and I had a lot of people show how much they cared for me, every card someone got me had a cat on it, or Snoopy or something Muppets, three of my very favourite things, as an example. 35 is okay. :)
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