Mountainous cats

Opps, things have been getting a bit crazy.  Its busy here between my mom visiting, new Rhodes schedule, isiXhosa class, and me wasting time watching the voice download very, very slowly.  Though, I won't let you guys miss the opportunity to see more pictures of our Stellenbosch trip.
After getting boozed up with brandy and wine, we took the next day to go hiking. 
We went the shortest distance 6km.  

 We went the way of the two waterfalls, walking along the trail of changing terrain. It was a beautiful site. Will with waterfall #1.  Waterfall two was way up the side of the cliff at the end of the trail.  The pic on the right is as far as I got.

 The wild flowers were a vibrant contrast among all the green bush and trees fynbos.

Yellow wood

Protea

Dried end of Protea

 Along the trail was drinking areas.  I am not sure how clean the water is, but Will thought the minerally taste was excellent.  It was crystal clear, and I am used to drinking tap water from NJ, so I am not one to judge.  We both drank it and didn't die or get sick, so that is a good thing.
 

After our excursions in Stellenbosch, on the way back to Grahamstown we stopped at Tenikwa.  We got to hang out with a few animals, sometimes in their cage. 
 Our friend, Garth, had a caracal as a "pet".  Although we are really close and inside the cage with this one, it is a dangerous kitty.

Caracal

Speaking of danger, no one, not even the people that raised this leopard from birth are allowed in the cage.  He was inches away from us.

Leopard

The cheetahs are also dangerous but didn't find us interesting to attack. These two cheetahs don't get to run alot and have major problems with inbreeding.  The lazy males that don't run won't produce sperm, and lazy females don't ovulate, so it brings down the population.  So, instead of looking elsewhere, they sleep with their brothers and sisters. Its a sad story of the cheetahs.  South Africa is trying to keep them alive and well, but its pretty difficult with the small gene pool. Thats why it was so great to support a place like Tenikwa.

Cheetah

 Baboons are clever thieves. We see them out in the wild, but these small guys are without their alpha male which can be extremely scary to see and equally aggressive.

Meerkat