djibouti BS: Cheetah Refuge

I guess it is about time a blogged about something from djibouti. Djibouti is where i deployed to after all. i try so hard not to think about this lovely place though. Well one afternoon we went to a cheetah refuge. It is only a few miles from our camp on the way towards the somali border. we also got to pass the city dump and the burning trash piles on the way.

The refuge is a nice little place. It was more of a zoo than with a wide offering of animals rather than just cheetahs. It is run by a French vet. (veterinarian not veteran) and i think they take in orphaned or stray animals. prior to coming to Djibouti i was discussing with someone what kind of animals would we find in an African zoo. Do they have cats, squirrels, chickens, pigeons and cows. well i finally found out.

So there you have it. they do in fact have chickens in African zoos.

There are some other more exotic animals as well. they have a small section with a few in cages.

I love the Dora ball.

I am not sure this guy knows quite what he is doing. maybe he does and i just don't know turtle anatomy that well.

Hyena chillin. i think we woke him from his nap.

The Cheetahs have a nice spacious fenced in area to play around in. unfortunately you couldn't get very close to it so you depended on them walking up to the fence to get any photos of them. this one is from about 30 yards away with a zoom lens.

there is also a section where you(people, not cheetahs or hyenas) can walk around amongst some of the animals.

I know what the ostrich and the zebra and the oryx are. i am not sure what the tiny deer thing is called. i just called him tiny deer.