One of Niamh's dreams come true

Cheetah cub
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Derek and Kelly had mentioned that there was a Cheetah Rehabiliation Centre at the huge Spiers winery in Stellenbosch.  It just so happens that cheetahs are Niamh's favourite animal in the whole world, so we simply had to take a detour to Stellenbosch.  After the usual battle with South African signage, we arrived in reasonable time.

Before visiting the cheetahs, we had a wine tasting, largely because we felt it would be a shame to come all the way out here without checking out the local produce.  We really enjoyed it; not only was the wine quite lovely, but I found it surprisingly informative.

It just so happens that cheetahs are Niamh's favourite animal in the whole world.

Gorgeous cheetah
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So off we went to the main event, the cheetahs.  The centre is reasonably large, considering the few cheetahs they have.  There are about three or four adults and four cubs, between four months and nearly a year old.  Generally the animals end up there as a result of trapping or shooting by farmers in the area.  Cheetahs are very difficult to release back into the wild apparently, as they become tame quite quickly.  Instead of releasing the animals back into the wild, the centre instead uses them as 'ambassadors' in rural areas as a way of convincing people that cheetahs aren't pests.

Niamh and cheetah
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There's a small charge to come in, but for a bit more (a good bit more) you can enter the cage and get up close to a cheetah.  Naturally, Niamh was more than keen to meet a cheetah cub, so we stumped up the Rand and in she went.  All four cubs were lying in the shade and looked up lazily as Niamh approached.  Niamh sat beside one and stroked him for a few minutes while she chatted to the keepers about the centre and the animals.  In the end she spent quite a while there, petting three of the cheetahs, taking pictures and generally cooing over the enormous kittens.

The picnic area at Spiers
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We had a little picnic afterwards, before setting off on the mammoth journey north towards Jo'Burg.