Blogger: Keith Nagel

Location:  Namibia

Almost all study abroad experiences are filled with moments of awe, wonder, and excitement. Although the people of foreign countries are the greatest source for learning,there are other things have the potential to enrich the experience tremendously as well. My experience in Namibia was enriched by a visit to N/a’an ku se Wildlife Sanctuary. This privately owned nature conservancy plays an important role in taking in animals from a number of different unfortunate circumstances. In Namibia, community based resource management has been a huge success in maintaining and reviving threatened animal populations. It was an honor to see these animals in person, and I was lucky enough to get a few pictures to remember them by. Although the big cats had names like Shakira and Billy, they were still just as intimidating as one might expect. An interesting side note is that although lions weigh about 420 pounds, they appear about five times larger than I had expected. Cheetahs on the other hand only weigh about 80 pounds and were much smaller than I had expected. The presence that these big cats have is something that I have never experienced prior. Seeing these amazing animals up close was one of the highlights of my trip so far and a must see for anyone doing the program in the future.