Marie-Luise's birthday starts very early today as we have to leave the farm at 6:30 a.m. Our destination is still unknown to Lulu and the surprise for her: N/a'an ku sê, a project dedicated to Namibia's wildlife and its conservation. So we drive over the gravel track with the breakfast package prepared by Heide on our laps and arrive only slightly late.

We are welcomed to our "Behind the Scenes" tour and can immediately take a walk with a caracal. This big cat is very similar to our lynx and roams around us like a house cat. We can also pet the animal and take a closer look at it before we continue the tour in the central area.

Marlice, the owner of N/a'an ku sê, welcomes us there and takes us to some of the animals, explaining their behavior and their background stories. We get to know a few meerkats, a vulture, turtles, a skunk, porcupines and a few more. We can go into the enclosures of most of the animals and examine them critically.

Then we drive to the owner's house, where we let a group of young cheetahs out of their enclosure. They romp around the lawn and the terrace like young dogs and play cat and mouse with a caracal and a terrier. After a while they calm down a bit and we can touch them now and then or tease them ourselves with one of the worn-out stuffed animals.

After a short talk about the scientific work and the aims of the institution, we are allowed to go into an enclosure with young baboons as the grand finale. Before that, we have to take off everything that monkeys can theoretically get their hands on: watches, glasses, the contents of our pockets, even glasses. In the enclosure, the little guys climb all over us, jump from one to the other and swing. This is sometimes painful, especially for the girls with long hair, as they like to use it as a vine.

N/a'an ku sê from Joerg on Video.

After these experiences, we drive back to the Ombuerendende farm in the early afternoon, where Heide welcomes us with a wonderful birthday cake. We drink coffee and cake and Luise is allowed to unwrap her presents before we get a well-deserved shower. Of course, the dogs are not left out either, so the girls spend the rest of the afternoon with Krümel and the Tipi.

In the evening, Sigi returns from a court hearing where he has waited all day to appear as a witness. At the end of the day's hearing, he learns that he has to come back the next day. Then the grill is lit and the typical dinner is served: Braai. We are treated to the farm's own oryx steak, lamb chops and boereworst.