Christmas Day

It didn't really feel like Christmas for me at all this year as it's just not the same in a hot climate. Christmas Day or not, the animals still needed to be fed and so we went to do foodprep as usual. But Jack had beaten us to it and chopped up most of the fruit already. He claimed that it was to save the rest of us the bother on Christmas Day, but I wasn't convinced by his show of festive goodwill.

After hearing about his adult baboon walk, I suspected that he may have slipped something into their food. I had visions of us passing their enclosure later that day and puzzling over how quiet they were. He finally confessed that he had in fact pissed on their apples, but then felt really bad when he saw me mixing them with the mealie pap without any gloves on.

The rest of the day was fairly relaxed, except a brief spurt of activity when we tried to guide the hens back into their night enclosure. I have to admit that I didn't take this task quite so seriously as some of the other volunteers. And the sight of six grown women crouching down in a scrum-like position as if they were taking on the All Blacks, remains with me until this day.

Coincidentally, our Christmas Dinner was chicken curry but not made from those we had just been chasing around. We finished our day not by singing carols round the fire, but listening one more time to Jack tell his adult baboon walk story - which by this time was about as believable as Santa coming down the chimney.


The dining area

 

Jack doing Alpha Male