Oh yes, we booked a fun and exciting day for today and mine started early :( 5.30 rise whereas Marc could have a lie in!!
Caught a connection to the Zambia/Zimbabwe border and managed to get through the border free of charge (one of the only useful things that my SA passport is good for ;) then caught a cramped ride with the tour opperator to the Lion and Elephant Reserve for a morning of excitment and adrenaline.
We were introduced to our guide and taken through a short video of the way the reserve works and how to act around wild lions - getting a bit scared now as it is finally dawning on me what I am about to do - Play with real Wild Lions!! Yikes
We divided into two groups of 6 (Sally, Mike and Anthea were in my group) and we each got a stick to walk with. The reason why we all needed sticks was so that the lions had something to keep them distracted with so when you are patting them they can chew the stick and not your arm ;D. After a short walk in the bush we come accross an opening in the bush and see a couple of volunteers and soon realise that lions are very good at camoflauge with out even trying. There were 3 of them and it was very difficult to spot them even though they weren't hiding.
My heart starts pounding and I manage to relax and convince myself that it is safe and try show no fear, once over the initial shock of seeing them in real life I realise how beautiful they are. We got introduced to them as Nala (She is the strong one and in charge of the small group and is about 9 months old), Narnia (She is smaller than Nala and is around 7 months old) and then the cutest one of the lot, Amanzi (which means water as the rest of the litter he was born in drowned and he was the only one to survive, he is around 6 months and the smallest of the group)
Below: Amanzi
Right: Nala and Narnia
We walked with them a bit and stroked them when that let us, and we were very careful not to turn our backs on them because if you have your back to a cat they will prounce on you. At one stage along our walk I managed to let the one of the lions lead me by their tail up the bank which was just wonderful.
It was so amazing walking with these three lion cubs out in the bush in their own environment and seeing their personalities show up. Amanzi was quite rebellious and trailing behind the group and Nala was in the front with Narnia being very shy and sticking to the bushes on the path.
When it was time to leave this group I just wanted to stay on and become a volunteer on the spot. It must be one of the best things to do with your time, like the guide said- It's not a job, it's the best thing in the world and I love everyday of it.
Well, even though we had to leave the little ones we still had a bigger challenge ahead - the adult lions!! This group of 3 were around 18 months old and you can see the mane growing on the male lions. We didn't spend too much time with them as they were hungry and wanted to go back to their kill but the time we did spend with them was great. We walked along a river with them and then went back to the camp to have our breakfast overlooking the bushes that we were just in, a perfect way to end a perfect morning...
After I was done at the Lion Park Sally, Mike, Anthea and I went across to the Zimbabwe side of the Victoria Falls (once again, my little golden passport got me through cheaply). The Falls is just so huge and loud. We practically got drenched just by walking through the forest area on the opposite side of the falls! It was very beautiful.
Once we were done here Sally and I walked across the border back to Zambia and managed to get a taxi back to the Waterfront were we were camping (Mike & Anthea had to shoot off early as they had a afternoon of fox flying, gorge swinging and other crazy things planned J )
Met up with the boys and saw that they were in good hands – or should I say the beers were in good hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment