Originally distributed January 2009
Did I mention before that we were busy for 18-19hrs/day everyday for 2 weeks? That means there are more stories than I have time to write or you have time to read. But here’s another must share.
After Mlawula we drove up to South Africa and spent 3 days in Kruger National Park. Amazing place! Wildlife galore, everywhere! Just driving from the entrance gate to our campsite, which was a long drive in itself, we saw tons of animals—giraffes, zebras, the usual antelope species, baboons, vervet monkeys, ostriches, elephants, hippos, rhinos, lions. They offer game drives and game walks there. These rangers carry rifles, loaded, with a hip belt full of additional ammo. Brass bullets. They don’t mess around. On our last day there I did a game walk with 7 other people from the group. By this time several of them were tired of elephants. I never get tired of elephants. I could watch them all day. But that’s me. Some of these younger folks have ADD and think real life should be like a 1hr Animal Planet show. So they were over elephants by this time and wanted to see predators.
It turned out to be their lucky day. Within the 1st 15min we found 2 cheetahs. One was perched conspicuously on a log and the other was clawing a tree stump. They were having a face-off with a herd of zebras that were only about 30yds away. Then the zebras trotted off and the cheetahs followed. They weren’t hungry though because they had just eaten a young impala. We knew because some vultures took off from the area upon our approach which led us to the remaining 3 legs and half a jaw from the impala. From there we started tracking a lone bull elephant. But on the way we heard a lion calling. So we debated whether to forget the elephant, because of the ADD kids, or approach the elephant since we already knew where it was. Long story short, after approaching the elephant part-way we changed course and headed for the lions.
When you go on a game walk, before you go anywhere the rangers explain how things are done to keep you safe. Hand signals, commands, “don’t run,” etc. You always go out with 2 rangers and both are armed. As we approached the lions the lead ranger told us, “If I signal to get down, get way down, right away. Pay attention.” We got to within about 40yds of the lions and he signaled for us to crouch down. The lions noticed us and started growling. Great. Then he said, “If I tell you to scream, scream. If I tell you to stand up, stand up slowly and don’t turn away.” He cocked his rifle. So there we were crouched down with the lions growling at us and he’s saying, “Take pictures, take pictures, take pictures.” I was behind several people and couldn’t even see the lions. I thought, “Geez, if I’m going to die for being too close to these lions I at least want to see them. That’s why I’m risking my life out here after all.” So I got up a few inches and leaned around and saw two lionesses growling ferociously at us. My heart was pounding, of course. Meanwhile, one of the women behind me was snapping away with her professional camera.
Then he told us to stand up slowly. At that point I saw one of the lionesses start to lunge in our direction then immediately change course and run in the other direction. They disappeared from sight. We slowly backed away several steps, still facing their direction. Then the other ranger led us farther away to where we could relax a little. There, the lead ranger told us where the lions had moved to. There was a male with the females, but I couldn’t see him from my vantage point. Once we had moved away the lions split up and moved too. The male was watching us and flicking his tail in agitation. After a minute or two there we moved farther away to a safe distance. Whew!
I really don’t need that kind of excitement. During game drives we encountered several male lions and a pride of females with a juvenile male, all on the road and we were in the safety of our vehicle. That’s enough for me. Being out there on foot and knowing they were there…that’s enough for me. I’m good with that. Seeing giraffes up close on foot was cool. They’re not scary or dangerous. But I don’t need to get face to face with lions even though I did.
It turns out my head was partly in one of the lady’s shots. She was frustrated about it. I told her, “Send it to my parents.” It turns out the ranger wants that picture because it’s good advertising, showing how close you can get to the animals. So it all worked out….and we survived to tell the tale. And here’s the picture!
By the way, how many lions do you see in this picture? Look carefully!
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