Africa 2013: November 3 & 4

Got up at 5am to go to my Lion Encounter. They picked me up at the hotel and a group of 8 of us went on our walk with our game ranger. We met up with several game rangers and one with a rifle (probably just with a tranquilizer-wish I had asked) and 2 one year old lionesses who are sisters. They are still pretty big but not full grown until they are 2 years old. They act like kittens, chasing each other, rolling around and snuggling with each other. They are very curious about their surroundings.

We all had walking sticks and the reason being is if you make eye contact with the lions, that means you want to play (so we were warned to never be low on the ground at their level), If you are standing up and they come for you, then you can tap your stick on the ground in front of you and they will get distracted and go for the stick instead Of course, I would have loved to play with them but they could hurt me accidentally on purpose. haha

These are orphaned cubs who have been rescued by this conservation organization. They have the human imprint but are treated like wild animals not pets. They are allowed free (huge reserve) most of the time and they do practice hunting (even though their mother never taught them). They get bred and their cubs after 2 years old (with no human imprint) get released in the wild when they are self-sufficient.

Watching these young lionesses was like watching a puppy or kitten. They would chase anything small and try to catch it. They were somewhat controlled by the rangers only to prevent them from going after us which they were very curious about. You couldn't wear anything close to red or anything dangling such as a sweater tied around your waste. One lion did take a run at me when I turned my back but the game rangers are so good at predicting their behaviour and stopped that from happening immediately by stomping on the ground, speaking in a low tone. The lioness got distracted and found something else to do. Just imagine your cat stalking, playing, hunting, batting you, tapping you when they want you to rub them BUT as big as you and way more strength. THey have huge paws too,

I got to walk alongside one of them and stroke it's back. They are softer than they look with a little ridge of hair that grows reverse on their back. Apparently, the females are way more flexible than the males. A male lion can break his back while killing large prey. They only join in when the lionesses need help. The females' spines can twist and bend almost any which way making it easier for them to bring down big prey but the male is stronger and protects the pride.

Later on, we got to sit with them and pat them while they dozed. While I was stroking her (from behind), she turned her head around to look at me when I stopped for 2 seconds. Just like my cat does when I stop petting him. Everyone went...AWWWWWW! It was pretty cool, That is caught on the DVD I bought PLUS a picture one of the rangers took for me.

It was a thrilling experience and I'm so glad I was able to do it. We were with the lions for about an hour. We then were given breakfast and driven back to the hotel.. Next it was time to leave Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and head to Kasane, Botswana to stay at the Chobe Marina Lodge which is on the Zambezi River. We are located where Nambia, Zimbabwe & Botswana meet. After going through a bunch of red tape at both borders we arrived at our hotel. Nice suites with views of the river. It's super hot here too. We had lunch and then went for our river cruise which was cut short because of a thunder storm and heavy rain. We were lucky since we already saw Elephants, Hippos, Crocodiles, Cape Buffalo (water buffalo) and lots of impalas, etc.

Had dinner while serenaded by a singer who was really good if the frogs kept it down so you could hear him haha, I'm telling you, I have never heard crickets and frogs SO LOUD. We are truly in Africa. I walked to the room alone to get my computer in the dark and it was surreal and kind of creepy with the frog and cricket noises. Hit the sack early since we get another 5am wake up call in the morning to go on our first game drive at this location.