While Richard was still staying we thought it would be a good idea to go to Livingstone in Zambia again. Richard had seen Vic Falls on his last visit but it had been high season, so most of the view was mist sprayed up from the amount of water going down the waterfall. After some deliberation we all decided that we’d rather go to see lions instead, as there is a lion sanctuary not far from Victoria Falls. After a journey a lot less stressful than the first time I’d been to Livingstone, we arrived and went in search of the sanctuary. With no luck asking at Fawlty Towers we dropped into a tourist centre to find that they took bookings for the sanctuary. After a few minutes and our wallets a lot lighter, we set off for the sanctuary.
It wasn’t too hard to find, although the drive did go out into the bush a fair bit so we were wondering where we would end up. We were greeted by a friendly man who sat us down with a cold drink in the lodge and explained all about the project they were doing. We were asked to sign a disclaimer saying that if anything happened to us we could sue, which was a little disconcerting as the guide had just given us some sticks to use as a distraction if the lions looked at us. I’m not sure how much use the stick would be if a lion decided I look tasty. We were told that the lions would be released back into the wild when they were older, as the aim of the project is to increase the population rather than provide a zoo for people to see the animals. The instructions were to do exactly as told by the guides, and only ever approach the lions from behind. If they wanted to move then you move with them or let them walk away. Under no circumstances were we to touch the lions heads or paws as they don’t tend to like it, plus we were told not to put anything on the floor as they couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t think it was a toy, and therefore it would be fair game to play with.
We set off from the lodge with our sticks in hand, all a little nervous about what to expect - it didn’t help that our guide had a huge scar down his neck, which we later found out had been given to him by the white lion when she was little. The first thing I noticed was that there were no enclosures; the lions were just roaming free in the bush. After a 10 minute walk or so we saw two guides stood next to two of the magnificent beasts who were lazing in the shade of a tree. Although technically they were still cubs, they were absolutely huge, their paws were the size of my head. We all shuffled up in a line in front of them while our guide explained the details of each one. One was a white lion and the other a tawny. They were gently biting each other’s ears taking no notice of us at all. We were asked who wanted to go first and everyone looked a bit nervous about approaching these huge creatures, so with a little encouragement from the guide we took it in turns to walk around them and kneel behind. The temptation is to stroke them behind the ears like a cat, but after the strong warnings not to touch their heads I resisted. Jemma and Glenn had joked about me running up to one and cuddling it like I do with most animals, but once I was actually face to face with one their immense power was apparent so I had no urge to hug it. Whilst kneeling behind the lions I stroked each of them. You have to press quite hard while you stroke them as their skin’s so thick if you do it lightly it tickles which apparently irritates them. We had been instructed to distract their attention away from us if the glanced around at us with the sticks we’d been given, but in actual fact they weren’t that interested in the sticks; I suppose if I was a lion and had a 7 people standing around me I wouldn’t be bothered about a stick either.. The tawny lion seemed to find me quite interesting and so kept turning her head to look at me. Every time she did one of the guides would dangle this green canvas bag in front of her face to distract her which seemed to work quite well. She wasn’t impressed with the stick at all.
It wasn’t too hard to find, although the drive did go out into the bush a fair bit so we were wondering where we would end up. We were greeted by a friendly man who sat us down with a cold drink in the lodge and explained all about the project they were doing. We were asked to sign a disclaimer saying that if anything happened to us we could sue, which was a little disconcerting as the guide had just given us some sticks to use as a distraction if the lions looked at us. I’m not sure how much use the stick would be if a lion decided I look tasty. We were told that the lions would be released back into the wild when they were older, as the aim of the project is to increase the population rather than provide a zoo for people to see the animals. The instructions were to do exactly as told by the guides, and only ever approach the lions from behind. If they wanted to move then you move with them or let them walk away. Under no circumstances were we to touch the lions heads or paws as they don’t tend to like it, plus we were told not to put anything on the floor as they couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t think it was a toy, and therefore it would be fair game to play with.
We set off from the lodge with our sticks in hand, all a little nervous about what to expect - it didn’t help that our guide had a huge scar down his neck, which we later found out had been given to him by the white lion when she was little. The first thing I noticed was that there were no enclosures; the lions were just roaming free in the bush. After a 10 minute walk or so we saw two guides stood next to two of the magnificent beasts who were lazing in the shade of a tree. Although technically they were still cubs, they were absolutely huge, their paws were the size of my head. We all shuffled up in a line in front of them while our guide explained the details of each one. One was a white lion and the other a tawny. They were gently biting each other’s ears taking no notice of us at all. We were asked who wanted to go first and everyone looked a bit nervous about approaching these huge creatures, so with a little encouragement from the guide we took it in turns to walk around them and kneel behind. The temptation is to stroke them behind the ears like a cat, but after the strong warnings not to touch their heads I resisted. Jemma and Glenn had joked about me running up to one and cuddling it like I do with most animals, but once I was actually face to face with one their immense power was apparent so I had no urge to hug it. Whilst kneeling behind the lions I stroked each of them. You have to press quite hard while you stroke them as their skin’s so thick if you do it lightly it tickles which apparently irritates them. We had been instructed to distract their attention away from us if the glanced around at us with the sticks we’d been given, but in actual fact they weren’t that interested in the sticks; I suppose if I was a lion and had a 7 people standing around me I wouldn’t be bothered about a stick either.. The tawny lion seemed to find me quite interesting and so kept turning her head to look at me. Every time she did one of the guides would dangle this green canvas bag in front of her face to distract her which seemed to work quite well. She wasn’t impressed with the stick at all.
We had quite a while sitting with the lions in turn and took a lot of photos too. The guide continued to explain all about them and what they were trying to achieve at the sanctuary. He also demonstrated their claws by pushing the tawny lions thumb out, much like you would with a cat. He asked us if we would like to walk with the lions and so the guides encouraged them to stand up and go for a stroll. It was the strangest thing I think I’ve ever done. While the lions were walking we were instructed to grab hold of their tails. They didn’t care at all and merely carried on walking ahead of us. At one point the lion who’s tail I was holding bounded off with me trailing behind so I ended up being sandwiched between the two of them. The guide looked at me in alarm and instructed me to let go and drop behind so the lion could pass. I suppose that probably wasn’t the most sensible place to end up.
The nicest thing about the experience, apart from stroking a lion obviously, was how much the guides respected them. The whole thing was done on the lion’s terms, not the people’s. Although I guess logically it would be quite difficult to make them perform on demand. They really are the kings of the jungle. They were so laid back and yet being around them made me really respect the power and beauty. Definitely worth the money.
Once we were back at the lodge we took a look around the other creatures they had there. There were some cheetahs which happily played with the guide while he was chatting to us and a lynx that hissed at us the whole time we were there. We asked if the guide ever went in the enclosures with the lynx and he said that he had been in there but it is not safe to do so as they will jump up and claw your eyeballs out. I’m not sure why he felt the need to be so graphic, a simple ‘it’s not safe’ would have sufficed. Overall the whole experience is not something I’ll forget in a long time.
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