Friday, March 19, 2010
Walking with Lions
This morning we rose with the sun and headed into Antelope National Park in Zimbabwe to walk with lion cubs. It was amazing. The 12 month old lion cubs looked fully grown and were very relaxed around people, it was fascinating to interact with such wild and instinctive animals.
We were required to carry a large stick each and were given 3 very strict rules:
1) show no fear(this is easier said than done when a lion is heading straight for you! :)
2) never run or back away from a lion, stand your ground and look the lion in the eyes; and
3) don't ever turn your back to the lion.
After signing an indemnity form, which meant we would not be able to take legal action if the lions attacked and ate us, we headed into the park. The lions were beautiful, graceful and playful. Aidan was a master lion tamer and looked very natural strolling through the bush walking a couple of lions! The cubs were happy for us to pat them and I think they quite enjoyed all the attention. I felt confident that we would not be eaten alive as a spotter with a rifle kept a very close eye on things!
We were also lucky enough to visit two cubs that had been at the park for only 2 weeks, they were a brother and sister that were two months old. The male cub was quite playful and not threatened by us at all, but the female cub was terrified. She did not like to walk with us, we couldn't touch her and she was attempting to roar at us, but it sounded more like a little bark.
All in all it was a fantastic experience and all the proceeds go towards programs to help re-introduce lions into the wild as their populations are declining rapidly. At last count there are less than 20,000 of these beautiful creatures left in the wild.
We were required to carry a large stick each and were given 3 very strict rules:
1) show no fear(this is easier said than done when a lion is heading straight for you! :)
2) never run or back away from a lion, stand your ground and look the lion in the eyes; and
3) don't ever turn your back to the lion.
After signing an indemnity form, which meant we would not be able to take legal action if the lions attacked and ate us, we headed into the park. The lions were beautiful, graceful and playful. Aidan was a master lion tamer and looked very natural strolling through the bush walking a couple of lions! The cubs were happy for us to pat them and I think they quite enjoyed all the attention. I felt confident that we would not be eaten alive as a spotter with a rifle kept a very close eye on things!
We were also lucky enough to visit two cubs that had been at the park for only 2 weeks, they were a brother and sister that were two months old. The male cub was quite playful and not threatened by us at all, but the female cub was terrified. She did not like to walk with us, we couldn't touch her and she was attempting to roar at us, but it sounded more like a little bark.
All in all it was a fantastic experience and all the proceeds go towards programs to help re-introduce lions into the wild as their populations are declining rapidly. At last count there are less than 20,000 of these beautiful creatures left in the wild.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Reflection
'It is terrible the way you think time is going to change you. The way you think of some future time when things will be all right. And all that happens is that you drop back into the previous stream of time and it closes over your head'.
Giles Foden- The Last King of Scotland (1998)
Giles Foden- The Last King of Scotland (1998)
Naivasha and Beyond
Yes it’s true we missed our first day of our long awaited African Safari after we were screwed around by Kumuka and Best Flights- buyer beware! As a result of our tour having left early we decided to go out for dinner in Nairobi to the world famous Carnivore. Up until two years ago they supplied game meat including giraffe, antelope, african buffalo and zebra. The menu has changed slightly since then with chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, ostrich balls, chicken gizzards, crocodile and chicken liver now on the menu. With an all you can eat philosophy and a whit flag to signal your surrender we got stuck in. While we made a valiant attempt to eat as much as possible Sahra let the team down as we gave up quite early due in part to her sweet tooth. Sahra’s favourite was the honey basted ribs- while I really enjoyed the chicken gizzards.
Carnivore is an institution in Kenya- recommended by Lonely Planet and in the top 50 restaurants in the world. While ‘probably the best…… in Africa’ is a commonly used phrase- in this case I have to agree. There were an abundance of staff who delivered the meat fresh to your table- I should also mention that we enjoyed our first alcohol since departing the fine shores of Australia- Tusker- Not a bad drop.
At 6.30 am our taxi driver picked us up and took us on the journey back to Naivasha to meet up with the tour (which ironically we drove past yesterday on our way to Nairobi). Meeting the people on the tour for the first time was daunting but they all seem really nice. Some have been traveling through Africa for the past two weeks spending the majority of their time in Uganda doing the Gorilla trek.
Our first stop was Masai Lands where we camped overnight. Our first day was a six hour long haul drive which despite the cramped nature of the vehicle was enjoyable. The countryside was beautiful and seeing the small communities which dotted the sides of the roads was nice. Sahra didn’t get sick so all in all a good start.
Carnivore is an institution in Kenya- recommended by Lonely Planet and in the top 50 restaurants in the world. While ‘probably the best…… in Africa’ is a commonly used phrase- in this case I have to agree. There were an abundance of staff who delivered the meat fresh to your table- I should also mention that we enjoyed our first alcohol since departing the fine shores of Australia- Tusker- Not a bad drop.
At 6.30 am our taxi driver picked us up and took us on the journey back to Naivasha to meet up with the tour (which ironically we drove past yesterday on our way to Nairobi). Meeting the people on the tour for the first time was daunting but they all seem really nice. Some have been traveling through Africa for the past two weeks spending the majority of their time in Uganda doing the Gorilla trek.
Our first stop was Masai Lands where we camped overnight. Our first day was a six hour long haul drive which despite the cramped nature of the vehicle was enjoyable. The countryside was beautiful and seeing the small communities which dotted the sides of the roads was nice. Sahra didn’t get sick so all in all a good start.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Update with Details to Follow
In the last twenty-three days we have travelled from Nairobi to our present destination Livingstone, Zambia. During this time we have visited the Masaai Mara National Park (Kenya), the Serengeti National Park (Tanzania), Arusha (Tanzania), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), Stonetown-Zanzibar (Tanzania), Lake Malawi and Victoria Falls (Zambia).
It has been extremely exciting however we have had no mobile reception and little internet access (or electricity in general). We have spent many 10 hour days on the big blue Kamuka truck with our tour group, consisting of an irish couple, two English girls, five Aussies and one Kiwi. Aidan has been keeping us entertained on the truck by hosting 'Name that Tune' competitions and I definitely think I am winning... We have also entertained/disturbed many local towns as we passed through them singing Queen songs at the top of our lungs! We thought this was particularly appropriate in Tanzania - the birth place of Freddy Mercury.
We have spent every night thus far in our trusty tent despite the allure of upgrading to lovely rooms with a bed. The campsites have varied greatly between each country, but most have a bar/communal area, dodgy toilets and if we are really lucky we get a hot shower about twice a week.
The highlights so far have been seeing the big 5 (lions, elephants, buffalo, leopard & Rhinos), relaxing on Zanzibar Island and seeing Victoria Falls. We spent 5 days on the beautiful sandy shores of Lake Malawi but as the lake is home to many parasites, crocodiles and hippos we decided not swim. Aidan will do more detailed blogs on our adventures soon, but for now we are heading to Zimbabwe to walk with the lions. I should mention that we just got some Zimbabwean currency and we are officially trillionaires- 600,000,000,000,000 to be exact. This should buy us at least two cokes (this is not a typo)!
It has been extremely exciting however we have had no mobile reception and little internet access (or electricity in general). We have spent many 10 hour days on the big blue Kamuka truck with our tour group, consisting of an irish couple, two English girls, five Aussies and one Kiwi. Aidan has been keeping us entertained on the truck by hosting 'Name that Tune' competitions and I definitely think I am winning... We have also entertained/disturbed many local towns as we passed through them singing Queen songs at the top of our lungs! We thought this was particularly appropriate in Tanzania - the birth place of Freddy Mercury.
We have spent every night thus far in our trusty tent despite the allure of upgrading to lovely rooms with a bed. The campsites have varied greatly between each country, but most have a bar/communal area, dodgy toilets and if we are really lucky we get a hot shower about twice a week.
The highlights so far have been seeing the big 5 (lions, elephants, buffalo, leopard & Rhinos), relaxing on Zanzibar Island and seeing Victoria Falls. We spent 5 days on the beautiful sandy shores of Lake Malawi but as the lake is home to many parasites, crocodiles and hippos we decided not swim. Aidan will do more detailed blogs on our adventures soon, but for now we are heading to Zimbabwe to walk with the lions. I should mention that we just got some Zimbabwean currency and we are officially trillionaires- 600,000,000,000,000 to be exact. This should buy us at least two cokes (this is not a typo)!
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