Lions

The 'Lion Encounter' was a completely different kettle of, um, fish. To be honest, due to my cash flow problems, I was rather flustered when I signed up to 'do stuff'. Christine and Heather were doing it, so I thought, 'Yeah, why not'. I later realised I'd signed up to do it the morning I was leaving, forgetting they were flying out later. So, I changed it to this afternoon. There were three of us in the mini-bus- myself, and a middle-aged Indian-African couple. They seemed 'stereotypical', although I'm not really sure what the stereotype is.

When we arrived, we were given a briefing by the guide, and shown a video describing the breeding programme. 'Our' lions where stage one – they were taken from the wild and reared. They were to be used to breed more cubs who would then be 'trained' for release in the wild. The guide told us we were to meet two cubs today – so not the lion-fest I'd been expecting.

I was more and more dubious by the minute, but we walked up a path for about twenty minutes, rounded a corner, and there they were. My first thought was, 'Bloody hell, they're enormous!' Talk of 'cubs' had me expecting cute, housecat sized furballs. These things were LIONS. I later found out the male was just over 100Kg, at seventeen months old. Apparently, the very biggest can reach 300kg. We then went on a forty-five minute walk with the cubs, while the guide talked about them. As the guide got me to pose while he took photos of me on my camera, I felt like a right tourist – something that makes me feel uncomfortable. What made me smile was the size of the retinue.Us three 'clients' where accompanied by at least five guides, together with two 'gap year' girlsl from the UK, while two other men – one with a rifle – walked well ahead of us to check for other animals which the cubs might react to. Frankly, I felt like a bit of a prat walking around with ten escorts (some of them armed), while the guide 'pap'd me with my camera.

It was amazing, though, to see them up close, and get an idea of their sheer size. We were given detailed instructions beforehand. We were to always maintain eye contact with them – it's not perceived as aggression; it's dominance. They also used thin sticks to wave and distract the lion cubs, since you're only in trouble if they properly focus on you. The two English girls there were the typical types I met all the time at university – I figure that anyone doing a gap year abroad after school is either self-confident and ambitious, has well-off parents, or possibly both. They were pleasant enough, though. All in all, a fascinating afternoon.