Day 125: Big Cats

Date: Thursday 31st July
Staying: Grubby's Grotto, Livingstone, Zambia
Song of the Day: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

One of the interesting things about our tour is that there are loads of optional extas. When we arrived at the campsite we were told about them by our tour-mates, so Cam and I signed up for the lion walk which had really good reviews.

When we arrived for the walk, we were all given a stick and told some basic instructions. If we had the chance to pet the lions, we shouold position the stick so that one end was in front of the lion's head. If he (or she) started getting a bit too interested in us, we should rustle the grass in front to get their attention. If it looked like they might pounce (!!!) we should point the stick at them and say "No!" as they were trained to respond to this instruction.

It was amazing. We came across the three lions lazing under a tree, and each took turns at walking behind them, crouching down and giving them a firm pat on the flank. I got two turns, and Cam, after some initial hesitation, had three pats. The lions were so chilled out that Cam got to not only hold a lion paw, but to put his fingers in between the pad and the toes to feel where the lions sweat (the only placed in fact that they sweat from). When the handlers thought that the lions had lazed enough they roused them and we "walked" with the lions (being very careful to leave our backs unexposed). The whole experience was amazing, and I was surprised not to feel intimidated by the power of the animals. At the end of the walk we had a much needed drink and watched the video that one of the men made so we could relive our experiences all over again.