Imagine. It is 6.30 am and you are surrounded by two beautifully looking male lions. A dream, a nightmare or a wish? Neither of the three!
We were facing reality! At least „kind of“…
Have a look for yourself:
This took place in the Addo Elephant Park close to Port Elizabeth in South Africa on a game drive. But back to square one.
Our ranger, a witty, experienced and funny guy, spotted on our route a lion and followed him. We got quite close to him and than he disappeared in the bush. A second ranger with another group who had been informed about the lion’s presence appeared but too late.
We continued our route and suddenly our ranger reversed the vehicle, changed direction and went back as quickly sas the car allowed. Our group felt excited because it was like being on a hunt. Suddenly we saw one lion walking in front of the other car coming towards us and a second one approaching from further away. Five minutes later we were escorted by two lions: one walking in front of us and the other one following closely. At first the group went very silent but the ranger explained the situation and we all became more relaxed and first jokes such as „This one looks still hungry. He likes you“ were exchanged. The lions didn’t seem to have any interest for us. The ranger taught us that they can’t differentiate between the vehicle and the people on it. We shouldn’t try to expose our hands or arms outside of the car. This could lead to a serious accident ….
However, ten lions are in the Addo Elephant Park and approx. 700 elephants and we had the chance to watch two of them at close range for more than half an hour.
The game drive which was scheduled for two hours lasted more than half an hour longer. The lions made our day at 7 am already! How lucky we were!
