20th - Day off

Today we had the day off as this day was spent getting people detached from their truck in the morning and getting presented to their new group (if doing so) in the evening. The resort had a large variety of activities so one had no excuse for not doing something.

I started the day going on a lion walk in the early morning. You would be brought to a lion sanctuary where they take care of lions that are born in captivity and prepare them to give birth to kittens that effectively won’t have any contact with humans – like “normal” lions. With guides and assistants we followed 3 7-month old lions around and saw them interact with the environment and briefly get to pet them. It was, honestly, a money/tourist trap, but it was interesting to hear what they had to say about the process and getting that close to them wouldn’t have been possible in any other situation (unless you had a death wish).

When the lions reach an age of app. 15 months the get too big for the tourists – and keepers – to get close to them, so they are moved out into a large fenced area where they get to be on their own and establish their own social ranks without having humans as dominants. They will still be assisted in form of food drops if necessary. When they have established themselves in stable relationships, they are moved out in a much larger area whey they are by themselves and are fully dependent on being able to catch all their food by themselves. Here they will also get their cubs, which will therefore be growing up without human contact. When old enough, the will be removed and put out into the wild, where they will be “normal” lions. The ones they came from the sanctuary will never be put out in the wild as they will not have the instinctive fear of humans.

In the early afternoon I went on a 15 minute helicopter ride over the Victoria Falls. While it was more expensive than the morning’s lion walk it felt much more worth the price. And I got to strike out “ride a helicopter ride” from my bucket list. So, win/win all around.

After an afternoon with nothing planned the evening quickly approached. An introductory meeting was held for the new group and afterwards we had dinner which would also include inviting the old group members to the table, getting to say the last goodbyes.

The 3 lions we followed.

"Rawr, I'm big and dangerou... Oh look! A stick!"

The Falls from above.

These monkeys were all over the place at the camp.