#Looking4Lions

We got up early and set off with our guide to track the lions. We had expressed an interest in finding lions as we had yet to see one and were reasurred and excited when we found out some had been spotted already that morning. Great!

About 20 minutes into the barren lands, Simone heard a faint roar of a lion. We rolled the car to a stop and wound down the windows (lesson from lion park lady not learnt!) Simone directed us to which way to go stopping frequently to listen to their sounds. Adrenaline was pumping through me like when you're playing hide and seek in the dark. I looked at every bush we passed like I was stalking my prey.

Two hours later and we still had no lion sightings! Simone had clearly given up looking. The entire park had been deserted. Just a few warthog and kudu to keep us entertained. The journey was not wasted though. Simone opened up to us about his way of life. I was surprised to hear that he lives in a shanty town not too far from the park. He is university educated and speaks fluent English. He is married with children and to secure his bride, he had to offer her parents a couple of cows. (Yogi couldn't

even swap me for a few camels at the pub). He comes from the Xhosa tribe and was telling us about their coming of manhood ceremony. The men are exiled from their tribe and have to survive for a few days before being stripped naked and having every female member of their family slap them with paint. From there, they are allowed to choose a few girlfriends to try out before they eventually settle for just the one.

After many hours of searching, we admitted defeat. We had seen a few new animals over the day including a jackal that trotted past us with its little hunched back. It was time to head back to our hut and grab some lunch. Once we arrived at our hut there were a few people looking over towards our waterhole. (yes our!)
"We saw some lion here this morning." One woman told us smugly.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
The very lions we had spent the entire day searching for were outside our hut, if we had had a lie in, we could have eaten our breakfast while watching wild lions playing and drinking just a few meters away.
Below is what a picture of a lion might have looked like...if we had seen one!