Lions everywhere!

Sometimes you can go ages without seeing a lion on Lewa and then suddenly it seems that they are everywhere…

At 6.00am, whilst lying in my bed, I hear a lion roar so loud and close that I can only surmise that it is probably right outside my house. However, in my sleepy state, I dismiss that notion on the basis that sound travels quite a distance and decide not to get out of bed and draw back the curtains. Big mistake. The guests in the cottage near mine do open their curtains and see a lion right outside their window! Chances are it did walk right by my house on the way to theirs…

The next afternoon, I went riding with a friend from another lodge. We had the loveliest ride together, nice long canters and no worries about having to guide or have guests fall off. At the end of one long canter, Venetia suddenly shouts “S***, it’s a lion”. And there just metres from us, a lioness pops her head up out of the long grass. A heart stopping moment. Bizarrely, neither of our horses even notices which is just as well because their flight instinct would kick in. We turned and walked away, casting nervous glances over our shoulders, but fortunately the lioness did not come after us. Exciting times!!

The day gets better. After returning to the stables, we decide to drive back and see if we can spot the lion again. Venetia goes on ahead whilst I try and find my cats (who are getting rather bold and don’t want to be shut in at night, but I suspect they will be taken by a leopard if they aren’t). When I catch up with Venetia, she has driven into a huge hole and her car is well and truly stuck. I must admit, I did think twice about getting out of my car knowing that there were possibly lions around. However, I figured the engine noise and sound of people talking would probably scare them off. Perhaps not. Having decided that we needed help, Venetia and I got into my car and as we were about to drive away, a lion strolls by her car nonchalantly. She must have been hidden away in the long grass just watching us!

For those reading this thinking are you crazy, I would add that the lions on Lewa are not generally regarded as man-eating types. They have plenty of game to hunt and are shy of people. When people are out walking, the lions always run away when they hear people coming on foot, even though they don’t mind a safari car parked right next to them. Admittedly you can never entirely predict how a wild animal might behave and the walking guides do carry guns just in case. However, the local people are more afraid of elephant, rhino, and most of all, buffalo who are notoriously aggressive. For me, elephant especially when they are towering over your vehicle, are pretty terrifying. You would not want to come across one in a bad mood…