Face to Face with the Animal Kingdom

The lions' piercing eyes stared us down as they walked toward us and my heart started to beat a little faster. Our ranger, Ali's warning to stay seated in the 4x4 echoed in my ear. I grabbed my boyfriend's arm and whispered, "Mark, this can't be happening!" The moment felt completely surreal as the lions purposefully walked in our direction. The family: mother, father and cub were hungry and on the hunt for food. Lucky for us (and heeding Ali's instructions!) we weren't the lions' dinner targets, but this moment sent a little shiver down my spine as we got our first glimpse into the animal kingdom world in its natural habitat.

We paused to take in their movements and then Ali drove on. Noel, our tracker, kept a watchful eye out for animal tracks on the trail. With the excitement of the lion sighting still resonating, we kept our eyes peeled for movements in the bush.

A short while later, we started to see the bush trees shake and Ali slowed down to investigate. I shook my head in disbelief as we were treated to the sight of a herd of elephants feeding on the leaves. Then, one of the elephant youngsters, feeling rambunctious, sauntered over to a stop right in front of our vehicle. Our collective breath in was audible as we waited to see what he would do next. As children are want to do, he was in the mood to misbehave and flared his ears at us. Ali let him play for a few seconds and then started the 4x4 to get him moving on his way. Having this "little" guy standing just a few feet from us made me feel emotionally connected to these gentle, yet powerful giants.

The sun was heading towards the horizon and Ali found a good place for us to stop for our “sundowner.” We stretched our legs and enjoyed a refreshing cocktail while watching the African sunset. We recounted what we had seen that afternoon as the sun slowly danced out of sight.

These encounters, which occurred within the first few minutes of our very first safari game drive, are what make the Lion Sands Game Reserve in South Africa a truly special and unique place. You never know what you might encounter around the next turn.