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TRAVEL
By E. Park*
As a child my parents took me to the zoo and I remember asking my parents why lions were kept in captivity. I don’t exactly remember the answer my wise parents gave me at that time. I am sure somehow it made sense to me then. That was 20 years ago and last week I had the pleasure of observing these powerful animals on their natural habitat. Yes, on the continent, , of Africa. South Africa pulled me to trek its land and further discover its hidden mysteries.
My traveling companion and I hired a private safari tour guide and headed north of Johannesburg to Pilanesberg Game Reserve. The drive from the urban city to the wilderness took about three hours through various affluent suburbs and makeshift shanty towns. The beautifully paved road stopped abruptly half way through the journey and the rest of the journey was through a single lane dirt road. A perfect prelude to what was coming soon.
Our tour guide was amazing. He was familiar with the area and shared interesting stories about the aborigines that inhabited the land alongside the wild animals. It was fascinating to know that people used to live side by side with wild predators in this land not that long ago. You could imagine how acute their survival instincts might have been. Now the same people are living next to the highways in open areas surviving along side with modernization.
Observing a lion or any wild animal is not an easy task. We drove around several hills into secluded areas of the reserve. All our senses were working full speed to spot any wild animals. The anticipation was killing us, we were ready to move to a different area, when, out of nowhere, without any fanfare, we spotted several white lions!
Photos by E. Park
These animals are immense and magnificent. I couldn’t believe how close they were from our open vehicle. At first sight, the cubs look like kittens that you want to take home with you. You forget for a minute that these are natural predators and getting any closer to them will mean running for our lives. Then out of the bushes, came the mother with a fresh kill. I’m still not sure exactly what the prey was, but we assumed it was a poor antelope. It was high noon, lunch time for the cubs.
The spectacle paralyzed us for some time. We watched this family of lions devour their kill in total silence. I was in awe. All I recall was thinking was that the scene taking place right in front of me was natural, the way it is supposed to be. I think Richard Dawkins said it better: “We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.”
This experience is one that I can cross off from my bucket list.
* E. Park is a freelance writer.
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