Lions and Tigers and Hippopotami, Oh My!

It was a long flight, but not as bad as I thought it would be. They lost my luggage, but then it was found again. So... that's my excuse for not posting sooner. No clothes and no computer.

We did not have a game today, so we decided to visit the Lion and Rhino Preserve which is just north of Johannesburg (aka Jo'burg). It only took us about an hour and a half to get there. One interesting note to me was that there is not much urban sprawl here. Once you are out of the city, you are in the middle of nowhere. I happen to think that's sorta a cool point.

The only way that I know how to describe the preserve is to say that the African Lion Safari is based on a place like this. I had only previously been to the North American version, just outside of Toronto. Logically, this place was similar, but not nearly as polished or as structured. The man at the front gate intoned to us after we paid to get in, "Do NOT get out of your car." There were no danger signs, no release forms, no overly repeated warnings, just one fatherly figure to put the fear of god in us.

The roads were all dirt and bumpy, but since going slow to see the animals is the goal, it was not a problem. We didn't make it around the second corner and we had to stop the car for a mammoth rhino to cross. I don't think the pictures do justice to how big he was.

We saw more animals than I will bore you with, but it was better than any zoo I had ever been to. There was one small part where we could get out of the car. They had a crèche and the baby lions, tigers and cheetahs to pet. There was a release that Meg signed for the both of us. It was one sentence and it basically said, "I know lions can bite, even the baby ones". True story. I am so used to much more litigious culture. In a strange way, it was a bit of fresh air.

Quote of the day:

Meg to a lion on the other side of the pen. "Mr. Lion, won't you please come closer, have you no pride?"