White and tawny lions and elephants

Sunday morning we went on a game drive around 9:30 and drove as far as where the white lions are kept. Several white and brown lions and lionesses live there within a very large enclosure. Since they have been hand-reared they cannot hunt and get fed local farm animals. I was not really nervous getting in there but as I saw how close Greg drove up with his Land Rover I did wonder whether it was such a smart thing to do!!! Basically we were 4-5 meters away from a resting white lion! His beautiful mane looked very clean to me. Whether he gets it shampooed every day?? Hahaha! Of course not, but he looked really stunning. See the pictures for yourself. 

Suddenly another lion called him and the two of them starting roaring at each other. The roaring was so deep that I felt the vibrations through the car door. Absolutely crazy! Then a white lioness came by and lied behind the lion for a bit before she went further. 

Another white lioness nearby was just rolling on its side to take a nap. 

To be so close to such majestic animals is really powerful. Of course real wild lions would not let us come that close. They would eat us first for sure!

Later we went to see the 3 elephants they have there for some “interaction”. There were 2 young males and 1 young female. We were only allowed to interact with the female elephant that day.

Carole feeding pellets to the elephant

A little cutie!

The elephants looked very beautiful. At first they had only brought in the youngest male and female. As we were listening to what the guide was saying we heard some loud trumpeting. The older bull had joined us and was a little upset at having been left behind while the others were getting fed yummy pellets. They trumpeted like crazy at each other and for one moment I wondered whether it was going to end well but soon enough they relaxed again. And we all were able to breathe again!

After the elephants we first went back to our tents to chill out a little.

My bedroom

My bathroom

Around 4:30 we went on another game drive. We saw impalas, wildebeests, blesboks, water bucks and nyalas. There were also some elands, the largest sub-Saharan antelope. 

Eland

Hungry lions

In the evening we went to see the lions again. This time the big male was having dinner and was surrounded by its pride, which means there were about 8 or 9 lions facing us and having a bite. 

Curious young lions

Some young males were curious about the Land Rover and were coming closer but Greg, our fearless guide, was really relaxed about it. We got to make great pictures but it was a very strange feeling to see all these pairs of eyes watching the car. 









 
Then the big male decided it was time for a big roar and he started roaring and several lions joined in. That was blood churning! 
I will try to upload the video when back in Germany.

 

Lion resting after its roaring

 
Thankfully enough we left soon after that because that early evening roar means “it is hunting time, guys!”. Although they do not hunt at all it is the time of the day they start being more active. So it was high time to go!

We went to the lapa where the restaurant is located. The German couple sat together and I sat with the two guides and we had a lot of fun chatting that evening. The other evenings we decided to all sit together because we all got on so well. It really felt good!