Contributor Toni Hasler tells an exciting and amusing tale of her memorable close encounter with a big cat in the African bush...
Sundowners in the African bush is a traditional experience all guests have when on safari. It is one of those incredibly civilised things to do! Half way through your game drive, and just before the sun sets, the ranger and his tracker will stop in a place that generally is not surrounded by too many trees, or too many thick bushes – so that any approaching animal can usually be seen and noticed. This particular stopping point, in the Manyeleti game reserve, on the border of the famous Kruger Park, had a few bushes dotted around, but we had stopped in a reasonably open area.
Our hosts were our ranger, a well informed young man, and our tracker, a very skilled man, whose tracking skills had been passed down from his father, and his father before him. Within minutes they had put up a small folding table, spread it with a clean tablecloth, and put out a selection of drinks, including wines, spirits and soft drinks, together with some delicious snacks. The group in our vehicle consisted of a mother and daughter from Ireland, a visitor from the USA, a group of 5 gents – 3 South Africans, an Australian and a Greek - who were there together on a working safari, and myself, a South African living in England and touching base with my roots. The chatter was lively, and we stood enjoying our drinks.
Women, however, have a particularly hard time in the bush when it comes to matters of the bladder! It’s easy for the gents – A convenient bush, while they stand, and it’s all over and done with. That night, I knew I simply could not wait an hour or more before we got back to the camp, and as I have often done before on such safaris, I told the ranger I was disappearing behind a bush, which was not too close (maintaining my feminine modesty) but close enough for me to get back to the group, if I needed to do so in a hurry.
I had just finished my little venture behind the bush, when there was an almighty roar! Without even a second thought, the ranger instantly said, “Back into the vehicle – NOW!” My heart thumped, as just a short time before I had been in rather a vulnerable position! The ranger didn’t even bother to fold away the table and drinks, and as he quickly clambered into the vehicle he told us that the animal roaring was indeed a lion, and that he was very, very near by!. Some of us hadn’t even finished our drinks, and we clung on tenuously to our glasses as we rushed to take our seats in the vehicle.
Making sure everyone was in, he told us that he would come back and collect the evidence of our presence there. The sun had set by this time, and so we could not even see just where the lion might be. The ranger was determined to find the lion, to see just how near it had been. Our tracker, seated on a jump seat, to the left of the vehicle’s engine, pointed out an area where he believed the lion to be. Driving slowly, we wound our way over dirt tracks, hardly able to be called a road. And within minutes, there he was! A large, but old, male lion. It was the very same lion that we had seen earlier during the day, on another drive, but the ranger had told us that he was somewhat old and infirm, and was virtually on his last legs.
Looking at this fierce looking creature in front of us, this was clearly an animal who was not ready for old age! The ranger admitted that perhaps he had misjudged the old man, as he was striding out purposefully, quite plainly on the look out for a good meal.With our spotlight shining on him, we could see that this was an old chap who would take no nonsense! We let him pass by, and watched as he sauntered off in another direction, away from where we had stopped for our sundowners.
Our ranger drove back to our sundowner spot telling us we deserved another drink! Rather nervously and speedily, we had one more drink and then climbed back into the vehicle, heading back to camp.
Thoughts of “What if……” flooded my mind as we drove. If I had been behind that bush, just a short time afterwards, who knows what that lion might have seen!
(Story Copyright: Toni Hasler)
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