LUNCH WITH LIONS
A person would have to use propofol to sleep past dawn here. By 0500 the cacophony of whistling, honking, screeching, and snorting birds has reached such a crescendo that any alarm clock would be put to shame. Nevertheless, though we were up early as usual, by the time we unwrapped ourselves from the silk worm webbing that encased our tent, had our coffee, and packed up, the sun was already up when we left camp.
It was not long before we reached Leopard Pan and viewing many dozens of magnificent Oryx with their long straight horns sticking straight over their backs. Wildebeast grazed, Jackals and Bat-eared foxes trotted among the herds, and Kori Bustards undulated their sharp prehistoric heads on their long necks. There were many Ostriches and other animals and birds too numerous to recount as we circled the Pan. Suddenly a herd of about one hundred Springbok started running and bounding about. The reason became evident when Robbie glassed a big ruffed male lion sauntering toward the herd. Then a female lion appeared. In order to see better I walked around to Robbie’s side and watched with the binoculars as the two lions were about to converge. Then, a deep throated roar made the hair on the back of my neck sprout and I turned to see another male lion followed by an entire pride. It didn’t take me long to get back in the truck and we had our fingers on the window controls as 11 lions walked past us just a few meters away. Over the next 2 hours we watched these lions stroll out into the pan, laze under a tree and then walk back to settle right next to the track. They were unperturbed as we turned off the motor and coasted up to settle right next to them and eat our lunch.