An experience that’s hard to imagine. Last night I heard the lion’s roar for the first time in my life. To know these beasts still exist and to see and hear them first hand in their environment are two totally different things. I never realized how moving an experience this would be. It was an experience and one that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Words cannot describe the feeling one has when you hear them at night.
The pride of lions I heard had one very old male, two females and a younger male. The older male was estimated to be 13 years old and very large cat. Later we discovered that the younger male had been injured on his front right paw.
Leaving the upper escarpment of the Entabeni game reserve, we set out for a 45 minute drive back to camp on the lower escarpment. We left Riverside Camp around 10:00 and began our steep ascent downwards. It’s a 4,500 decline at a very steep pitch. While traveling through the darkness, we shined a massive light on the canyon to try and locate the leopards in the area.
Our bakkie (pronounced buggie and is Africans for truck) was filled with great diversity with co-workers from the UK, Germany, South Africa and America. We were all celebrating our great day when on the radio it came across that there were lions next to the camp where we were headed. The Wildside camp was a beautiful tent camp on the lower escarpment and was 3 clicks away from my camp, Earthsong.
We were greeted at Wildside by the park ranger and his trusty 375 rifle. After having a drink at the bar and warming ourselves by the campfire, we made a plan to go check out the lions.
Traveling in complete darkness with eight of us in the bakkie, we left Wildside to see these wild beasts. Around three kilometers away, we hear this deep roar in the distance. My co-workers had quite a bit to drink and were still laughing and carrying on. The sound got louder and unmistakable cry of the wild. It took all laughter and joking to an immediate silence. We all knew we were in for an experience of a lifetime.
Travelling quite slowly, we proceeded closer to the sound. At this point, we also heard the lioness respond to his call. Anticipation, anxiety and adrenaline built in our Land Rover. Two other game rangers joined up with us on two separate trucks. They carried another firearm and two massive beams to spot these incredible creatures.
The calling was constant and increasing in volume. All three vehicles switched on their high beams to see if we could get a visual. We searched for several minutes before seeing rustling in the bush at nine o’clock about 30 yards away. There she was the first lioness I’ve seen in the wild with my own two eyes. Moments later, ten yards to the right, the male lion let out a sound that will forever stay with me. It went right through me.
I am so thankful to have this opportunity. It is a truly amazing feeling to see these animals in their natural environment. I feel like we stepped back in time more than one hundred years. Discovering nature in her true form is something that we must cherish all the days of our lives.
Earlier in the day, we learned that the older male is starting to faulter and that at the age of thirteen he will separate from the pride in the coming years as he won’t be capable of defending himself. We also learned that this older male was having issues as the younger lion was challenging him to leave the pride and that he wasn’t getting along too well with his fellow lioness friends. He was frustrated with life.
My first visual of a full blown male lion at 11:30 at night just took the cold air right out my lungs. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Little did I know that the show to follow would be more breathtaking that I ever imagined.
His mane was full and went nearly back to his shoulders. The roaring began. He started with a small call and with each call got louder, more intense and more emphatic. You could hear him saying to the younger male – I’m over here with the lioness and keep your ass out of here. I’m the king and that’s it. The lioness responded with a call and the frequency, intensity and volume increased for several minutes.
Quiet fell upon us. Hyenas started in as to say, Mr. Lion, we’re back here and we know you’re getting old. Nature is an unbelievable subject to study.
The hooting and hollering of the pesty hyena pissed off our lion king and he stood up, circled around towards the lioness and continued his roar. This courtship wakened two other lions in the distance. Unbelievable, now we have four lions calling each other.
We sat and listened and watched for nearly thirty minutes. Had we not had work in the morning, we could have stayed all night. All was silent in our truck. We were all moved in our separate ways. After leaving the lowlands and heading towards our camp, we could hardly internalize what we had just seen. Half of our vehicle had seen and heard lions but for me and two others, this was our first experience. Awe struck.
Arriving at camp, we spotted the back two lions. It was a younger lioness and her male companion. They were silent but we found them through fresh tracks along the ravine.
We retired around midnight and were escorted to our rooms with your friendly game ranger and the handy 375. I quickly fell asleep, only to be awaken at four thirty in the morning by our lion friends outside camp.
We left camp at six thirty that morning to go to my business meeting at the upper lodge. We took a short side tour to see this pride up close. We watched them, they watched us even closer. The older male looked angry and the younger male was quite injured. The lioness’ were beginning their hunting for the day and had already jumped a few impala in the area.
I’m very grateful for this experience and will cherish these moments forever.
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