The Lions Encounter - Africa Day5 Pt1

I Remember when I wrote about how frustrated I was for not meeting any lions during our safari game drive? Well, we really wanna meet the African lions! So, we have no choice but to 'make an appointment' with the king of jungle itself! :P

Decided to take the 'lion encounter' package early in the morning of our 5th day in Africa ;)

The Lion Encounter is an active conservation program that is passionate about ensuring a secure future for the African lion. The species has seen an 80-90% decline in the past 20++ years and they are Africa's first genuine program to ethically re-introduce the offspring of captive-bred African lions back into the wild. The program offers people the chance to walk with this magnificent species, or volunteer with them and actively contribute to their efforts, to save the African Lion.

Excited but nervous at the same time to meet the magnificent African Lion.

We were pre-warned not to wear bright clothing during this adventure (especially no red clothes!).

Nervous cause I was carrying a red bag… huhu! :D

Luckily bags were not allowed during our walk with the lions… we were to keep our bag in a safety box before the walk… phew!

Upon arrival, we were showed a short films on informations on the lion release program, its objective and why it is necessary to facilitate such project.  We were also briefed on all important DOs and DON'Ts throughout our 'encounter' with the lions.

All visitors are to to sign an indemnity form before the walk… huh, my nervous level increased!! :P

3 stages in the program...

All the time throughout the walk, we were accompanied by experienced guides, handlers and scouts that ensure our rigorous safety procedures are upheld. One of them was carrying a gun… in case there is an emergency case…. ish ish… nauzubillah!

The guides held our cameras to take pictures and videos of this lifetime experience. 

Well, hello babies! 

I did wrote the names of these two lions in my iphone5 before it was deleted upon sending it to workshop..  So I can't remember their names. These two cute fellows are cousins ;)

More safety talk by our guide.

Syyyyhhh…. keep quiet everyone! I have to listen to this! I am so nervous!

Our morning walk with the lions began… 

Abang Yusof was the first person to walk and pet the lions..

All of us need to carry a stick.. in case when a lion's face came near us, we were to shoo them away with the stick.

Mr Hubby next...

Now it's yours truly's turn… 

Serious cuak nak usik!! haha!

What an amazing experience to be able to walk and pat these big cats!! :D

There were another 3 Americans with us who also took turned walking with the lions...

The lions love to play with the poos that they found in this area…. eeeuuu!!! 

They got to know who their enemies are in the area by smelling the poos.

This whole encounter was very professional and extremely well executed. You are dealing with wild animals that can harm you but alhamdulillah, all the staff involved were excellent and can read the animals mannerisms expertly and have been trained to anticipate what can happen. For example, if the lion suddenly turned and face-to-face with any of us, they quickly make the lions move away to ensure all of us are in safe position. I admit that I was quite nervous but with bismillah and tawakal innaAllah,  the adrenalin takes away any fear and at no stage felt in danger.

So adorable! :D

After the lion walk (which lasts approximately 1 hour) we were served a hearty breakfast with coffees and teas.  

We requested for halal food and were served breads (with a selection of jams or peanut butter), red beans and fried egg.

After breakfast, we were showed the video of our lion walk which I enjoyed so much! Bought the video for lifetime memoir! :D

We were then sent back to our hotel. On our way back, the tourist guide stopped to visit the oldest and the biggest baobab tree in the country… 

Back in the hotel, we busied ourselves packing our things as we were leaving Zimbabwe that afternoon to cross the border to Livingstone, Zambia.

*to be continued*