A promise is a promise

Before I left the States, I told my parents “I promise not to get eaten by lions.”

(My dad also made me swear not to mess around with the women here, but there was always a better chance of my death coming from a lion than someone wearing lion print!)

Nevertheless, the comment was aimed to poke holes in the myth that lions and other predators roam the streets of African cities, but to ensure my anxious family, and girlfriend, that I would be safe over here.

Monday’s safari, was my first chance to live up to that promise, as it was the closest I was going to get to lions. This time there were eight of us; five Americans and three Serbians.

We met Stuart, our tour guide, at a quarter to five so we could arrive at Kruger National Park when gates opened an hour later. Our open-air truck was absolutely frigid as temperatures hovered around freezing and we were traveled at close to 80 kilometers an hour.

Stuart took the time to explain the predators and diet of each animal we saw at Kruger. He even provided the reasons for each species color but being in the back of the truck I rarely heard those detailed explanations.

(Arguably the most interesting was his note that hyenas are scavengers only 10 percent of the time. The rest of the time these grey, brown and black creatures that are 40 inches high when standing on all four legs find their own food.)

The day was a blur. It was the only day of my entire South African adventure that could not be chronicled with words.

The sight of wild zebras, antelopes, elephants, gnus and a half dozen other creatures were too much for me to describe. My observations that day were behind a lens. When I was not snapping pictures, my camcorder captured the sights and sounds of Africa.

We were like school children tempting fate as we asked Stuart to take us to places inside the park where there have been lion sightings. We saw hippopotamuses, impalas, vultures and hyenas before we finally hit the jackpot 10 minutes before 11.

Not only did we see lions, we saw two lionesses and a cub eating on a wildebeest under the shade of a tree. The lions were about 50 yards from the road, but in full sight of the cars that cautiously gathered to watch this feast with their own perspective — and recording equipment.

No one dared leave our truck. Armed with enough electronics to make me an attractive target in central Johannesburg I started shooting the incredible pictures. One of my videos captured one of the larger lions tearing into the flesh for a late morning meal.

Stuart told us lions have white bellies when they are full. On this morning all three lions had their own personal Thanksgiving.
Surely, my parents were thankful the meal those three lions ate was a wildebeest, not the person who was once dubbed Wilterbeast.