Photos courtesy of Arlene Dufour & Dave Heron
I've done some fairly crazy things during my 6+ decades on terra firma...
- Questionable flights on Soviet built aircraft.
- A late night subway trip from Manhattan to Brooklyn in search of a recommended pizza joint.
- Agreeing to a daytrip which combined wine tasting and hill climbing in the Swiss Alps.
But, all of the above pale in comparison to the antics a few weeks back on the Serengeti Plains.
It started out as just another everyday game drive in the heart of Africa. Elephants by the dozens surrounding our vehicle to the point we simply couldn't move until the herd decided to clear the road ahead.
About a thousand clicks of the old Nikon later, we found ourselves flanked on all sides by giraffes nibbling away on leaves in the trees some 25 ft. above our heads... a few more photos.
Despite a half dozen or so hyenas cutting us off in their rush to savour a fresh carcass, it was time to move on in search of real excitement.
"LIONS!" our guide exclaimed and not 100 ft. from where we were lay a mating pair of Tanzania's finest.
Mentally, I questioned the wisdom of getting too close to the happy couple however we were assured that it was perfectly safe to approach... slowly.
Which we did.
Slowly.
Future safari travellers take note: lions are not all that different from most people - when the camera crew turns up - spontaneity seemingly dissipates. Romeo and Juliet looked over in our direction, and promptly commenced their afternoon nap. Which wasn't really all that exciting at least for the gawkers.
"Look over there," someone cried. "A lone male and he's a big one!"
Armed with fresh batteries in the camera and a full clip of megabytes in the card, we approached the big fella. Alas he too appeared to be as active as Team Sweden in the 3rd period of the gold medal game.
About 2 min. into gazing at this seemingly docile beast, someone in their wisdom suggested, "Hey Dave, grab your guitar and sing to him - maybe he'll react".
With the same sense of misguided quest for adventure as indicated in the beginning of this tale, I complied.
As an old drummer who's faced his share of hostile audiences, I can now tell you that nothing has ever come close to the reaction Simba exhibited after only 4 chords of The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
400 lb. of semi-startled and apparently very annoyed wild beast is definitely a sight you don't want to see coming directly at you more than once... Not even once, in fact.
To be fair, the 6 of us were in an all metal Toyota Land Cruiser. With the windows open. And the retractable roof propped in the open position. None of which gave us any degree of solace with Leo quickly closing what was originally a 60 ft. gap.
About 20 ft. from the vehicle, the big guy looked up at us and, I swear he was grinning at the time, casually shifted direction and swaggered off behind the vehicle in search of a more tranquil piece of real estate.
The way my heart was pumping, I knew my cardiologist would have been proud of me. My psychiatrist - not so much.
But we got the shot. And it was almost worth it. Had it not been for the $300 cleaning bill presented to us by the owners of the Land Cruiser.
Dave Heron is usually cleaning up at Pace Setter Travel & Tours in Okotoks Alberta.
