I recently came across a post on Instagram from a wildlife photographer who lives in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, about a lion she recently captured. She wrote that he was the most beautiful lion she had ever seen.
This made me think and indeed realised how many times I have told myself ‘this is the first time…’ while on safari and despite the hundredth game drives I have done. I thought that it would be wonderful to hear more stories from people's first times on safaris, no matter how often they have been. Because the truth is, we never forget.
Reading the stories of the 5 people below, including two young children, all of whom are clients of mine, gave me goose bumps, tears in my eyes and a huge wave of emotions mixed with terrible melancholy as I miss Africa.
I hope you enjoy those accounts and if you too would like to tell your story, let me know as I would be delighted to write more blog about 'First times on safari'.
Happy reading!
~ First Gorilla encounter ~, from Rosie
I met this amazing creature and I’m never ever going to forget her. We rose at 6am and trekked for 12km through thick, steep jungle to join the incredible trackers who spent the early hours finding the group of gorillas for us. Getting this close to such a magnificent being is something I never imagined myself doing. I was a bit nervous as have never trekked that far, let alone uphill through brush under the African sun, but it was just such an adventure! Also been massively impressed by the warmth and professionalism of the guys at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and their approach to conservation. Still buzzing. If you ever get the chance to come to Uganda and see the gorillas, do it! Cannot recommend enough.
~ First safari ~, from Johanna
© Johanna Birch 2019. All Rights Reserved.
Where does one even begin when it comes to talking about Africa. This was my first Safari (and certainly not the last); I could talk about every day we were there in detail for hours on end. One thing that really sticks out in my mind was the first African sunset I ever saw. There are no sufficient words to describe its beauty. The blood orange red fills the sky completely and the sun is a huge ball of fire like you’ve never seen. As the sun sets everything around you turns a deep black creating magnificent silhouettes. As if the world is two-toned, red and black. It is so peaceful you never want it to end. When you add wild animals hunting and being hunted to the mix it gets even more exciting. Then add your preferred cocktails (sun downers) to the equation and you are set for a perfect evening. It can’t be topped. It leaves a mark on you.
~ First lions sighting ~, from Layla, age 6
The first time I saw a lion in the wild our guide woke us up at 9:00pm saying they found a pride of lions and wanted to take us to see them. It was so amazing being in a jeep so close to lions! They looked so cool, it was really amazing how the lions did not try to eat me. It was so astonishing seeing a lion that was not in the zoo and was in real life. I was scared but exhilarated being 4 metres away from 7 lions!
~ First Elephant sighting ~ from, Elijah, age 7
The first time I saw an elephant was in Africa. One of the elephants got so close to me I could have touched it. It was so so big if I climbed on the roof of the jeep I could still not reach its head. It was so quiet sneaking up I nearly had a heart attack when I looked to my left and it was right there breathing on me. The first time they let us out of the jeep our guide showed us and let us hold an elephants skull. It was huge and very very heavy! That was one of the most exciting parts of the trip.
~ First lion encounter ~, from Jaana
Naboisho conservancy in Kenya is my place to go and get in touch with nature and wildlife. My first trip there was way back in 2012 and I did not have any idea how amazing this place is. The ride from Nairobi to Naboisho in those days was long, sweaty and dusty. It took around 6 hours on a sandy and very uneven road to reach this paradise. I was doing wildlife volunteering in there and as soon as I entered the area from the gates that proceeded a fast flowing river that we had to go through since the conservancy is a private one. It was like entering another world. Outside the gates was dusty land that was stripped of grass and brush because of the over grazing of livestock. As soon as you get into the conservancy, it’s lush, green bushes and grass welcomes you with zebras, impalas and yes baboons.
~ First and rare sighting: Lions versus Cheetahs ~, from Jaana
Last year in the Bush we were searching the lions pride in their territory. It was one of those lovely, warm breezy evenings, an hour and a half before sunset. The birds were flying around us, zebras grazing in a tall grass and few baboons running across the sandy road ahead of us We were coming up a hill and I spotted a cheetah on a kill, just by the road, on my side of the truck. I find it such a rush when I’m the first one to spot an animal in a bush. Af first I just saw her and the small impala. Then as we stopped I noticed 4 tiny cubs close by, they were hiding from us. The mother cheetah was still panting from the hunt and was observing us with a caution. We all sat very quietly, the guide whispered that this was the first time anyone has seen these Cubs by this cheetah.
All the cheetahs are also monitored closely. We were so excited and slowly tried to take photos of the mother and Cubs for identifying purposes. Soon they were comfortable with us and started to play and eat the kill. The Cubs had that lovely Mohawk on them, they were hardly visible from the high grass. It was such a lovely scene. The sun was going lower and the golden hour was at hand.
All of a sudden the mom cheetah got really nervous. She froze, stated to look at the certain, distant spot. We tried to see what she was looking at. Bad feeling came upon us, we knew we were at the lion pride territory. Some of us monitored the cheetahs as others started to scan the bush for lions. The cheetah mom came by out truck, still agitated and started to make sounds to the Cubs, they all put their heads up from the kill and as by some magic, they all turned around and started to run to the big bushy area.
Mom had called the warning sound to them. It was obvious. To our amazement all of a sudden this huge female lion came rushing towards our truck from the other side of the road, she was completely concealed by the vegetation before that. The lion rushed towards the cheetah mom who now is full combat mode, knowing the cubs are behind her, hiding. So the the lion starts to chase the cheetah from the kill. We did not know if she wanted the kill, cheetah or the Cubs or all of it. It was very chaotic for a moment. The lion chased the cheetah up the hill few times, the cheetah returned every time, then another lion came snd now the poor cheetah mom had two lions after her.
While this was going on we moved the truck by the bush were the cubs were. As we were doing this I had a look down the hill and saw more lions coming with their cubs to were we were. This lovely scene prior the lions suddenly has turned to real time rare life moment that I have never witnessed before. We just sat there, observing the lion pride marching up the hill, while the lions had now chased the poor cheetah mom way up the hill. We were hoping that they did not kill the mom, while we were guarding the cubs in the bush. The truck were now between the tiny cheetah cubs and the lion pride on a kill.
The sun is now low, it’s getting darker and the evening is getting chilly. We are desperate to find out if the cheetah mom survived when there was a distinctive sound in the nearby which the guide told us that it was the mom calling. The rangers came, cheetahs are so endangered that they are monitored especially if they are in distress. We left this rare, exciting and somewhat distressing scene knowing that the first sunlight our truck will be retuning to find out what happened during the night. And yes the lion pride seemed to be in good form, we checked that all the lion cubs were still alive. Took the photos. And marvelled how amazing the nature truly is. The cheetah mom survived, the cubs were all good and we found them in a different area few days later.
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Geraldine
www.rareencounters.co.uk
@rareencounters
+44 781 555 3834
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