Antelope Park

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Trip Start Sep 02, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Jan 23, 2008 Next
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  Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Friday, December 21, 2007

I have just had the most fantastic & unforgetable couple of days.  We're at Antelope Park, which was set up in 1979 & its main purpose is lion breeding.  It's a beautiful campsite set out in the middle of the bush.  They have 61 lions, 4 breeding males & 10 breeding females who they use to breed cubs.  The hand rear & train them to hunt & survive before releasing them back into the wild.  Our first morning we did a lion walk. We took out 3 lions who were all 17 months old.  It was amazing walking beside them & touching them.  They were pretty boystrous though & you had to watch you back!  The lion handlers had given us a safety talk & we all had sticks which we were meant to give to the lions to play with if they were getting a bit too friendly.  We saw some game which they looked interested in but didn't attempt to hunt them.  Apparently later on that same day a girl from one of the other trucks was attacked by one the lions.  It grabbed her around the neck & wrestled with her

Zim dollars (approx. $10!!)

.  Luckily she got away with some scratches & a sprained ankle!  It just shows you that they are real, wild animals & you can't mess with them.  Did the lion breeding programme which was really interesting & saw some lion feeding - fantastic!  They put a pile of meat by the fence infront of us & then released the lions.  They raced towards us & fought over the meat, biting & growling.  The noise was amazing!  We alo did cub viewing where we got to go into an enclosure with 2 cubs who were 7 months old.  They were really playful so it was pretty good.  Also did a horse ride which was better than what I;d thought it would be (apart from the sore bum)!  We saw giraffes & zebra up very close & they even walked with us for a while.

But the best moment here & probably of the trip so far was today swimming with elephants!  I was a bit nervous (putting in lightly) especially watching the forst group of people get flung around in the water.  Me & Elly got on our elephant called Amaii with our handler Anisto.  Amaii then thought it would be funny to run into tht water.  Before we knew it we were being thrown around in the water.  They like to roll from one side to the other & then stand up & nose dive back in.  Elly was screaming in my ear the whole time.  It was hilarious but pretty scary at the same time when you got pulled under.  Just my luck aswell I got the most playful elephant so we spent more time under the water then above it

Me & Gem setting a new fashion trend

.  Our handler was loving it - the more we screamed, the more we went under.  Fantastic!

I forgot to mention it is freezing here - so I know how you're all feeling at home....well kind of, it's not wuite freezing.  We've all been wrapped up in trousers, fleeces, trainers & socks.  I even slept in my room (yes upgraded again)  with my sleeping bag, sheet & blanket!

Will probably next email in Vic Falls at Christmas, but if I don't before then
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  Hope you're all in the festive spirit! Have a fantastic time!
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Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Walking with lions	Lions playing	Good shot!	Just like walking a dog
They were semi-wild!	Horse riding	Lion cub	Playing with cubs
Lion feeding	Elephant swimming	Getting chucked off	We survived
Camelion	Rhino trekking	Rhino trekking	Mother & baby
Rock formations	Matopos National Park	You'll be there a while boys!

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