Walking with Lions

Trip Start Sep 04, 2008
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Trip End Oct 13, 2008


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Flag of Zimbabwe  ,
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

So we leave this news about going into Zimbabwe until AFTER we have made it back. All governments around the world suggest that travellers don't visit the country because of the Magarbe regime, but the truth on the ground is very different (well at least in this part of the country). The Victoria Falls township has been heavily hit by tourists not visiting anymore so we thought - hey - if we're here, we may as well see the Falls from the other side - afterall - we had heard it was better!!! Oh and not to mention we had also booked in to walk with Lion cubs.

So our day starts with a 6.15am pick up and drive to the Zambian boarded, we are stamped out and transfer to Zimbabwe. Visa's into the passports and we arrive for our lion walk around 7.30am. Have a bit or a breifing, handed a stick that seems to be the right size, considering we were walking with lion cubs right? you know the cute little ones... Paying for dinner
Paying for dinner
 . wrong.... when we walked to our meeting point we were introduced to 2 males that were 17months old, nearly fully grown, nothing cute and cuddle about them, they were big - very BIG, and we didn't have a 4WD between us and them... just a stick...

The program with visited with today is a 4 stage conservation program that enables lions to be reintroduced to the wild. Our day consisted over an hour walking with the lions and having photos. I just wish I could upload some to show you... we were actually walking beside them and touching them with our hands. It was by far the highlight of our trip so far. We have about 200 photos and a few minutes of video. (would love to explain more, but the internet is really pricy today).

So after our lion walk we had breakfast at one of the safari lodges and driving back to the border. Of course we still had to see the falls from the Zimbabwe side so we ventured into the park for about 2 hours. Much better than the Zambian side, we were able to see so much more water and could also stand in the Falls water spray/mist that everyone had told us about. It was so refreshing especially since I think the temp had climbed to the low 40s again.

Heaps of photos later and a LOOOOONG walk across the border and we were safely back in Zambia.
Tomorrow, we are on Elephant Back Safari's so I'll try to update again.
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