LIONS!!!

The Lion and Cheetah Park are close by,we went there so we could actually see some lions (the safari trips were unsuccessful in that area). At first though, when we first started to drive into the fenced in area, yes we drove around with the lions right outside our doors, we didn't see ANY! But then, I believe Ally or Spencer, saw the first one up on a rock. They blend in so well.

We then started to spot them all on top of the rocks. Here is a lioness.

There were three or four males on this one.

They look so regal.

Then we went to a different portion of the park to see the other animals and some caged lions.

These lioness' were HUGE! Also one just kept looking at the kids. We went with some of our friends here and their kids (who are both little) and these lions just kept their eyes on them the whole time. If a kid walked up close the lioness' would get closer. Kinda scary? Yes.

This was one who wouldn't look away from any kid.

This little man is one of my most favorite to capture in photos.

This is one of my favorite pictures of him and the baby cub, first looking at each other...

...then both looking away.

This is also another one of my MOST favorite pictures.

Is that not just the cutest thing ever??? Wish I didn't have take it behind the fence.

These baby cubs were I think just 2 or 3 months old! They were so cute. I wish I could go over to the place everyday.

They let you go into the fenced in area to pet the baby cubs. Two at a time so Spencer and Tyler went in together. I was nervous for them, so Spencer was a bit more nervous, but they loved it.

Then Ally and I got to go in, and the guy was holding one of the cubs and just handed him off to me!!!! I was slightly terrified, and excited at the same time...can you tell?? :) He was heavy but so soft too.

Then we watched them play around with each other.

Just like little kids.

This is an 8 month or a year old cub. When he saw the little kids he couldn't take his eyes off of them either.

So that was our fun with the lions!! It was a blast, and we loved having Tyler's family come out and visit us. We wish they could have stayed longer, and I believe they wanted to stay longer too, but we all had to get back to work and school. Thanks again for coming out!!!

Lion and Cheetah Park

After our trip to Victoria Falls and Hwange, we were still hoping to see a lion. So the last weekend that our family was here, we decided to go to the Lion and Cheetah Park, which is only 45 minutes away. Even though the lions and cheetahs were in enclosed spaces, we still had fun seeing them and other animals.

On the road again.

Meeting Tommy the Turtle, who is 300 years old. Not sure who has been around to know that Tommy has been around for 300 years, but that's what they told us. I just know he was big!

Lifting himself up, probably his workout for the day.

This crocodile was so flat, but as soon as the kids got close to see him, he started to move more towards the fence! yikes!

A cheetah.

Hogs playing in the mud. They were HUGE! What I imagined the pig next to Wilber in Charlotte's Web to look like. Plus that black one has like tusks in his mouth! They also started fighting a little while we moved away, and were making all kinds of noises.

A Hyena.

Yes, we did see actual lions there, but I'm devoting them to the next post!

THE Story

Now I am about to tell you one of the best stories that happened to us while on this trip and it happened the last day, nay, the LAST MOMENTS we were there!

Because it was the last moments there, I did not have my camera at the ready, so these pictures are just from the internet.

As background, Tyler's dad had spent the morning in a hide overlooking the water hole. At breakfast, Tyler's dad said nothing exciting had happened at the hide and Spencer replied that something exciting does not happen everyday, but Spencer was wrong.

Setting up the story: Myself and Tyler's mom were sitting in the lodge while Ally and Spencer ran around and sometimes sat with us. Tyler and his dad were getting the extra gas we brought into the car, so we wouldn't run out on the way home. They needed a funnel to get the gas in, so John the manager was helping out and the other staff were helping some too. We were parked somewhat close to the gate into the place. They have an electric fence that is about 4 or 5 feet tall that goes around the property, also gates at two sides to go out to the park and the other to go out to go home.

While Tyler and Tyler's dad were getting the gas filled up, Tyler's dad looked down the dirt road and saw something.

Two painted dogs standing there. They couldn't believe it, because painted dogs are rarely seen also. So John told the guys, "Let's go take a closer look." Tyler was all for it, his dad seemed to be too, but was a bit hesitate. See, painted dogs are not like regular house dogs, they are wild, and vicious. But they started to walk towards them and the dogs just stopped and looked at them. Then over to their left they hear some rustling and a Kudu jumps across the road only a few feet away. The Kudu continued into the woods and jumped over the fence (remember the fence is 4 or 5 feet high and if the kudu stood right next to it then it would be the height of the kudus legs!)! But from the property back over to the other side!!! Which means it had already jumped into the property, got his legs shocked, and then jumped back over out of the property BREAKING the fence!

So then, unbeknownst to Tyler's mom and I, which we were not aware any of this was going on, the painted dogs ran away, and Tyler and company all ran after the painted dogs following them around the outskirts of the property. Then the waiter comes running in to where we are sitting and said "The painted dogs are chasing the Kudu!!!" The Kudu had run around the edge of the fence and then jumped back into the property right in front of our cabin!!!! So I ran out to the grass with the waiter and the kudu stopped dead in his tracks seeing us. Then on the other side of the fence we see the painted dogs jumping up and down. They looked like bunny rabbits!

So then the kudu jumped back over the fence and ran away from the painted dogs. We ran around again to go after them, but then they ran too far away. We don't think the dogs got the kudu, but it was pretty fantastic to see all of this action right on the lodges front yard!!

That is the big, great story we had to tell everyone. I believe we talked about it for at least the first couple of hours of the eight hour road trip back home. :) Pretty amazing, right??

The Leopards

On our last drive through Hwange, we were hoping to see some kind of lion, leopard or cheetah. Dume was trying really really hard to have that happen too. He would track lion tracks, and ask everyone we past where the lions were. Usually we missed them by one day or even one morning, meaning we would drive somewhere in the afternoon and that was where they had been in the morning. In fact, Dume found the spot where the lions, lioness' and baby cubs were laying down. We saw where the grass was all smashed down from them. After seeing how much grassed they pushed down, I didn't think I wanted to see lions anymore....'cause they seemed HUGE!

Anyway, we did not see anything on that last day besides the usual animals. While driving back to the lodge we were just looking around like always, then all of the sudden Dume slams on the breaks and yells "Cheetah! Cheetah!" and starts pointing. We look over to the side of the road and he drives over to where it is, and then he realizes "No, it's a leopard!!"

Now remember Lions are seen quite a bit, weekly probably. Leopards are RARELY ever seen. I mean they are the rarest!!

So when Dume said there was a leopard we were all excited, then I started looking around and found ANOTHER ONE!!!! TWO leopards on the side of the road. Unfortunately they did not like us coming over to where they were so they started running back into the forest. It was pretty awesome though. They were a bit different than what I thought they would look like, but they are fast, and jump quite high.

Here is my attempt at taking a picture of them running away. Can you see anything? Yeah, I thought I could too.

Here it is blown up to the middle part. I want to say right there in the middle behind the bush is where the leopard is, but who knows. They were just too fast, and I was not ready. Plus I was too busy looking at them. :)

So that is our fun thing about the last drive through Hwange...LEOPARDS!! Next post, something even better, well almost.

Last of Hwange

Our last game drive around Hwange was good. We didn't see too many new things.

I was able to get this cool picture of a male Kudu and a male Impala, just to compare sizes. The Kudu's are HUGE!

We also saw this family of ostriches. The dad is there but not in the picture, but that is the mom and the three little kids.

Here is a family picture of them all.

A nice zebra picture.

And on our way back to the Lodge we saw the Presidential herd again! This time I tried to get one of the baby, but it was too dark, but you can see how tiny it is standing by it's mom. Just up to her knee.

Next post will be about one of our favorite things that happened in Hwange.

Morning Drive in Hwange

The next morning we decided to go out on a drive with Dume, he is the BEST guide ever! Every time he takes us out he just wants us to see so much, so he would track lion tracks and try to find them for us, and would just love whenever we would experience something great....which you may see at the end of this post.

Crowned Crane. I liked it just for the crowned part on his head.

The ONLY good picture I got of a Sable on this trip. They are very shy.

Marshall eagle. They are the ones who have a 5-6 foot wingspan.

Baby Zebra!! Still all fuzzy.

Giraffe sticking his tongue out at us...yep a giraffe's tongue is blackish-pinkish.

First time we got to see some Roan. Pretty cool antelope.

I thought the way their face is formed is pretty cool.

Okay so we are on the road back to the Lodge, when all of the sudden I'm looking out my side of the jeep and I see all of these elephants hanging out by the trees. I yell for Dume to stop and he stops, but then the elephants start running!!!! This is the picture I got of them doing that.

So do you know what Dume did??? He backed up the whole way so we were right in the way of the elephants!!! See...such a great guide! Anywho, half of the elephants had run across and the rest were waiting for us to get out of the way. So we backed up a little more, and then the rest ran!

Do you see all the little babies in there?? There was one baby that was a newborn, because it was only 3 feet high! So tiny and cute! Most likely they were running because the babies were around them.

One more thing about this elephant herd is that it's the Presidential herd, meaning the President says that this herd has to be protected at all cost.

Here is Ally posing with the elephants. Oh and you see how happy Dume is??

Got back to the Lodge and Tyler played with Ally and Spencer.

Our own Drive

Our second day at Hwange we decided to go and drive through the park for ourselves to find some lions/cheetahs/leopards...oh, and other animals too.

A nursery of impalas with some moms herding them across the street.

This was often the scene from the back seat. Stopping, and Tyler and Todd getting out the binoculars to look and see what they could find.

A monumental mound of termites! Yuck!

Love this picture too, cloudy skies were around that day and we did get some rain. And we saw some elephants.

Elephant taking a mud bath.

A BIG male Kudu with horns.

Peek-a-boo Zebra...we see you.

Comparison picture:

Here is what we looked out from our room in Ivory Lodge in October.

Different room, but still look how green it is!!

At the end of the day, we did not see any lions/cheetahs/leopards. Perhaps in the next post!!