Wildlife Encounters in Antelope Park

Our elephant encounter.

The day started out with a nice sleep in as we didn’t have any activities until 9:30.  It was also nice to not having to pack the tents up as we’re staying one more night here.  We did hear the herons first thing this morning as they have decided to build their rookery right above the campsite.  We had to move the tents once already as the tents got splattered with bird pooh from them pooping and it splattering down between the branches!

For the elephant interaction we were taken up to their stalls where the trainers introduced the animals and explained a bit about their training, etc.  The elephants were rescued as calves from a drought in the 1990’s and are now in their twenties and thirties.  Apparently, they can live into their 80’s in captivity and 60 in the wild as once they lose their molars they end up dying of starvation.  They use positive reinforcement through treats and also earn their keep through photo ops as we were watching and elephant rides through the park.

Feeding, photo op with our elephant.

After we had some down time and then we headed for the horse ride.  Alyssa was really keen to get on a horse and was looking forward to riding with Ines, her French buddy.  It was a pretty big group but we all headed out with all levels of riding abilities.  It was a

Picture from Alyssa's horse.

pretty relaxed outfit and once we got to our assigned horses we were told to get on and head out!  Out in the park we didn’t see much at first but we got to know the group a bit.  There were 10 from our bus and a few others from other tours and solo travellers.  This one guy from England was a bit of a dope who had never ridden a horse, had no control over his horse, dropped the reins to take selfies of himself and even lit up a cigarette part way through the ride!  I couldn’t believe it especially when he dropped it in the tall, dry grass!  Some people... 

Alyssa with Amelia and Tilda.

It didn’t take too long after that when the animals started to appear; zebra, Impala, wilder beasts and then we found the giraffes.  It was amazing how close they would let you come on horseback.  My horse was trying to spit something up it had eaten and I got within 15 feet of one.  We saw five in all and a few zebras actually came up and approached us to hang out with the giraffe.  What a great way to see animals!  On the way back the English guy was always trying to get to the front and was bumping other horses so one of them kicked him and he got a bit of a gash in his leg.... I think they call that karma!  We all had a blast and Alyssa gets to go back tomorrow to try some cantering.

We had an early dinner so that four of us from the tour could do the night encounter with the lions.  We were all pretty excited as we really didn’t know what to expect but were told that you go out hunting with the lions and if they do get a kill, well just say nature takes its course.  So off we went in the back of an old Land Rover with three rows of seats and completely open air. The front right seat was reserved for the spotter while the back outside seats were for the lion trainers.  Andrea, our friend from Australia and I decided we should take the back two spots between the trainers and in retrospect I’m not completely sure that was the best decision but we thought it was at the time!

Alyssa and I hanging our with the wildlife.  As you can see they weren't phased by us at all.

Out on the road, as the sun was setting, we asked the guys in the back what their role was.  Their reply was to keep us safe, which was comforting at the time.  We went up to the pen with the three year old lionesses just as it turned almost completely dark which gave it a

Just after the lions ran at us.  She's 10 feet behind the truck!

surreal, spooky feeling as we approached the pen with the lions pacing back and forth.  The three guys in the back jumped out and you could hear them entering the pen and talking with the animals which they call by name.  A fair bit of time went by with no action so the driver got out and stood beside Andrea and when suddenly there was a flash of activity, the driver jumped up, said, “oh shit” and dove back into the cab of the truck.  So here we were, eight of us in the back of an open truck with two lions charging out of their cage right up to the truck... holy, I almost shat my pants!  So much for the guys protecting us as they were still in the cage!  One more lion came bounding out shortly after and a few minutes later the lion handlers came out and jumped in and we headed out with one lion in front and two right behind us, not 10 feet away!!!

Red neck lion walk!

So basically it is a red neck dog walk with lions but for this you drive around with a red spot light looking for prey that you get the lions on and they are supposed to kill it.  Right away we spotted eyes with no luck but shortly after we found two zebra that ran off in the direction of the lions were.  What a crazy experience to see and hear lions running through the grass after the zebra.  The prey turned and ran, evading the lions so we went off to collect the girls around the area we saw them last.  We found two of them but could find the third so they just stopped the truck and just started calling, “come on, come on, come on.”  After some grunting and more calling she came stalking out of the grasses with eyes glowing in the spotlight.  We moved on with lions in tow and every once in a while they would catch a scent and head off the road where we would follow behind in the Land Rover bouncing through the grasses and ducking under spiny trees.

Collecting the beasts at the end of the night. 

As the night progressed we only lost the lions three more times and they would just turn around in search.  Every once in a while our two guides in the back would just jump off and grab their short wood sticks to cut across the hillside in search of the three huge lionesses with their small flash lights.  You could see them across the way and then the radio would jump to life, telling us they found them and we’d go collection everyone again.  I sat there thinking, it these cats don’t want to go back in their cage, it’s  going to make for a very interesting night!  Eventually, we headed back toward the pen and after having to wake up my protector once, everything worked out.  It took a bit of prodding and slamming their sticks down on the ground in front a two charging lions who didn’t want to go into their pen but the girls got locked up and the trainers called the “all clear” to the camp below. 

We headed back and as we approached the camp, we found all the Impala we had been hoping to find all night.  They were all hanging around the camp where we weren’t allowed to hunt.  They are definitely not stupid!  As we drove back, I looked back at the night and thought wow, what a surreal and crazy encounter!