King of the Jungle

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight!  Thank god the lions weren’t sleeping last Saturday, because we were going to go visit them.  While most of the group went to Jeffrey’s Bay for the day, eight of us hopped into two taxis and headed over to the Seaview Lion Park just 25 minutes outside of Port Elizabeth.

Top L to R - Sami, Carolyn, Emily & Me.  Bottom L to R - Christine, Bri & Anne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After entering the park, we drove on a dirt road and saw giraffes and some springbok.  At the first stop, we saw huge lions and some tigers, but they were sleeping.  One more quick drive up a hill and we were finally there.  The view was amazing – now I get why they call it Seaview Lion Park.  It was time to meet Simba, Nala & Mufasa.  Most of the group went to play with the lion cubs, but Bri, Carolyn and I decided to try out the bigger lions. 

Me, Bri, Carolyn & a female lion.

We went to see four 11 month old lions.  They looked pretty full grown to me though.  There were two males and two females – all siblings!  They were all laying on a big wooden platform.  Bri was the first one to try and pet them.  The workers said that you have to pat the lions very firmly, otherwise if it’s too soft it feels like a fly and they will try to swat you.  

However, Bri got the first swat anyway.  The lion pawed her in the face!  But she was ok and the workers said she was just trying to play.  After that I was a little nervous, but tried next anyway.  As we were taking a picture, the lion turned to look at me and I jumped back.  My heart starting racing I was so anxious, but it was so cool!  

We each took turns petting different lions and taking pictures.  They were so cute and their eyes big and beautiful.  One of the lions got down and kissed me on the knee – her tongue was so soft!  Then she started playing with the Velcro on my shoe.  Later we all tried to go up on the platform with them, but all of the sudden they all starting standing up and we got scared so jumped off quickly.  

As strange as it sounds, the lions are pretty harmless because they all grew up around people; no one has ever been attacked at Seaview Lion Park.  The calmer we were, the calmer they were.  We also found out they eat a half a horse or cow every three days.  

The whole experience was really surreal.  Even though I was so nervous, I loved every minute of it.  I still can’t believe I was playing with real live lions.  That is one thing I never imagined myself doing in life, but I’m so glad I did it.