South African Safari

---

We just completed 3 days in Kruger National Park. We traveled hundreds of kilometers in an open jeep shooting animals with the Cannon G9 Camera.

One of the guides said that 10 to 20 people a year are killed by the lions in Kruger Park. Mostly unarmed people traveling to South Africa from the north on foot to find work.

In addition to driving, we hiked amongst the animals for 4 hours with armed park rangers. We walked in single file with two rangers at the front, Kim in the middle, and me at the back. During the walk I was a bit bothered that the guides never seemed to look back to see if we were being followed. So I kept a keen eye towards the rear as we walked.

Later I asked the guide why they spent no time looking back as we walked. I never saw them look back even once as we walked. They said that it was unusual for lions to attack humans from the side or the back. Lions mainly avoid humans because humans were their only predator for hundreds of years. He said that it was more likely that we would surprise a dangerous animal by walking into their area. The fear created by such a surprise is what causes them to attack. He said they are unlikely to stalk and attack us otherwise because of their generational memory of being hunted by humans.

The night before, around the fire at the Lodge, we had heard a story about eight men who were chased up a tree by a group of lions in Kruger Park. One lion climbed up the tree and grabbed the first man. The lions ate the first man while the other eight men watched from the tree. Over a period of several days, the lions ate each man one by one until there were only two men left. When the lions came for the seventh man, the eighth man ran to safety. He lived to tell the story. When lions catch one prey, they will let the other prey run away while they eat the one.

Lions are lazy when they have a meal in front of them.

When the guide finished his story about how Lions don't attack from the back, I asked him about the story of the 8 men in the tree I had heard the night before. He agreed that Lions do stalk and attack humans, and even do so from time to time, from the back. It is just more likely that you will be killed by walking forward into them and surprising them.

This is the link to Kruger:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruger_National_Park

Here is the link to our lodge:
http://www.grandkrugerlodge.co.za/

Here is the email to the guide who found the most animals the quickest:
Frank

---

« Previous Entry Next Entry »

Additional photos below

Photos: 53, Displayed: 23

Comments

[neeha]

nice pics..
wow...