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Published: August 30th 2007
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Arrived at Antelope Park on the 21st August. What a beautiful place! We set up our tents on the river bank and were greeted by 4 elephants across the other side of the bank who were enjoying the cool water. It was a lovely sight. In the evening we had an intro DVD about all the activities on offer and then spent the rest of the night sitting around a sunken campfire under the stars. A very relaxing evening! We were in for a shock though because as soon as we walked away from the fire we realised just how cold the evening was. I hadn't anticipated that it would ever be that cold whilst on the trip especially as the days have been scorching! Needless to say, I didn't get the best nights sleep!
The next morning we were up bright and early as we had our lion walk. It was amazing! I never believed that we would get so close to lions that were quite big! The two lion cubs we went walking with were Ltalo and Landela and both were 15 month old males and surprisingly big! We got to see them playing togther, got so close
that we could sit behind then and have our pictures taken with them and if brave enough you could also stroke them, which i did - an absolutely awesome experience, especially as African lions are now on the 'vulnerable' list as the numbers of them are dwindling. There are only about 20,000 now left.
A little later in the day, Hannah, Helen, April and I went horse riding to look for game. We only walked and considering that I am no horse rider that was plenty fast enough for me, lol. My horse was called Brandy and once we got to know each other the ride went quite smoothly. The scenary around us was very beautiful and peaceful. We managed to get quite close to a few animals - impalas, kudus, zebras and giraffes. The best thing about being on horseback was that the horses are let out at night to roam with the other animals which enbaled us to get closer to the animals than we could have anticipated as they are at ease with each other. Two of the giraffes we saw, enjoyed the attention and gave us a bit of a show entwining their necks around
each other and posing for the cameras - definately not camera shy, lol.
Next on the list activities was the Lion Breeding Programme information talk which was very interesting. It has been running for about 20 years and initially the time was spent investigating how the best ways would be to breed lions successfully and eventually release them into the wild. Apparently to date, all attempts to re-integrate lions in other countries into their natural habitats has failed! The keepers at Antelope Park are hoping to release their first ever lions at the end of the month - 7 in total. It will be the first attempt in Zimbabwe and everyone has their fingers crossed that it will be successful! The lions will only be released after the age of 2 years when it is believed that they are in their hunting prime. They get lots of practice as the lions go out on many day and night stalks to hone their hunting skills. Our final activity of our first day in Antelope Park was to actually go out on a night stalk. Penduka and Phoenix were the lion cubs taken out. The experience was pretty amazing. I was really excited and the atmosphere was full of expectation and nervous anticipation for what we would see. That night we covered a great distance with the lions, trying to find game that they could kill. The lions had a couple of close encounters but unfortunately we were not lucky enough to see a kill, alhtough the thrill of the chase was very exhilerating.
The next day we had an early morning appointment with some younger lion cubs - Echo and Etsoha who were 5 months old. They were extremely cute and very playful with each other. We got to go in the pen with them and have our pictures taken with them. One of them took a liking to my watch and got his paws out to play with it whilst it was on my wrist. Could have stayed playing with them all day, but they were much in demand by all the other tourists - they were quite the celebrities!
After breakfast, I then got to ride an elephant!!! Was very uncomfortable as their backs are very bony and very wide. I came off walking a bit like John Wayne! Hannah and I sat on the elephant together. He was the youngest (17 yrs) and had been rescued from a drought in Zimbabwe in 1992. I was shocked to learn that each elephant consumes 150kg of food each day! That is some eating! We had a bit of a fright at the beginning of our ride when the elephant behind ours grabbed the tail of ours with her trunk and our elephant bolted! I thought I was going to fall off! But all in all it was a great experience riding an elephant, but I wouldn't advise being on one for too long!
At luch time we went to watch the lion feeding. You could see all the lions in their cages pacing up and down reday for their lunch. Once the carcases of meat had been put in place, the gates were let up and the lions raced in full pelt to find their food. It was very exciting to watch and quite scary. I'm glad their was a fence in front of us, else we could have been lion meat! The best part was watching the older male lions being let in because as they were let in, their massive manes bounced from side to side and the force at which they speed towards the meat was very impressive - I got some great video footage!
After all the excitement of the morning I had a pretty chilled afternoon lazing in the sun until later when Hannah, Helen and I took a canoe out on the river to take in the beautiful views and practice our paddling skills. After a sticky start when we ended up stuck in some reeds, the rest of the canoeing went without a hiccup.
On our last day, we got to see elephant training - they are amazingly intelligent animals and put on a great performance for us. They followed commands really well and could turn around, distinguish their left from their right, play football and throw balls with their trunks! We also got to feed them, either through their mouths or their trunks which are very much like a vacuum cleaner!
In the afternoon Elissa, Hannah, Una, Jason, Neil, Tom and I had a couple of games of volleyball which was great fun. Then I got pursuaded by Elissa to play touch rugby with some of the guys from Absolute Africa. It was quite an interesting experience as I've never played before and had absolutely no idea about the rules! I ended up spending more time on the floor than on my feet and came away feeling pretty bruised, lol, thanks to the slippery wet grass. It was enjoyable though and all the guys we played with were very friendly and up for a laugh.
So, that ends my stay at Antelope Park. I would recommend it to anyone because it is an experience of a lifetime. I got to experience so much and will never forget the fantastic times I had there.
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mum
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antelope park
Sounds absolutely amazing - what fantastic experiences you are having on your trip, love you loads mum xx