My morning started earlier than usual as my roommate, Pascal, came home at 4.30, and no matter how hard one tries to be quiet it is impossible after you have been drinking all night. My alarm call was not far behind and it was off for my last day with the lions. The prospects for a good day were high, despite the date, and as we started the early morning sky was just beautiful and the temperature seemed cooler than normal. The journey to the lodge was the usual fun and games but today we created a new record with a total of 23 people on board Toyota pickup and with Haydon's guitar it really was a bit of a squash. Never mind, I really do enjoy travelling in the back through the bush feeling the wind in your face and having the banter with your colleagues more importantly I know that I won't be able to do this for much longer.
The first walk of the day was a brave shout for the organisers and for us, as they chose to take a male lion called Zulu with the 2 L's. Now Zulu is the most unfriendly off all the lions here at the lodge and always makes a run for the bush given half the chance, but it is felt we must persevere with him as they can see potential in him especially as a potential leader later on in the programme.
The lion keepers were all debating the rights and wrongs of the combinations that would best suit Zulu but were happy to give it a go and I can only say that the whole episode was an unmitigated disaster. We spent about an hour getting the lions out of the cage and with the chaos that Zulu had created we were not sure at times who were left in and who were out. When we eventually managed to start the walk the cats just ran with the lion walkers running around trying to keep track of which direction they had gone and even if they were all together. We eventually found them all up a tree and decided to let them stay until we were scheduled to get back. At least the return was OK as Zulu and the 2Ls seem to bolt home.
During the afternoon we had to say our goodbyes to the lions as well as the crew and it was quite sad as I have made a few good friends here. I still managed to have one last walk with the cubs which was nice especially as it was with Derrick and Roderick the 2 guides I like most.
The evening was going to be big night out for the house as almost everyone had agreed to go for cocktails in town. So as we all went to Rhapsodies, the town's best known cocktail lounge, and to be fair for a while all appeared to be going well. However the place was very busy, being a Friday night, and there were quite a few drunken locals (mostly white) who were being particularly vociferous. One older guy who must have been in his mid 60's was being particularly annoying and started to upset some of the girls so I attempted to have a quiet word with him. What happened next shocked me as he head butted me in the face, luckily I have a hard head and although he caught my nose it did not break and I am pleased to say that he did come off worse, with a particularly deep gash to his forehead and there was, as is the case with heads, a lots of blood. Luckily very little being mine. As he was removed from the bar there was the usual post scuffle commotion but we were able to continue the evening. However after about 15 minutes he tried to come back and as I decided enough was enough the police intervened and said that if I hit him I would be arrested, luckily he was escorted away for good this time. Apparently he is a known trouble maker but I wish we had been warned. It did not spoil the evening completely but did bring it to an earlier closing than was planned. I would like to say TIA (this is Africa) but fear it is a common problem at home as well, but rarely would it be involving a couple of individuals in the mid 60's and late 40's, so in this case I will say TIA.
No comments:
Post a Comment