Lions, Tigers, and... Hippos, Oh My!

Ever since arriving in Cape Town back in August (has it really been 3 months already?!), I’ve been itching to see some game.

You all know that SA is home to some of the most beautiful and unique animals on the planet. Getting the chance to see these animals on their native continent has always been one of the most exciting luxuries that this trip offered me.

I finally got my chance last week when Justin took me to the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve. Amazingly, this game reserve is a mere 45 minute drive outside Joburg. I was stunned at how little time it took to go from concrete, traffic, and chaos to clean air, open savannah, and tranquillity.

Springbok -- SA's national rugby mascot

The park is set on over 1200 hectares of land and costs 140 Rand per person (that’s only $20 Canadian!) for complete access to all the park offers – the animals enclosures, entrance to the animal nursery, swimming pool, playground, the reptile display, daily park shows/presentations, and picnic area.

If that wasn’t awesome enough, our $20 also got us into one of the coolest parts of the park itself – the Wonder Cave.

The name may suggest juvenile cheezyness, but the cave itself was anything but.

Hard not to be extraordinary considering it is around 2200 million years old.

This was my first time in a cave and I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t scared. Actually, my fear took me by surprise. Leading up to our decent down a flight of stairs so steep you literally had to hold onto the railing, I never really thought twice about how terrifying such an expedition may be.

It is tough to capture the depth of this staircase, but if you look closely you can see the red railings fading smaller and smaller into the pit

There is something instinctually... wrong... with confronting a 60 foot decent into total blackness underground. It’s like your prehistoric self is pulling the alarm that danger most certainly awaits below, meanwhile your 21st century ego is assuring you everything will be a-ok.

The guide and I decending into the crack of the rock ;)

The first thing that hits you going down the stairs is the immediacy with which the temperature plummets. In a matter of steps we went from mid-30s to about 15 degrees. The air is damp and slightly musty, with a distinct smell of mossy greenery. A mother bird that was caring for three babies living in a nest perched on the flanks of the rocky fissure took the liberty of repeatedly dive-bombing our heads. I was already feeling shaky enough going down those stairs, never mind having to dodge blows from overprotective fowl. Jesus.

A sketchy iron box of an elevator took us down the rest of the way. Our guide pleasantly informed me before getting in, “This elevator was built over 100 years ago and has yet to ever be serviced”. Ha. Ha. Very funny. NOT.

It was worth all of the anxiety once we arrived into the cavernous pit 60 feet below.

With only a sliver of natural sunlight peeking in from above, the cave was cast in an eerie, other-worldly glow by a select few flood lights tucked into the rock. It was dead silent save for the gentle rustling of bat wings and our own breath.

I’m no vampire, but I honestly could live in there. It’s no wonder most villains and superheroes carry out their exotic lives in caves! I loved the feeling of the impossibly high ceiling and peculiar stillness. I loved knowing that all around me were limestone formations that have taken thousands of years to grow. The rust, grey, ivory and charcoal colours of the dripping rocks were beautiful. It was such an inspiring space.

They are only 15cms apart -- meaning in 1500 years they will finally touch

Do you think they offer caves as a wedding reception venue?? Because how badass would that be?!

At one point, our guide turned off all the lights. Let me tell you, you have not experienced darkness until you’ve been underground with no light. I literally would not have been able to see my own hand in front of my face.

Justin and I being 'scared' of the dark (when in reality, the elevator was the sketchiest part)

Going up the elevator proved to be more of a struggle for Justin than going down. We got about 15 feet in the air and he hit the floor in a panic. His fear of heights was further exacerbated by the elevator chugging jerkily up to the surface at an excruciatingly slow pace. I think we both breathed a sigh of relief once we set foot on firm land.

From there, we took a few hours to drive around the park and see the wildlife that is allowed to roam freely. It sort of becomes a 'luck of the draw' situation, where you really aren’t guaranteed to see any animals at all... it all comes down to which ones happen to cross your path.

Well, we must’ve had horseshoes hidden in our... a-hems... because we saw some amazing things! Within our first few minutes a jackal ran up a hill to our left, and soon after a stunning sable was munching on grass on our right. I can see why sables are considered “royal game” – covets of kings and princes. They are awe-inspiring with their regal presence.

Along the way we stopped at a vulture blind where I nearly threw up. It stunk to high hell. Which I later found out was because dozens of carcasses and other body parts are piled up daily to feed the retched birds (and consequently, rot in the scorching African sun). At one point there were over 30 vultures circling above their decomposing feast.

One word: CREEPY.

Vultures signify nothing but death and snide opportunism to me. Seeing their broad, slow-moving wingspan circle up above only reinforces my feeling that they are nothing more than black crosses signalling tragedy.

So, I promptly decided this was the best place to empty my near-emergency-level bursting bladder.

Yes my friends, I peed outdoors (Kelly, aren'y you proud!). Outside a vulture blind, to be exact. Not exactly my proudest moment, but nature calls.

Family of Nile crocs -- sadly, they are currently classified as endangered animals

We continued along to the wild dog area where our car was treated to a full pack of the canines sunning themselves under a tree. The alpha male even walked right up beside our car, checking us out. Apparently they can bite through tire, so it was a little tense.

Once we entered the cheetah section, Justin told me to keep my eyes peeled since they are difficult to spot (pun intended).

Lucky for us, we found two lying 5 feet from our car. Amazing!

(the second cheetah is tucked away to the back right)

During our drive around, I also had the privilege of seeing white lions, a pack of regular lions, Bengal tigers, a pride of white tigers (!!), wildebeast, springbok, antelope, blesbuck, tons of exotic birds, and even a male and female warthog escorting two tiny piglets!

What a life...

Me trying to sneak around a massive, terrifying stork

..and then he came gunning for me. I was terrified.

We stopped for lunch at the quaint picnic area, which had dozens of car stalls and canopied tables. Lucky for us, we went on a Tuesday which meant it wasn’t busy and we could easily find a spot to rest.

And the best part about it not being busy? No line-ups for spending time with the baby animals!

Yes, you read that right. They actually allow you to PLAY with the baby animals that they have at the nursery.

They get their animals from private owners who want their animals hand-raised. Most will eventually be sold to international zoos or released into game reserves. Because they are raised in domesticity, they cannot be freed into the wild as they would not survive.

BABY RHINO!!

For 30Rand ($4 Canadian), you are allowed a ten minute visit with the babies of your choice. When Justin was last here, he had the chance to meet baby black leopards and bengel tigers. During my visit, I was offered 6 month old lions, ten week old lions, or baby cerval (a small leopard-like animal).

Obviously, my first choice was the ten week old lions. They were the size of a housecat with the biggest, glossiest eyes I have ever seen. Cue the “awwwwwwwws”.

After we finished playing with them, Justin decided we should also meet and greet the 6 month olds.

This had me a little worried.

I know they are raised around people... but. It’s. A. Lion. And nearly full grown at that! I wasn’t sure I had the guts to not only enter their pen, but touch their fur.

I sucked it up and went for it. If I could hand-feed an imposing wild ostrich then I surely could hang out with a hand-tamed lion... right?

 The female is on the box to the left, while the male is far-right

Stretched out on the ground of their pen were two beautiful cats. The female was a brown lion, the male was white. I actually do not have the words to describe how spectacular these animals are. I’m sure you’ve admired photos of lions before, but to actually stand a foot from its face and look into its animated eyes, scratch his soft belly fur, admire the size of its paws and feels its breath as it draws in a gaping yawn... it takes their beauty to a whole new level.

The cats we met fully allowed us to pet them as we please. I figured we may have to stick to the top of their head, but it wasn’t so. These guys splayed out on their backs for us, letting me scratch their stomach, chest, even their necks.

Notice the hand-to-head size ratio... yikes

Two at one time!

It wasn’t until the female stood up that I fully appreciated their size.

It totally took me off guard. A lion lying down is one thing, but once they pull up and stand at full height... wow. Her spine came up to hip-level on me.

It was a sobering moment where I realized that we are only safe because they chose to allow it to be so. At any point, they could have opted to bite or smack us and in less than 2 seconds, we would have been dead.

 The female took quite a liking to Justin, placing his huge left paw directly onto his shouder!

Around 4pm the park put on a cheetah run.

You may be thinking, “oh, so you get to see a cheetah run”. You would be right.

What I was thinking was that the cheetah would be running in an enclosed field or yard. Since, you know, that makes the most logical, safe sense.

Oh no.

They let loose a full grown cheetah into an open field while we, a group of 8 spectators, stood only a few feet off to the side as it ran around -- completely free -- chasing a chicken leg tied to a string. No joke.

They told the mother of a 5 year old not to allow the child to make any sudden movements as “the cheetah will simply start chasing anything it locks onto as a moving target”. Urm...okay. This sounds REAL safe...

It turned out to be pretty incredible. How many people get to see a cheetah running past them, less than 10 feet away?

Can you spot the chicken wing??

Afterwards, we got to pet the cheetah (for free!). His hair was very coarse and thick. He was eating and purring, and my hand could feel the deep vibrations rack his entire body. The power and energy of that animal was very clearly simmering close to its surface, ready to strike in a moment's notice.

There, there... niiiiiiiice cheetah.....

The final part of the day was one I was looking forward to the most.

HIPPOS.

I have been dying to see a hippo.

Something about their bulbous, pudgy looks just gets to me. I love their cute little ears and their fat, flat feet. The fact that they appear so unassuming and lazy yet are one of – if not the – most dangerous animal in SA (they kill more people than any other animal per year), is a fascinating paradox. They are worshipped by locals as gods of fertility, and can run 30 miles per hour. I love, love, love these beasts to bits.

We followed the signs to the Hippo Pool, only to find that it was much more hippo "lake” than “pool”. A long, winding, wide lake was where these hippos called home. The water’s edge was gated off to the public (see above: most dangerous animal) but there were several viewing platforms where you could stand to spot them.

I was feeling very disappointed when we had been there for 15mins, with absolutely no luck. The hippos were nowhere to be found.

Then, just as I was about to give up, Justin heard the tell-tale “pooof” of their exhale in the water.

We scrambled over to the side of the platform in just enough time to see two little ears and eyes poking out of the water.

Then, there were 2 more.

By then end of things, I’m pretty sure there were 5 of them... but it was tough to say considering they bumbled to the surface all at different times.

I am so happy to have finally seen my hippos! Next time though, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for a full-on, out-of-water sighting.

 Leopard

The most shocking thing about this park though, has to be the fact that I found out it is privately owned. The cave, the animals, the land... all owed by some rich white guy. Pretty hectic, eh? Imagine endowing your children with an entire nature reserve when you die. Sheesh.

The other really cool thing about this park is that it doesn't price-gouge its visitors. The entrance fee is more than reasonable considering it allows you access to the entire park. You know that back home, tourist traps like this one ding you at every chance. I was floored to hear that things like the swimming pool and reptile area weren't asking for extra cash. And the fact that it only cost $4 for a one-on-one visit with cubs when they could easily charge three times that much really speaks to its integrity.



What South African animals would you be most excited about? Would you have stepped into the cage with the 6 month-old lions?