All Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian
By NITIN GAIROLA
There is nothing that stirs both fear and awe in us quite like the thought of coming face to face with the king of the jungle – the African Lion. This most majestic of creatures is now well set in popular culture with Hollywood animation films like the Lion King besides classics such as Born Free, Out of Africa, Savage Harvest and Ghost & the Darkness.
The image of lions (especially male lions with manes) is what first comes to mind for most of us when we think of an epic jungle adventure. Some of the best East African national parks for viewing the Lion King are the Maasai Mara & Tsavo in Kenya, Serengeti & Ngorongoro in Tanzania and Queen Elizabeth in Uganda. Besides, the south of the continent can also provide stunning lion viewing especially in Hwange of Zimbabwe, South Luangwa of Zambia, Okavango Delta in Botswana, Etosha in Namibia and the popular Kruger in South Africa.
The lion belt basically stretches from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in east to Zambia and Zimbabwe in south-east and finally to Namibia, Botswana and South Africa in the far south of the African landmass. This continent is often times called the cradle of mankind but today it is also a (relatively) safe zone for wildlife to thrive. Nowhere else on Earth can you find such a high concentration of mega fauna i.e. large animals. And speaking of lions, how can one not mention our Gir National Park in Gujarat, since it’s the only place on Earth which is home to the other species of lions – the Indian Lion (which is slightly smaller than the African lion). So that’s it – The African continent and Western India are the only places to find lions in the wild in this world.
I have had a lot of lion sightings in most of these countries and was able to capture some great photographs of these social wild cats, but I honestly didn’t have a lion incident that can be called bone chilling or riveting, barring one. That one incident took place on 2nd September 2012 in Serengeti, Tanzania and I remember it vividly to this day.
We had booked a multi-day Tanzania safari in the town of Arusha via ‘World Tours & Safaris Tanzania’ a local outfit run by Richard Kilonzo (now his son, Rickson is part of the team too). We immediately hit it off once Richard heard Richa’s name. He found it funny as it sounded a lot like Richard. So from Arusha, we were on the African tarmac. Pray was the name of our fantastic guide and driver and we did ask if his name were an omen for things to come.
It was the third day of the tour from when we started in Arusha and we were already in the Serengeti after completing 3 safari drives and having gone through a puncture as well (just to complete the Savannah experience). It was sundown which meant it was time to go inside our tents. We slept well that night.
Then just before dawn the next day, around 5 am, I heard lions roaring very close to our tent. This was a basic, small non-luxury tent, placed at ground level with Richa and me inside. When I was woken up by the roars, I gently placed my hand on Richa’s mouth to ensure she wouldn’t accidently scream. She was also awake at that time and just when I thought the situation was under control, her mobile phone alarm went off for the morning game drive. It seemed right out of a Jurassic park sequel. I fumbled with the phone and finally after 5 seconds (which felt like 5 hours), was able to switch off the alarm. Then we just stayed still, almost playing dead, till 6 am when there was some light and we couldn’t hear the lions anymore.
We got out and had breakfast with Pray and jumped into the Land Rover for our morning safari. Then right out of a Hollywood movie, we saw our first lioness just outside the camp, no further than 50 meters from us. We were relieved she didn’t join us for breakfast that morning. After crossing her, we saw another lioness, then another and then another till it became almost surreal. We counted 15 lionesses, 1 young male (without a mane) and 6 cubs in this pride. It was the same pride which had paid our camp a visit an hour earlier.
As far as my knowledge goes, we saw one of the largest prides in all of Africa (they rarely go above 20 members) and this pride was almost breathing down our necks (thankfully not chewing on them). Best of all, later we noticed that the lions were moving towards a big herd of buffaloes slightly far from us, but clearly visible. It was a tell-tale sign that this pride was hungry, what with 6 babies to feed. All of us were glad that we weren’t on their menu that morning. Trust me, you don’t want to be near a hungry lioness, let alone 15 of them.
In the years that followed I heard another fantastic lion tale from an intensive African safari traveller in his 60s. He was David from Australia and I met him at the very remote and very raw South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. We were in Herbert’s Croc Valley Camp for 5 whole days and not every day was a safari. So we had a lot of time to talk to other safari travellers there. In fact one of them became a great friend and his name is Michael Roberts, better known as Bernie. He had done some very extreme travels in his past, especially in deserts of Northern Africa in the 1970s and 80s. He regrets not having many photographs from that time.
But coming back to David, there was one time he had tented inside a dry forest and was alone. Just him inside a small tent in the middle of nowhere with no one to save him, should anything happen. And one night, 3 large male lions came visiting (that’s the number he counted when he looked through the tent’s small mesh). For 10 odd minutes (but he wasn’t counting that), the 3 lion brothers were shuffling around his tent and roaring from time to time, wondering what the tent was doing in their territory. For those who don’t know, male lions together generally means trouble. They can be very aggressive and are sometimes unpredictable, so David just held his breath. He had no choice but to be very, very quiet and couldn’t do anything but pray that he doesn’t become the prey. But then the lions lost interest and left. This time their unpredictability worked in his favour else I would never have heard this story in 2019.
Ever since my own incident in 2012, I have been trying to come face to face with that raw fear (of a lion) but I have never had a moment like that again, despite trying. I even went on 5 walking safaris in different forests and grasslands (with a ranger of course) but didn’t encounter any lion. The ranger was trying to avoid them for the sake of his group, so he would have considered me a bit of a fruitcake.
Now I don’t know if I will ever feel that fear again. You can hear a lion roar but if its daylight and you are snug inside a jeep with other passengers, it feels very safe. But once the sun goes down and you are on the ground, you know you can’t see them but they can see you. Now that is fear and I hope my wish doesn’t come true. But what to do, it’s the call of the lions that I can’t resist.
Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and has travelled the natural world more than almost any Indian ever. He has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, and holds National Geographic conservation certifications. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and in his early days, used to be a published poet as well. More than anything else, he loves his Himalayan home.
