Lion Petting Zimbabwe Africa

It’s called Antelope Park. It’s in Zimbabwe and their stated mission is to, ultimately, be able to take lions raised in captivity and eventually release them into their native environment. When we arrived we were given a nice presentation and a video explaining how they were going to do this. So far, the people whose program they’ve adopted have been able to return zero lions to the national parks in Africa in the thirteen years they’ve been trying. But, they’re still working on it and will succeed very soon, I’m sure. In the meantime, tourists like myself get to take really cool pictures like the one you see here. Yes, that is a real lion. It’s about 18 months old. Yes, it really could tear me to shreds. Yes I am scratching it’s back. No, I’m not scared. The handlers walk these lions and others at least once a day. I don’t think they would have ever let me or anyone else scratch the lion’s back if there were going to be problems. At least that’s what I hoped their lawyers had warned them. Note that the largest dimension available for this picture is 1024 X 768 as it was uploaded at a very slow bandwidth from a remote location in Africa.

Lion Group Zimbabwe Africa

This is the group of 10 that went on the lion walk. We were well briefed with the rules for walking with lions. Note that it really can be dangerous. Any situation with a group of tourists and animals of the magnitude of the lions in the picture can become volatile in a fraction of a second for the strangest of reasons. I’m also sure we were all a little bit nervous at first when the handlers brought the lions to us. The lion walk was, essentially, a walk with lions. The experience was about two hours long. I was able to get 50 minutes of video during our walk, plus almost 100 pictures. The lions were, of course, about as tame as you can get an 18 month old lion to be. They were playful. They liked to walk up to us and rub up against us. There were hundreds of pictures taken during the walk. Note that the largest dimension available for this picture is 1024 X 768 as it was uploaded at a very slow bandwidth from a remote location in Africa.

Water Falls Chimanimani Zimbabwe Africa

I believe the waterfalls are called Bridal Veil Falls. I was impressed. We hiked for about 4 miles to get there and back. The falls are located in the eastern part of Zimbabwe. The terrain there is mountainous with the highest areas being in the 6-8,000 feet range. It was pretty obvious that the town of Chimanimani was higher up as the nights were significantly cooler. Note that it’s winter in southern Africa when it’s summer in my home in Oklahoma. I was told by members of the hiking group that the water in the pool under the falls was "really cold" and that was enough to keep me from getting any closer than I did in this picture. Note that the largest dimension available for this picture is 1024 X 768 as it was uploaded at a very slow bandwidth from a remote location in Africa.

Visitors Great Zimbabwe Africa

That’s Andrew (England), Noam (Israel), and Me (USA) with some visitors to our camp. The were from a local school which had come to visit the Great Zimbabwe on the same day we visited the site. We had come back to the truck after our sunrise tour and had finished breakfast when a bus load of students pulled up. The students, who numbered approximately 50, got out of their bus and descended upon our truck in an effort to stimulate international relations. I got some pictures, some video, a few dozen handshakes, and some interesting conversation. Note that while you might think that this is something that happens to me everyday, it isn’t. Note that the largest dimension available for this picture is 1024 X 768 as it was uploaded at a very slow bandwidth from a remote location in Africa.

Broken Window Zimbabwe Africa

What you see here is Colin (Switzerland), Becky (Australia), and Andy (Australia) working to repair a broken window in the rear of the truck. The window was broken out by a child with a rock. Why did the child throw the stone and break out the rear window of the truck? Who knows? Maybe he was sent by one of the local terrorist organizations. Maybe a previous tour bus had run over his dog. Maybe the kid is in training to grow up and be a real criminal. Maybe the kid didn’t like a bunch of white folks driving down his dirt road. Maybe the kid was just a little sh*!&%#d. Note that the largest dimension available for this picture is 1024 X 768 as it was uploaded at a very slow bandwidth from a remote location in Africa.

Beautiful Scenery Zimbabwe Africa

Of all the countries that I visited during the first month of this trip to Africa, I would say that Zimbabwe had the most visual impact in terms of the views of the terrain. While I didn’t see too many animals in the areas of Zimbabwe we visited up until the time this picture was taken, we did see some significant landscapes. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying the other areas I saw of Africa weren’t worth seeing, I’m just saying that, overall, Zimbabwe seemed to have the most dramatic diversity of landscapes that I aw up until when this picture was snapped. Note that the largest dimension available for this picture is 1024 X 768 as it was uploaded at a very slow bandwidth from a remote location in Africa.

Soap Zimbabwe Africa

These are bars of soap I saw in a grocery store in Zimbabwe. They cost $1.79 a bar. I had never seen soap packaged this way before. When I thought about it, it seemed quite functional. Just cut off or whave off the amount of soat that you need. Need abar for the lavatory? Just slice off a lavatory size slice bar. Need a few shavings for the laundry? Just slice them off. Would this form of soap do well in America? Maybe if we gave it a few dozen types of wrappers and sold it in lots of different aromas. That’s what we do now, isn’t it? Note that the largest dimension available for this picture is 1024 X 768 as it was uploaded at a very slow bandwidth from a remote location in Africa.

Nando’s Zimbabwe Africa

It’s a pictre of Nando’s from the outside. Here we have a picture of Conlin (England), Will (England), and Gunnar (Iceland) going into Nando’s to join some of the other travelers for lunch. Nando’s serves chicken, done in a variety of ways. I had the quarter-chicken with french fries (chips) and a soft drink – $7. They also have chicken salad and chicken strips and chicken kabobs. You can get a slice of cheesecake for $4. You thought Africa was inexpensive, didn’t you? Well it is as long as you don’t start using luxury items such as soft drinks, restaurant food, automobiles, gasoline, electronics, furniture, etc. While residents most first world countries might not think that these are luxuries, they are in much of Africa. Note that the largest dimension available for this picture is 1024 X 768 as it was uploaded at a very slow bandwidth from a remote location in Africa.