They might be one of Africa’s best known animals, but you can go on safari ten times and not see a single lion. Or, as I recently experienced during a safari taster tour with TUI, you might see a whole family of them, wandering down a dusty road as plain as day. It started with a buzz of static on our jeep’s radio, quickly picked up by our experienced driver Omar.
Lions had been spotted, and we took off to try and catch a glimpse of the elusive royalty of the savannah. Advertisement Advertisement Sign up to our daily Farming Life Today newsletter Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Farming Life within your account. Vehicles pulling carefully to the side of the road, we stumbled across not just one, but two lionesses, each with a gaggle of playful cubs in tow.
The mothers - likely sisters, our guide told us - were nigh on indifferent to their thrilled audience, pausing occasionally to survey their surrounds, or to flop down onto the road sleepily. A shiver shot up my spine as they meandered past our jeep. One of Africa’s apex predators, close enough to reach out and touch.
Then with their characteristic feline grace, the family were gone - disappearing into the safety of the savannah scrub, as the sun began to set. The close encounter was the pinnacle of a spectacular trip I had the pleasure of taking with TUI earlier this year, to show off the travel company’s new Kenya safari and beach-stay holidays. A more affo.
