by N. G. Maroa
Paradise Freebie Part V
When you watch our models catwalk, their aim is to attract the attention of the audience. They do their things in exaggerated swings and turns of hips that sometimes leave you wondering why the display is called catwalk.
The original catwalkers, on the other hand, have a graceful walk. It’s a movement that is designed to evade attention rather than attract it. It’s an art that’s inborn hence no effort required to perfect it.
At eight o’clock in the morning as we drove out of camp, we came across 
a pride of half a dozen cheetahs that were stalking a group of antelopes not far away. On seeing us, the cats did what they know best, lying low in the tall grass that was a perfect camouflage. It took the keen eye of Morgan to spot them as we drove by.
Like always, when the cats are spotted, everything else comes to a stand still. We interrupted our journey to feast our eyes and take pictures. This shuffling must have disturbed the hunters and in the realization that the mission would not bear fruits, the cheetahs weren’t very amused at our unwelcome intrusion and trudged along grudgingly probably to try their luck elsewhere. It was their movement that caught my attention. Despite the tall grass, it was so stealth and graceful to the point that the target antelopes never noticed anything as their attention was on us rather than the real enemy.
Moving on, our mission was to look for lions that had hitherto eluded us. Samuel, the Maasai guide that we had taken in was in command. We were pleasantly surprised at Samuel’s spotting prowess. While negotiating a blind corner, behold… a pride of 3 young males in the company of a lone female. The minute I spotted the lions, I knew this was not the group you would want to bump into unguarded. One seemingly larger male lion with a slightly darkening mane was separated from other 2 young and was busy courting a lioness. The two other lions seemed to have lost the contest for the single lioness and were circling around the pair with a lot of bitterness. For a full 5 minutes, there was absolute silence as each party looked deep and hard into the eyes 
of the other. I could feel my thunderous pulse quicken. Our fear was worsened by the fact that we were riding in an open vehicle and the lions would have had no trouble taking us out …. one by one.
Usually, the most dangerous situations to be caught in are between a mating pair or a lioness with her cubs. When faced by a formidable enemy who it cannot translate to food, the African lion will never attack if you have your eyes locked. One cannot be too cautious; “you never know what surprise these humans can spring… a spear, machete or worse even….a bloody gun”.
We finally decided that we needed to give them their space and started to drive off. The dominant king lion must have thanked us for making his competition from the other two go away.
This was an experience that I always relive when I look at the photos taken on that safari. It’s what an African lion safari does to you. You get to be in the presence of his highness the majesty king of the jungle…in his tuff. Nothing beats that glaring look and the thrill that goes with it when your eyes lock into his menacing, unblinking and threatening stare…That’s the African lion stare….humbling it is.
A fully grown male lion has a very dark mane while the youth grow a mane gradually, which then darkens as they age. The males are pushed off their families when they become s
exually mature by the dominating male. African Lions usually sleep and rest for more than 14hours a day only getting up to hunt in the early mornings, late evenings and at night. Usually the King-lion of the pride commands between 5-10 lionesses including the cubs. This male will aggressively protect its territory against intruding males who contest for the females.
Coup d'e’tat were probably invented in the lion kingdom. Males constantly get into territorial wars with each other. Once in a while a female becomes disenchanted and leaves the pride to seek out younger and more aggressive males. Once a lion has successfully overthrown a dominant male, they set upon establishing their kingdom immediately by making the females submissive. How they do this is what will surprise you.
One of the most bizarre behaviors of lions is that a conqueror male often kills all young cubs fathered by the defeated former king lion of the pride. The lioness will fight, sometimes to death, when the male lion goes for her cubs. There are two reasons for this behavior, one is to establish a lineage of his own and secondly to as quickly as possible make the females submit to him and ready to mate. It’s always a rush before other male lions come to undermine his authority over the pride.
That’s Mara for you. Elephants continuously browse the plains, cheetahs will stare at you seated majestically under tree trunks and occasionally jump on the hood of your car for that vantage view point for prey, the no nonsense buffalos will gaze at you all at once, lions will sprawl for an hour underneath your van for the shade while wildebeest will gallop past your car in their millions as they head for the breath taking river crossings packed with crocodiles and strong currents.
It’s an experience you’ll never have enough of. Everyday is unique and completely different. No wonder it’s a modern wonder. After the five days adventure, we‘ve rewound enough ready to face the artificial world in the city.
Can’t wait enough for another opportunity to visit again.
By N. G. Maroa
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