Bringing out the big guns...

I wanted to see the lions.

I'd heard them roaring the first night I arrived...echoing yawns around the park that made it sound like they were right outside my window. And the big cats were the animals I was most intrigued by. Just had to find the buggers.

Outside the cottage where I sleep are, immediately, two of the smaller big cats: Shadow and Shade, the hyenas, next to them Xinandi, the female cheetah, and next over Jolly and Juba, the male cheetahs. We're told VERY early on, and quite frequently, not to give Shadow any opportunities to get a hold of any of our fingers, as legend has it she has already taken someone's finger off when they tried to stroke her through the bars. Fine with me...if only she didn't have such a sweet little face...

So while I stand with my hands clasped behind my back, there's time to examine the hyena. It really is an odd-looking creature -- the front part is quite large and hulking, and then quite suddenly it drops away into these tiny little hindquarters. The female is much larger than the male, and her head is very teddy-like, but the call they let out at night is really rather eerie. Not to mention the sound they make when they're chewing on impala bones...

Moving on, to the cheetahs. I love them. Loooove them. They're so graceful and beautiful and soft...ahem. The cheetahs are not exactly on the powerful side (although don't get me wrong, they could still kick my ass), but their weapon is speed. We get to see a demonstration in the parking lot where they let Jolly run off after a lure. It's incredible. I have to grab hold of him at the end, and even though he's paying most attention to the meat in front of him, it's clear that if he wasn't I'd have an interesting time holding him still.

At one point they bring Juba out for us to have a pat (I was SO. EXCITED.), and just having that great animal there in front of you, be able to feel all the muscles under his fur, the beautifully soft hank of spotted fur at his neck, and to have him licking your arm (and drawing a little bit of blood - man, those tongues are sharp!) -- was just the most amazing feeling. I fell completely in love.

Moving on, because otherwise that's where I'm going to stay...there are also 4 lions at the camp, and a great big leopard named Chui. Now you might be forgiven for expecting cheetahs and leopards to be similar in build, but you'd be wrong. Chui is unmistakably powerful, which is unfortunately why we can't go in with him (sigh). In fact, it's six of one as to whether he or the lions are carrying the most power. But Chui has been hand raised, and he still likes waddling over (let's be honest, he's carrying a bit of holiday weight) to lean against the fence and be scratched.

Over to the lions, and for sheer size and power it's Big Boy and Ditch up the back -- oh my WORD, they're huge. Every morning on the way to breakfast we pass them, and sometimes they're there at the fence, prowling, staring that gorgeous green-eyed stare...It becomes clear that they've got way too much muscle weight to be going anything as fast as the cheetahs, and this explains why they're the only big cat to hunt in prides. But man alive, you've got to respect that honey badger for giving it a go...

Over by Chui are Sarah and Blondie, who are ex circus lions. Blondie, in fact, has no teeth, owing to a rather horrible history of being caged, and then breaking his teeth on the bars. Sarah, however, is sheer power, and though she's unwell at the moment and so confined to a smaller cage, she really, REALLY doesn't like it when you bring brooms to clean out the one next to her. Something about the brooms and the circus, I would guess, is recalling something particularly nasty.

Back down to Xinandi, who is the one big cat that we are frequently allowed in with, and who is calm enough to let us go up to her alone and give her a good old pat. And when you're crouching down rubbing the head of a cheetah, and the cheetah is purring her rumbling contented purr...well.

PS -- Important safety tip: when scratching the cheetahs through the fence (which is allowed among the staff, but only advised if the animal is purring), make DAMN sure you're not kneeling on the electric fence wire. It HURTS.