Our last night in Africa. We've seen some gorgeous sights, heard some amazing sounds, traveled to some humble places, caught up with some much-missed lions and friends, and have met and made some new ones along the way. At the same time we leave feeling conflicted, worn out, let down, and haunted by that nagging question: To what end?
The arrival of five new cubs was a joyous time for staff and volunteers alike, but there were some questions that kept nagging at me, and continue to do so.
It wasn't until our last week at Lion Encounter that we were fortunate enough to finally see and study the Dambwa Pride.
In ALERT founder Andrew Conolly is a dogged determination to overcome whatever obstacle is in front of him; a drive that can easily be mistaken for stubborn foolishness at first glance. At the same time, there can also be a frustrating amount of contradiction.
The same day we went to make some field recordings of the lions roaring, we were invited at the last minute to return to BPG for a midday lion feed. It's intense being on the other side of the fence and having a half-dozen or so 400-pound hungry male cats running full speed directly at you. An E-ticket ride if ever there was one.
While we only had one walk with Penya and Paza, and saw Lewa and Laili all but too briefly, we were able to spend both an afternoon and a morning session inside the Ngamo release site, and it certainly had to be the highlight of our working visit to Antelope Park.
During elephant research in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park the team came across a downed elephant being watched over by a companion.
It's our first elephant research session and we're supposed to be gathering census information on them, but it's like searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack. How does 7,000 kilos of pachyderm hide itself so effectively?
As much fun as the BPG crowd are, it's the single male lion inhabiting a nearby enclosure that remains the focus of our attention at most times - for in that enclosure is Dynamite.
On a nightly basis our room was literally abuzz with activity. Silence the noisy fan from pushing hot, Zambian air in circles over our bodies and you’d hear a lizard scurrying behind the dresser. Turn on the light and one, if not several, rain spiders would freeze in silence on the ceiling, carefully watching us with their many eyes. I was always happy to see our roommates because it meant I knew where they were and so didn't have to worry where they weren't, unlike some of the other creatures that came party crashing into what was called the White House.
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