I got a response on my blog about our safety with the lions being so close to our vehicle, and of course, our vehicle had open sides which would be an easy hop for a lion. According to our safari guides, we were completely safe. They told us that the lions see the vehicle somewhat like a rock or other inanimate object. But they cautioned us that we should speak quietly, not make too much camera noise and above all else, we were not to lean out of the vehicles or stick our arms or legs out, such as to get a better photo. We had the same experience with lions in east Africa. In Tanzania, we even saw a cheetah climb on top of a vehicle but the people inside were safe. The animals climb on top to get a better view of their prey in flat lands. But it takes a lot to stay calm with a big cat on your roof. We never had that experience in southern Africa, but there is always an element of danger out in the wilds. I’ll put up a few more photos to address this issue further.

I mentioned that two of the seven lions came past our vehicle close enough for me to pull their tails. You can see a lion here with a vehicle nearby. You can also see that the lion was showing no interest in us.

This next photo is crocodiles and there were probably close to a dozen in the photo area, both in front, on the island in the river, and in the water on the side where you see the vehicle. There were also more in the vicinity that are not in the photo area. We got very close to the animals, though tried to not be intrusive. That might be a contradiction, I’m not sure. But the animals definitely are used to the vehicles. Some animals run away, some react to them, and others, like the lions, treat the vehicles like big rocks.

The one animal that probably caused the most concern was the elephants. They definitely reacted to us being so close, especially when there were young mother elephants with new babies. In those situations, an elephant might charge the vehicle to protect their young. This can also happen if they get caught by surprise, like rounding a corner right into their midst. One of our safari guides had an elephant charge his vehicle and lift it up and turn it over and smash it. He was still inside but he survived okay, though I’m sure it was a harrowing experience.

Of course, there are other problems. The guides say to not get out of the vehicles unless they give us permission. That is usually for a tea/coffee break or a sundowner or a bathroom break. But on this trip while in the Okavango Delta, our land rover broke down and would not start. They radioed for another vehicle but we all got out while our dead jeep was being worked on. We could hear some cats while we were standing about and there were both crocodiles and hippos in the area. We were fine but those things do happen.

Then again, we usually stopped at sundown for a cocktail. We exited our jeeps and had a drink and snacks. That sometimes came with animals too, as you can see in the last photo. This would probably fall into the category of self-inflicted wounds...