Wednesday 30 March 2011

I ran for my life


One evening we decided to go on an illegal tour in a game reserve with the hope of seeing one of the big five if not all the big five. When we reached the reserve it was midnight and the paid game ranger told us to stick together as we can easily get lost. We were a group of few ten maybe including me, my two friends and some tourists. We were there until we realise it was early morning, the first light started to appear and we had not seen even one of the big five. The sound of the birds singing in harmony was a sign that we should leave.

Suddenly we heard a Lion roar from a distance. The roar was so powerful one could not help it but tremble in ones pants. Several Echoes made it very difficult to detect from which direction the sound of the roar was coming from. We were in the middle of nowhere in the forest. With roar after roar coming closer and closer the members of the group became anxious and the game ranger was visibly shaken.

That was the time when my two friends and I decided to take matters into our own hands. We ran towards the entrance, which is a normal reaction from a layman like me. As we approach the entrance we could see from a distance a huge lion outside of the game reserve approaching the reserve, the there was a big man made hole in the fence which I suspect the lion used it to get out of the reserve in the first place.

I looked behind us for a place to hide, but there was an open area, which was, quiet a distance before we could reach the forest.  The only option we had was to run as fast as we could and hope that we will get to the fence all alive. I was the fastest among all my friends, based on that I believe I had a chance of surviving to tell the tail. As soon as we started running the lion also started the chase. This lion came strait for me I have no idea why, maybe it was the clothes I was wearing.  It ran past two of my friends whom by then they had even changed their direction everyman for himself.

I could hear the lion breathing down my neck. I knew I was not going to survive I said a little prayer, I also prayed for the lion to kill me instantly hopefully with less pain. I guess I would not even feel the pain given how much I was traumatised. I could hear from a distance my friends giving instructions as to what to do, but I had ran out of options the lion was right behind me, I was just waiting for that jump and attack from the back when I suddenly stopped. The lion just passed me at high speed only to turn around to face me, face to face. I was just few seconds away from my death and at that moment I wished I had a bad dream. My alarm rang I woke up, Yes I was dreaming what a relief.

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