Zambia Day 6: Lion vs Crocodile vs Stick

Today we walked lions in both the morning and afternoon.  We also visited the town of Livingstone and went on a night safari. 

During the night safari we rode in a vehicle after releasing 4 mature lions from their enclosure.  We chased a combined herd of zebra and wildabeast.  We also saw a herd of impala and a lone jackal.  Unfortunately the lions did not see or capture any of the animals we saw; which was the purpose of the safari.

The highlight of the day was our afternoon walk with Rafiji, Ruma and Rwanda.  We walked these lions to the edge of the Zambezi river.  All 3 lions went into the river and later rested at the edge of the shore with us.  Just as we were about to leave, a crocodile jumped out of the river and attacked one of the lions.  The crocodile was a juvenile, about 4 feet long and no match for the lion.  One of the lion handlers, concerned that the lion may get injured threw a stick at the crocodile and hit it in the head.  This caused the crocodile to retreat back into the river, thus its life was spared.

On our trip to Livingstone, Julia rode in comfort in the front seat of a small pick-up truck.  Bob rode in the open bed of the truck along with 6 others.  One of the others in the truck was carrying a very impressive looking rifle.  When Bob inquired, he discovered it was a fully automatic AK-47 rifle.  The owner of the rifle explained that he carries the rifle while patrolling the game reserve for poachers.  Bob asked if he could take the rifle man's picture, but he declined because he was not in uniform.  When we dropped him off in town, he looked odd walking around with an automatic rifle while wearing civilian clothes.

Julia at Livingstone Market

Ruma Relaxing

Rafiji taking a dip in the Zambezi river