Our routine was to get up early (5:30 or 6:00) and have a coffee. After our morning ride we’d have a huge sumptuous breakfast. The staff would fill two basins of hot water, which sat on tripods outside our tents so we could wash our faces. Our horses were already tacked up and our morning ride would begin at about 7:00. Our rides would last two to three hours. Simon led our party and Daisy or Rosie would take the rear. Simon carried a bullwhip which he could make sound like a gun shot. The first morning, as the trail led us through tall brush on both sides, Simon called back that if anything rushed us, we should turn our horse and go back the way we came with “some dispatch”. Now to me, that raised a lot of questions, but everyone just nodded and kept riding so I did too. Felicity and her brother had ridden across the Maasai Mara on previous safaris, but we were in Laikipia, which is the hill country in north west Kenya. We would cross great plains and then climb into the hills which gave us some breathtaking views. Simon and our Maasai guide, Netti, were astounding in their ability to spot game, and they had encyclopedic knowledge of everything we saw. Simon would suddenly shout “Fish Eagle!”. And I would stare at a black lump in an Acacia tree wondering if I was looking in the right place, and then this monstrous bird, which looks a lot like our Bald Eagles, would open his massive wings and glide effortlessly over us. Or Simon would reign his horse and whisper, “elephants”. And I would scour the bush not seeing any elephants. Until one moved. And then I’d see seven elephants. And they are big. I mean really big. Even the little ones are big. I feel stupid saying elephants are big – we’ve all been to the zoo, but when you’re in the cage with them, they get a lot bigger. They are such improbable animals with their kind wise faces and their adorable giant babies, that you have to remind yourself they kill a lot of people every year. Cape buffalo kill even more people and we saw a lot of them too. But because there were twelve of us on horseback, and Simon had his bullwhip, I didn’t ever feel we were in real danger. Then we saw the lions.
Our routine was to get up early (5:30 or 6:00) and have a coffee. After our morning ride we’d have a huge sumptuous breakfast. The staff would fill two basins of hot water, which sat on tripods outside our tents so we could wash our faces. Our horses were already tacked up and our morning ride would begin at about 7:00. Our rides would last two to three hours. Simon led our party and Daisy or Rosie would take the rear. Simon carried a bullwhip which he could make sound like a gun shot. The first morning, as the trail led us through tall brush on both sides, Simon called back that if anything rushed us, we should turn our horse and go back the way we came with “some dispatch”. Now to me, that raised a lot of questions, but everyone just nodded and kept riding so I did too. Felicity and her brother had ridden across the Maasai Mara on previous safaris, but we were in Laikipia, which is the hill country in north west Kenya. We would cross great plains and then climb into the hills which gave us some breathtaking views. Simon and our Maasai guide, Netti, were astounding in their ability to spot game, and they had encyclopedic knowledge of everything we saw. Simon would suddenly shout “Fish Eagle!”. And I would stare at a black lump in an Acacia tree wondering if I was looking in the right place, and then this monstrous bird, which looks a lot like our Bald Eagles, would open his massive wings and glide effortlessly over us. Or Simon would reign his horse and whisper, “elephants”. And I would scour the bush not seeing any elephants. Until one moved. And then I’d see seven elephants. And they are big. I mean really big. Even the little ones are big. I feel stupid saying elephants are big – we’ve all been to the zoo, but when you’re in the cage with them, they get a lot bigger. They are such improbable animals with their kind wise faces and their adorable giant babies, that you have to remind yourself they kill a lot of people every year. Cape buffalo kill even more people and we saw a lot of them too. But because there were twelve of us on horseback, and Simon had his bullwhip, I didn’t ever feel we were in real danger. Then we saw the lions.
Our routine was to get up early (5:30 or 6:00) and have a coffee. After our morning ride we’d have a huge sumptuous breakfast. The staff would fill two basins of hot water, which sat on tripods outside our tents so we could wash our faces. Our horses were already tacked up and our morning ride would begin at about 7:00. Our rides would last two to three hours. Simon led our party and Daisy or Rosie would take the rear. Simon carried a bullwhip which he could make sound like a gun shot. The first morning, as the trail led us through tall brush on both sides, Simon called back that if anything rushed us, we should turn our horse and go back the way we came with “some dispatch”. Now to me, that raised a lot of questions, but everyone just nodded and kept riding so I did too. Felicity and her brother had ridden across the Maasai Mara on previous safaris, but we were in Laikipia, which is the hill country in north west Kenya. We would cross great plains and then climb into the hills which gave us some breathtaking views. Simon and our Maasai guide, Netti, were astounding in their ability to spot game, and they had encyclopedic knowledge of everything we saw. Simon would suddenly shout “Fish Eagle!”. And I would stare at a black lump in an Acacia tree wondering if I was looking in the right place, and then this monstrous bird, which looks a lot like our Bald Eagles, would open his massive wings and glide effortlessly over us. Or Simon would reign his horse and whisper, “elephants”. And I would scour the bush not seeing any elephants. Until one moved. And then I’d see seven elephants. And they are big. I mean really big. Even the little ones are big. I feel stupid saying elephants are big – we’ve all been to the zoo, but when you’re in the cage with them, they get a lot bigger. They are such improbable animals with their kind wise faces and their adorable giant babies, that you have to remind yourself they kill a lot of people every year. Cape buffalo kill even more people and we saw a lot of them too. But because there were twelve of us on horseback, and Simon had his bullwhip, I didn’t ever feel we were in real danger. Then we saw the lions.
Our routine was to get up early (5:30 or 6:00) and have a coffee. After our morning ride we’d have a huge sumptuous breakfast. The staff would fill two basins of hot water, which sat on tripods outside our tents so we could wash our faces. Our horses were already tacked up and our morning ride would begin at about 7:00. Our rides would last two to three hours. Simon led our party and Daisy or Rosie would take the rear. Simon carried a bullwhip which he could make sound like a gun shot. The first morning, as the trail led us through tall brush on both sides, Simon called back that if anything rushed us, we should turn our horse and go back the way we came with “some dispatch”. Now to me, that raised a lot of questions, but everyone just nodded and kept riding so I did too. Felicity and her brother had ridden across the Maasai Mara on previous safaris, but we were in Laikipia, which is the hill country in north west Kenya. We would cross great plains and then climb into the hills which gave us some breathtaking views. Simon and our Maasai guide, Netti, were astounding in their ability to spot game, and they had encyclopedic knowledge of everything we saw. Simon would suddenly shout “Fish Eagle!”. And I would stare at a black lump in an Acacia tree wondering if I was looking in the right place, and then this monstrous bird, which looks a lot like our Bald Eagles, would open his massive wings and glide effortlessly over us. Or Simon would reign his horse and whisper, “elephants”. And I would scour the bush not seeing any elephants. Until one moved. And then I’d see seven elephants. And they are big. I mean really big. Even the little ones are big. I feel stupid saying elephants are big – we’ve all been to the zoo, but when you’re in the cage with them, they get a lot bigger. They are such improbable animals with their kind wise faces and their adorable giant babies, that you have to remind yourself they kill a lot of people every year. Cape buffalo kill even more people and we saw a lot of them too. But because there were twelve of us on horseback, and Simon had his bullwhip, I didn’t ever feel we were in real danger. Then we saw the lions.
We were at Sosian Lodge, a beautiful resort in the bush, at the end of our eleven day ride, and we were talking about how well our groups had gotten along. Some said the “Snippy Hat” was an influence but others weren’t sure. The Snippy Hat tradition started at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York back in the old days. At their endless company meetings someone would inevitably get pissed off and he or she would have to wear the “Snippy Hat” until they calmed down. In those days it was a kitchen colander. The current Snippy Hat is… well, I’ll post the pictures. But Snippy Hat or not, we got along like a house afire. The trip was a combination of delights laced with tension. As previously noted, I’m new to horse back riding, so that was obviously on my mind and I know Ripley and Ellen felt the same. We took riding lessons, but still…. Interestingly, Moore and Kim were more worried about the campfires after dinner. My family notoriously loves games and we’re known to break into song at times. And Felicity is the ringleader and insists everyone plays and that’s what kept them up at night. We played a hilarious game called “In the Manner Of” which Daisy taught us, and it turned out that Ripley spent several weeks preparing “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” and she accompanied herself on the uke as she sang it to our family. (Not a dry eye in the house) One evening, after a pretty long ride to our new camp, our guide Simon wanted us to take a bit of a hike. We drove out to a trail head and hiked the rest of the way to a large rocky hill. At a point we said “Okay, we’ve done this, let’s go back to camp”, but Simon urged us on saying the view would be worth it. What we didn’t know was that there was a drivable road on the other side of the hill and the staff had driven up earlier and set up a bar with hors d’oeuvres. That’s my kind of roughing it. We built a fire and stayed there until well after dark playing games and singing.
We were at Sosian Lodge, a beautiful resort in the bush, at the end of our eleven day ride, and we were talking about how well our groups had gotten along. Some said the “Snippy Hat” was an influence but others weren’t sure. The Snippy Hat tradition started at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York back in the old days. At their endless company meetings someone would inevitably get pissed off and he or she would have to wear the “Snippy Hat” until they calmed down. In those days it was a kitchen colander. The current Snippy Hat is… well, I’ll post the pictures. But Snippy Hat or not, we got along like a house afire. The trip was a combination of delights laced with tension. As previously noted, I’m new to horse back riding, so that was obviously on my mind and I know Ripley and Ellen felt the same. We took riding lessons, but still…. Interestingly, Moore and Kim were more worried about the campfires after dinner. My family notoriously loves games and we’re known to break into song at times. And Felicity is the ringleader and insists everyone plays and that’s what kept them up at night. We played a hilarious game called “In the Manner Of” which Daisy taught us, and it turned out that Ripley spent several weeks preparing “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” and she accompanied herself on the uke as she sang it to our family. (Not a dry eye in the house) One evening, after a pretty long ride to our new camp, our guide Simon wanted us to take a bit of a hike. We drove out to a trail head and hiked the rest of the way to a large rocky hill. At a point we said “Okay, we’ve done this, let’s go back to camp”, but Simon urged us on saying the view would be worth it. What we didn’t know was that there was a drivable road on the other side of the hill and the staff had driven up earlier and set up a bar with hors d’oeuvres. That’s my kind of roughing it. We built a fire and stayed there until well after dark playing games and singing.
We were at Sosian Lodge, a beautiful resort in the bush, at the end of our eleven day ride, and we were talking about how well our groups had gotten along. Some said the “Snippy Hat” was an influence but others weren’t sure. The Snippy Hat tradition started at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York back in the old days. At their endless company meetings someone would inevitably get pissed off and he or she would have to wear the “Snippy Hat” until they calmed down. In those days it was a kitchen colander. The current Snippy Hat is… well, I’ll post the pictures. But Snippy Hat or not, we got along like a house afire. The trip was a combination of delights laced with tension. As previously noted, I’m new to horse back riding, so that was obviously on my mind and I know Ripley and Ellen felt the same. We took riding lessons, but still…. Interestingly, Moore and Kim were more worried about the campfires after dinner. My family notoriously loves games and we’re known to break into song at times. And Felicity is the ringleader and insists everyone plays and that’s what kept them up at night. We played a hilarious game called “In the Manner Of” which Daisy taught us, and it turned out that Ripley spent several weeks preparing “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” and she accompanied herself on the uke as she sang it to our family. (Not a dry eye in the house) One evening, after a pretty long ride to our new camp, our guide Simon wanted us to take a bit of a hike. We drove out to a trail head and hiked the rest of the way to a large rocky hill. At a point we said “Okay, we’ve done this, let’s go back to camp”, but Simon urged us on saying the view would be worth it. What we didn’t know was that there was a drivable road on the other side of the hill and the staff had driven up earlier and set up a bar with hors d’oeuvres. That’s my kind of roughing it. We built a fire and stayed there until well after dark playing games and singing.
We were at Sosian Lodge, a beautiful resort in the bush, at the end of our eleven day ride, and we were talking about how well our groups had gotten along. Some said the “Snippy Hat” was an influence but others weren’t sure. The Snippy Hat tradition started at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York back in the old days. At their endless company meetings someone would inevitably get pissed off and he or she would have to wear the “Snippy Hat” until they calmed down. In those days it was a kitchen colander. The current Snippy Hat is… well, I’ll post the pictures. But Snippy Hat or not, we got along like a house afire. The trip was a combination of delights laced with tension. As previously noted, I’m new to horse back riding, so that was obviously on my mind and I know Ripley and Ellen felt the same. We took riding lessons, but still…. Interestingly, Moore and Kim were more worried about the campfires after dinner. My family notoriously loves games and we’re known to break into song at times. And Felicity is the ringleader and insists everyone plays and that’s what kept them up at night. We played a hilarious game called “In the Manner Of” which Daisy taught us, and it turned out that Ripley spent several weeks preparing “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” and she accompanied herself on the uke as she sang it to our family. (Not a dry eye in the house) One evening, after a pretty long ride to our new camp, our guide Simon wanted us to take a bit of a hike. We drove out to a trail head and hiked the rest of the way to a large rocky hill. At a point we said “Okay, we’ve done this, let’s go back to camp”, but Simon urged us on saying the view would be worth it. What we didn’t know was that there was a drivable road on the other side of the hill and the staff had driven up earlier and set up a bar with hors d’oeuvres. That’s my kind of roughing it. We built a fire and stayed there until well after dark playing games and singing.
We were at Sosian Lodge, a beautiful resort in the bush, at the end of our eleven day ride, and we were talking about how well our groups had gotten along. Some said the “Snippy Hat” was an influence but others weren’t sure. The Snippy Hat tradition started at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York back in the old days. At their endless company meetings someone would inevitably get pissed off and he or she would have to wear the “Snippy Hat” until they calmed down. In those days it was a kitchen colander. The current Snippy Hat is… well, I’ll post the pictures. But Snippy Hat or not, we got along like a house afire. The trip was a combination of delights laced with tension. As previously noted, I’m new to horse back riding, so that was obviously on my mind and I know Ripley and Ellen felt the same. We took riding lessons, but still…. Interestingly, Moore and Kim were more worried about the campfires after dinner. My family notoriously loves games and we’re known to break into song at times. And Felicity is the ringleader and insists everyone plays and that’s what kept them up at night. We played a hilarious game called “In the Manner Of” which Daisy taught us, and it turned out that Ripley spent several weeks preparing “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” and she accompanied herself on the uke as she sang it to our family. (Not a dry eye in the house) One evening, after a pretty long ride to our new camp, our guide Simon wanted us to take a bit of a hike. We drove out to a trail head and hiked the rest of the way to a large rocky hill. At a point we said “Okay, we’ve done this, let’s go back to camp”, but Simon urged us on saying the view would be worth it. What we didn’t know was that there was a drivable road on the other side of the hill and the staff had driven up earlier and set up a bar with hors d’oeuvres. That’s my kind of roughing it. We built a fire and stayed there until well after dark playing games and singing.
We were at Sosian Lodge, a beautiful resort in the bush, at the end of our eleven day ride, and we were talking about how well our groups had gotten along. Some said the “Snippy Hat” was an influence but others weren’t sure. The Snippy Hat tradition started at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York back in the old days. At their endless company meetings someone would inevitably get pissed off and he or she would have to wear the “Snippy Hat” until they calmed down. In those days it was a kitchen colander. The current Snippy Hat is… well, I’ll post the pictures. But Snippy Hat or not, we got along like a house afire. The trip was a combination of delights laced with tension. As previously noted, I’m new to horse back riding, so that was obviously on my mind and I know Ripley and Ellen felt the same. We took riding lessons, but still…. Interestingly, Moore and Kim were more worried about the campfires after dinner. My family notoriously loves games and we’re known to break into song at times. And Felicity is the ringleader and insists everyone plays and that’s what kept them up at night. We played a hilarious game called “In the Manner Of” which Daisy taught us, and it turned out that Ripley spent several weeks preparing “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” and she accompanied herself on the uke as she sang it to our family. (Not a dry eye in the house) One evening, after a pretty long ride to our new camp, our guide Simon wanted us to take a bit of a hike. We drove out to a trail head and hiked the rest of the way to a large rocky hill. At a point we said “Okay, we’ve done this, let’s go back to camp”, but Simon urged us on saying the view would be worth it. What we didn’t know was that there was a drivable road on the other side of the hill and the staff had driven up earlier and set up a bar with hors d’oeuvres. That’s my kind of roughing it. We built a fire and stayed there until well after dark playing games and singing.
We were at Sosian Lodge, a beautiful resort in the bush, at the end of our eleven day ride, and we were talking about how well our groups had gotten along. Some said the “Snippy Hat” was an influence but others weren’t sure. The Snippy Hat tradition started at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York back in the old days. At their endless company meetings someone would inevitably get pissed off and he or she would have to wear the “Snippy Hat” until they calmed down. In those days it was a kitchen colander. The current Snippy Hat is… well, I’ll post the pictures. But Snippy Hat or not, we got along like a house afire. The trip was a combination of delights laced with tension. As previously noted, I’m new to horse back riding, so that was obviously on my mind and I know Ripley and Ellen felt the same. We took riding lessons, but still…. Interestingly, Moore and Kim were more worried about the campfires after dinner. My family notoriously loves games and we’re known to break into song at times. And Felicity is the ringleader and insists everyone plays and that’s what kept them up at night. We played a hilarious game called “In the Manner Of” which Daisy taught us, and it turned out that Ripley spent several weeks preparing “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” and she accompanied herself on the uke as she sang it to our family. (Not a dry eye in the house) One evening, after a pretty long ride to our new camp, our guide Simon wanted us to take a bit of a hike. We drove out to a trail head and hiked the rest of the way to a large rocky hill. At a point we said “Okay, we’ve done this, let’s go back to camp”, but Simon urged us on saying the view would be worth it. What we didn’t know was that there was a drivable road on the other side of the hill and the staff had driven up earlier and set up a bar with hors d’oeuvres. That’s my kind of roughing it. We built a fire and stayed there until well after dark playing games and singing.
We were at Sosian Lodge, a beautiful resort in the bush, at the end of our eleven day ride, and we were talking about how well our groups had gotten along. Some said the “Snippy Hat” was an influence but others weren’t sure. The Snippy Hat tradition started at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York back in the old days. At their endless company meetings someone would inevitably get pissed off and he or she would have to wear the “Snippy Hat” until they calmed down. In those days it was a kitchen colander. The current Snippy Hat is… well, I’ll post the pictures. But Snippy Hat or not, we got along like a house afire. The trip was a combination of delights laced with tension. As previously noted, I’m new to horse back riding, so that was obviously on my mind and I know Ripley and Ellen felt the same. We took riding lessons, but still…. Interestingly, Moore and Kim were more worried about the campfires after dinner. My family notoriously loves games and we’re known to break into song at times. And Felicity is the ringleader and insists everyone plays and that’s what kept them up at night. We played a hilarious game called “In the Manner Of” which Daisy taught us, and it turned out that Ripley spent several weeks preparing “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” and she accompanied herself on the uke as she sang it to our family. (Not a dry eye in the house) One evening, after a pretty long ride to our new camp, our guide Simon wanted us to take a bit of a hike. We drove out to a trail head and hiked the rest of the way to a large rocky hill. At a point we said “Okay, we’ve done this, let’s go back to camp”, but Simon urged us on saying the view would be worth it. What we didn’t know was that there was a drivable road on the other side of the hill and the staff had driven up earlier and set up a bar with hors d’oeuvres. That’s my kind of roughing it. We built a fire and stayed there until well after dark playing games and singing.
On the eighth day of the trip we did a “night ride” to see some lions which our Maasai guide, Neti, had located. Neti was almost magical in his ability to find where the animals, especially the big cats, could be found. He was an expert tracker and got many of his clues from watching the grazing animals. So at dusk, we hopped onto the roofs or our two cool-ass Land Rovers and drove out to see four lions – two young and two mature. Neti had seen them earlier in the day and noticed that the older female was intently watching three Cape Buffalo grazing nearby. When we arrived, the cats were still dozing, rolling on their backs, taking playful swipes at each other and basically acting like house cats. They made you feel that they just wanted to play, and if you approached them slowly and quietly, they’d love to be scratched behind the ears. (Of course they’d eat you). Finally, the older female got up and left and the others followed, still doing cute stuff. By now it was pretty dark and suddenly the walkie talkie barked and Neti, in the other Land Rover, said they were attacking the old buffalo. By the time we got there, all four were hanging off her hind quarters. She was still on her feet, refusing to give up, braying and thrashing about, and once or twice she threw off two of the lions and tried to run, but they were on her again in a flash. We were not more than thirty feet from them when they finally pulled her down. She was still braying pitifully as they began to tear her apart. Two in our company couldn’t watched, and they wept. Some of us couldn’t look away. For the rest of the night we talked about what we had seen. Flicka described it as being a privilege to have been present. Moore noted that although it was violent, there was no rage or anger. It was life is what it was. Life writ large and up close. The next morning we rode out to see what was left of the Buffalo. The lions had eaten a great deal of her and the Hyenas and the Jackals were waiting their turn.
Today is Sophia Macy’s 22nd Birthday. Flicka embroidered this tiny otter for her. His name is Otto. The day Sophia was born was one of the greatest days of my life, and it just keeps getting better.
Today is Sophia Macy’s 22nd Birthday. Flicka embroidered this tiny otter for her. His name is Otto. The day Sophia was born was one of the greatest days of my life, and it just keeps getting better.
We were back in camp after our evening ride drinking gin and tonic when Nettie reported spotting some lions. (We drank a lot of gin and tonics, but you know, tonic is quinine and quinine fights malaria. Just sayin’.) We all loaded into the Land Rover and drove ten or fifteen minutes and there they were. A big male lying in the grass and two females lounging nearby. We stopped the Land Rover a mere twenty feet from this giant cat and we were all sitting on the roof. Simon whispered we shouldn’t let our feet hang over the side. The lion looked at us for a beat with something like distain and then put his attention back on the females. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you we didn’t see him get lucky, but my point is, this guy was not afraid of us at all. This guy was not afraid of anything. While it’s true that game has grown accustomed to humans in trucks staring at them, this magnificent creature knew in his bones that should we try to do him any harm, he could handle it. He knew that he was top of the food chain, king of the jungle. That night as we sat around the campfire after an amazing meal, having one last gin and tonic, and speculating what would we do if suddenly, we found ourselves ten miles into the bush on foot and totally alone, we heard the big lion’s deep throated humph humph, and we all agreed that he sounded like he’d just gotten lucky.
We were back in camp after our evening ride drinking gin and tonic when Nettie reported spotting some lions. (We drank a lot of gin and tonics, but you know, tonic is quinine and quinine fights malaria. Just sayin’.) We all loaded into the Land Rover and drove ten or fifteen minutes and there they were. A big male lying in the grass and two females lounging nearby. We stopped the Land Rover a mere twenty feet from this giant cat and we were all sitting on the roof. Simon whispered we shouldn’t let our feet hang over the side. The lion looked at us for a beat with something like distain and then put his attention back on the females. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you we didn’t see him get lucky, but my point is, this guy was not afraid of us at all. This guy was not afraid of anything. While it’s true that game has grown accustomed to humans in trucks staring at them, this magnificent creature knew in his bones that should we try to do him any harm, he could handle it. He knew that he was top of the food chain, king of the jungle. That night as we sat around the campfire after an amazing meal, having one last gin and tonic, and speculating what would we do if suddenly, we found ourselves ten miles into the bush on foot and totally alone, we heard the big lion’s deep throated humph humph, and we all agreed that he sounded like he’d just gotten lucky.
We were back in camp after our evening ride drinking gin and tonic when Nettie reported spotting some lions. (We drank a lot of gin and tonics, but you know, tonic is quinine and quinine fights malaria. Just sayin’.) We all loaded into the Land Rover and drove ten or fifteen minutes and there they were. A big male lying in the grass and two females lounging nearby. We stopped the Land Rover a mere twenty feet from this giant cat and we were all sitting on the roof. Simon whispered we shouldn’t let our feet hang over the side. The lion looked at us for a beat with something like distain and then put his attention back on the females. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you we didn’t see him get lucky, but my point is, this guy was not afraid of us at all. This guy was not afraid of anything. While it’s true that game has grown accustomed to humans in trucks staring at them, this magnificent creature knew in his bones that should we try to do him any harm, he could handle it. He knew that he was top of the food chain, king of the jungle. That night as we sat around the campfire after an amazing meal, having one last gin and tonic, and speculating what would we do if suddenly, we found ourselves ten miles into the bush on foot and totally alone, we heard the big lion’s deep throated humph humph, and we all agreed that he sounded like he’d just gotten lucky.
We were back in camp after our evening ride drinking gin and tonic when Nettie reported spotting some lions. (We drank a lot of gin and tonics, but you know, tonic is quinine and quinine fights malaria. Just sayin’.) We all loaded into the Land Rover and drove ten or fifteen minutes and there they were. A big male lying in the grass and two females lounging nearby. We stopped the Land Rover a mere twenty feet from this giant cat and we were all sitting on the roof. Simon whispered we shouldn’t let our feet hang over the side. The lion looked at us for a beat with something like distain and then put his attention back on the females. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you we didn’t see him get lucky, but my point is, this guy was not afraid of us at all. This guy was not afraid of anything. While it’s true that game has grown accustomed to humans in trucks staring at them, this magnificent creature knew in his bones that should we try to do him any harm, he could handle it. He knew that he was top of the food chain, king of the jungle. That night as we sat around the campfire after an amazing meal, having one last gin and tonic, and speculating what would we do if suddenly, we found ourselves ten miles into the bush on foot and totally alone, we heard the big lion’s deep throated humph humph, and we all agreed that he sounded like he’d just gotten lucky.
We were back in camp after our evening ride drinking gin and tonic when Nettie reported spotting some lions. (We drank a lot of gin and tonics, but you know, tonic is quinine and quinine fights malaria. Just sayin’.) We all loaded into the Land Rover and drove ten or fifteen minutes and there they were. A big male lying in the grass and two females lounging nearby. We stopped the Land Rover a mere twenty feet from this giant cat and we were all sitting on the roof. Simon whispered we shouldn’t let our feet hang over the side. The lion looked at us for a beat with something like distain and then put his attention back on the females. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you we didn’t see him get lucky, but my point is, this guy was not afraid of us at all. This guy was not afraid of anything. While it’s true that game has grown accustomed to humans in trucks staring at them, this magnificent creature knew in his bones that should we try to do him any harm, he could handle it. He knew that he was top of the food chain, king of the jungle. That night as we sat around the campfire after an amazing meal, having one last gin and tonic, and speculating what would we do if suddenly, we found ourselves ten miles into the bush on foot and totally alone, we heard the big lion’s deep throated humph humph, and we all agreed that he sounded like he’d just gotten lucky.
We were back in camp after our evening ride drinking gin and tonic when Nettie reported spotting some lions. (We drank a lot of gin and tonics, but you know, tonic is quinine and quinine fights malaria. Just sayin’.) We all loaded into the Land Rover and drove ten or fifteen minutes and there they were. A big male lying in the grass and two females lounging nearby. We stopped the Land Rover a mere twenty feet from this giant cat and we were all sitting on the roof. Simon whispered we shouldn’t let our feet hang over the side. The lion looked at us for a beat with something like distain and then put his attention back on the females. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you we didn’t see him get lucky, but my point is, this guy was not afraid of us at all. This guy was not afraid of anything. While it’s true that game has grown accustomed to humans in trucks staring at them, this magnificent creature knew in his bones that should we try to do him any harm, he could handle it. He knew that he was top of the food chain, king of the jungle. That night as we sat around the campfire after an amazing meal, having one last gin and tonic, and speculating what would we do if suddenly, we found ourselves ten miles into the bush on foot and totally alone, we heard the big lion’s deep throated humph humph, and we all agreed that he sounded like he’d just gotten lucky.
We were back in camp after our evening ride drinking gin and tonic when Nettie reported spotting some lions. (We drank a lot of gin and tonics, but you know, tonic is quinine and quinine fights malaria. Just sayin’.) We all loaded into the Land Rover and drove ten or fifteen minutes and there they were. A big male lying in the grass and two females lounging nearby. We stopped the Land Rover a mere twenty feet from this giant cat and we were all sitting on the roof. Simon whispered we shouldn’t let our feet hang over the side. The lion looked at us for a beat with something like distain and then put his attention back on the females. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you we didn’t see him get lucky, but my point is, this guy was not afraid of us at all. This guy was not afraid of anything. While it’s true that game has grown accustomed to humans in trucks staring at them, this magnificent creature knew in his bones that should we try to do him any harm, he could handle it. He knew that he was top of the food chain, king of the jungle. That night as we sat around the campfire after an amazing meal, having one last gin and tonic, and speculating what would we do if suddenly, we found ourselves ten miles into the bush on foot and totally alone, we heard the big lion’s deep throated humph humph, and we all agreed that he sounded like he’d just gotten lucky.
We were back in camp after our evening ride drinking gin and tonic when Nettie reported spotting some lions. (We drank a lot of gin and tonics, but you know, tonic is quinine and quinine fights malaria. Just sayin’.) We all loaded into the Land Rover and drove ten or fifteen minutes and there they were. A big male lying in the grass and two females lounging nearby. We stopped the Land Rover a mere twenty feet from this giant cat and we were all sitting on the roof. Simon whispered we shouldn’t let our feet hang over the side. The lion looked at us for a beat with something like distain and then put his attention back on the females. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you we didn’t see him get lucky, but my point is, this guy was not afraid of us at all. This guy was not afraid of anything. While it’s true that game has grown accustomed to humans in trucks staring at them, this magnificent creature knew in his bones that should we try to do him any harm, he could handle it. He knew that he was top of the food chain, king of the jungle. That night as we sat around the campfire after an amazing meal, having one last gin and tonic, and speculating what would we do if suddenly, we found ourselves ten miles into the bush on foot and totally alone, we heard the big lion’s deep throated humph humph, and we all agreed that he sounded like he’d just gotten lucky.
Went to the Hollywood Bowl (@hollywoodbowl ) and saw an amazing evening. Dudamel directed the LA Phil and the Paris Opera Ballet (@balletoperadeparis) danced. Amazing. Two modern pieces that had us on our feet. Made me proud to be human.
