Up close with Lions

After lots of long miles we have finally reached Livingstone in Zambia and it has surpassed all expectations. Today we spent the morning playing with lions and cheetahs at the Ultimate African Experience which is breeding lions and cheetahs for eventual release back into the national parks of Zambia.

First up we got to play with two white lion cubs who are just a few months old. Hard to think that these guys are going to grow up to be apex preditors.

We then went for a walk with two 8 month old brothers that are growing into lions fast. Although it was still hard to think of these guys as anything but cute big kittens.

We got to play lion trainers for an hour as we walked through the bush. The sticks in our hands are for the lions to play with when they took a little too much lion interest in us.

These guys are going to be released into a fenced protected area once they are 2 and a half years old to breed and then their offspring will be released back into the National Parks of Zambia.

This really does seem like a worthwhile cause to help succeed - once again I have got contact details if you are interested in finding out more about the good work these guys are doing.

Whilst we had a fantastic time with the lions, the real highlight was getting to hang out with 3 beautiful cheetahs who seemed to enjoy the interaction nearly as much as we did, purring when we scratched them, sitting on our laps and licking our arms and heads!!! They even seemed to take a liking to Dave who is definatley not a cat person. Below are some of our favourite photos however it was really hard to choose.