The search for the Big Five continued. I had photo proof of our sightings of four of the Big Five.
The largest of them, the African Elephant, we’d seen from our rooms our first full day on safari. We’d seen the African buffalo in that dreadful scene by the water when the baby one had been attacked and miraculously survived. We’d seen leopards on two consecutive game drives, which Geri was extremely impressed by. We’d seen rhinoceros playing in the mud on another game drive.
We’d seen so many different animals—warthogs, monkeys, hippos, giraffes, and how could I forget about the hyenas (as hard as I tried to). We’d even seen animals I had never heard of before the trip—kudus, impala, and all sorts of birds.
Hazel checked off each one we saw in the animal journal the lodge had provided. I think mine was somewhere at the bottom of my backpack, unchecked.
But the lion remained photographically elusive. We’d observed the three young male lions during the buffalo incident but they’d been far away. No one had a good shot of one. I wanted to see the male lion’s large mane and hear its deep growl closer.
The group was ready, on time, waiting for Sonny and Ray for our morning game drive. I went out front to find them. They were hunkered together, by the Land Cruiser, while Ray talked on his phone. I snuck up, hoping to hear them without them hearing me.
Ray hung up and turned, finding me just a few feet away. “Naomi! You startled me.”
“Sorry,” I responded. “Everything okay?”
Ray looked to Sonny, wanting him to answer. “We were talking to one of the other lodges. They saw lions yesterday. Ray and I were deciding if we should head over that way.”
“To see a lion? Definitely!”
They looked at each other. I didn’t see what the problem was. “We don’t want to disappoint the guests,” Ray said to Sonny.
“I don’t see how you could,” I told them.
Sonny sighed. “If we drive all the way over and don’t see them, some guests might be upset.”
I turned around to see the rest of the group had joined us outside. “Group vote!” I exclaimed to the crowd. I turned to Sonny and whispered, “That way they don’t blame you. They’ll blame whoever voted to go.”
He smiled and took charge of the situation. “Who wants to see a lion today?” Some hands went up and others shouted, “Yes.”
“It’ll be a short drive to go where some lions were seen yesterday. That okay?” Everyone nodded, except Jack. Reflexively, he touched his ailing back. We all made our way onto the Land Cruiser. Jack held Geri back and spoke heatedly. She seemed to have won the argument and she took his hand and pulled him to the cruiser. They sat in the first row, with Charlotte. I sat in the middle row and Zonah sat next to me.
At the start of the trip, his facial hair had a “I haven’t shaven today” and “I’m a cool guy” look. His beard was full-grown now. It was more of man living in the woods look. Plus, I imagined all that hair on his face was hot. I looked closely at it for any markings underneath. Was he masking signs of a struggle from Dr. Higgins’ murder? But the beard was too thick. Excellent camouflage or hideous grooming? I didn’t know.
I looked around the cruiser again. I had yet to see any signs of a struggle on anyone’s face or neck. The attack must have taken Dr. Higgins by surprise.
Thoughts of murder flew from my brain as Sonny took off. I held on tightly to the bar in front of me as he drove faster than we had ever done before. Sonny drove the dirt paths without abandon. I held on for dear life and prayed Ray did the same from his perch on the front of the Land Cruiser.
I realized why he had hesitated on taking us on this journey. No one looked happy right now.
Gradually, the cruiser slowed down and the typical game drive speed resumed. There were a few murmurings as everyone settled into the more appropriate speed for a vehicle with no seat belts and no roof.
We came to a fork in the road and Sonny stopped. Charlotte turned around and shot me a look. She blamed me for this excursion.
Ray held up his hand and jumped out of his seat. He walked around the cruiser once and then smiled broadly. “This way!” he said, pointing to the right. “Go slow,” he told Sonny.
We drove briefly and he stopped again. There he was! A lion, lounging on the side of the road. His back was to us and he didn’t seem to care about our arrival. He licked his paw, his tail gently flicking up and down.
After a few minutes, he got up and slowly walked down the road. He sniffed at the dirt and stopped to look around. Suddenly, a noise emanated from him. A roar of sorts, but not what I would have expected from a lion. It was a deep short noise. “He’s calling for his brothers,” Sonny told us.
We all listened and heard no response. The lion resumed his march down the road and we followed. It wasn’t the picture of the lion I had hoped for, his backside, but I could now mark the Big Five off my list, if I kept a list.
The lion sat again and Sonny parked the car. He called out a few more times. We all listened. The lion perked up. Ray held up his hand and pointed behind us. He was the first of the humans to hear the returned call.
Our lion stood, turned around, and walked toward us. He was beautiful. His large tawny mane was massive, compared to the trim fur that covered the rest of his body. His bright yellowish eyes shone in the first rays of the morning.
I held my breath as he walked in our direction. No one but the lion moved. He roared again and the return call was closer. He continued his path toward the call and we continued to watch him. He passed by me, only a few feet away. I no longer felt fear, only amazement to be this close to this beautiful creature.
I doubted I wasn’t the only one glad we had journeyed this far to find him.
Ray and Sonny were smiling as we stopped for coffee and juice. My fellow travelers, and Sonny, grouped together, recounting our experience seeing the lion up close.
“How long have you worked here?” I asked Ray, as he stood alone preparing the beverages.
“About a year.”
I didn’t bother asking if he liked it. He would only answer politely, like the rest of the staff. He would tell me how the family was good to him, like Coral and Sonny already had.
“You learned all this in year?” He was extremely knowledgeable. As least as knowledgeable as Sonny, and I wondered why he wasn’t a guide.
“Oh no. I’ve been a tracker for a few years.” He looked over in Sonny’s direction. “One day I’ll be a guide.”
“I’m sure you will. You’re excellent.” He smiled at the compliment. “Where did you work before this?”
“Tonfi Lodge.”
It sounded familiar. Maybe Geri had mentioned it. Jack and Geri had been on a few other safaris. But I didn’t think they’d been anywhere in this area before.
“Is it close?” I asked.
“Oh yes. Same family owns that too.”
“Oh, so you just transferred? Better opportunities over here?”
He hesitated. “Not really. It was felt it was best for me to go.”
That sounded ominous. But if he had done something really bad, the family would have fired him. They wouldn’t transfer him somewhere else.
Wouldn’t they?