Really wild trip to the Lion King’s den

SOME years ago, when I lived in Kenya, a friend invited me to fly in his small plane to visit George Adamson, of Born Free fame, at his camp in Kora. It was a remote destination and the pilot couldn’t find the landing strip, so he kept climbing and diving in an effort to spot it. It was an amazing experience seeing the wildlife below, but I was afraid we’d crash at any moment. Suddenly, we saw George — a small man with a white beard, wearing only shorts and sandals, waving frantically to show us where to land. We did, but only just, as the landing strip was small and primitive. The next day, George, who was known as (Father of Lions), took us for a walk along the Tana River, which was full of crocodiles. Two of his lions followed behind us and I was relieved to notice that George was carrying a rifle. In my wildest dreams I’d never imagined I would walk with lions in Africa. One evening, when we were all asleep in our tents, some wild lions from the bush broke down the fence and came into the camp. A fight broke out with the lions in George’s enclosure. I was so afraid they would attack the tent I was in, because, of course, there was no door to protect us, just a canvas flap. I heard George shouting and throwing things at the wild lions. Shots were fired into the air to scare them away. At the end of the visit, we took off in the small plane to return to Nairobi. After an hour, I noticed my pilot friend was sweating and looking pale. I froze, hoping he wouldn’t pass out as I couldn’t fly the plane! Eventually he recovered and we made it back in one piece. I felt so lucky, but never flew with him again.

Mrs H. C. Lilly, Javea, Spain.