Walking with lions

> Taking a stroll with the king of the jungle sounds foolish but it’s all part of a revolutionary conservation project

Pendo paused at a waterhole, giving us the perfect photo op beside her.

Soon Phezulu rejoined us and, when both lions stopped, panting, under a camel thorn tree, we were all relieved to be in the shade.

Finally, they led us the short distance back to the lodge – where they knew their ready-made dinner was waiting. At the lodge, we could see the other cubs, some of whom were less than three months old, too young for a trek through the savannah.

Their turn will come. The walks take place every day of the year, even if no guests show up. Of course, if guests do come, the US$150 (RM644.25) each pays helps the conservation effort.

The lions were just one experience in Zimbabwe that took me far closer to big game than I’d ever imagined. The others also had a focus on conservation and not one involved being cooped up in a minibus.

On an open-air dinner cruise up the Zambezi, close to where the river cascades into the Victoria Falls, we sailed worryingly close to some rocks … or so I thought, until one opened its mouth in a languid hippo’s yawn.

At our hotel, vultures swarmed above us, before being fed within yards of where we sat – to protect them from the poachers and farmer who poison them.

And on an elephant-back safari, we let orphans from a disastrous cull in the 1980s carry us gently through the bush. Like the lions, their offspring will be released into the wild.

In such a turbulent country, it was reassuring to gaze over those unforgettable sunsets, knowing that they might lead to a brighter dawn. – The Independent