Day 60 - Antelope Park

Mister Bones

Today was the last 'free day', which we decided we'd spend at Antelope Park, a national park and animal conservation project.  Antelope Park is a 2 hour drive from Bulawayo which meant an early morning.  The other two woke up at 6:30, and discovered that there is another 1.5 hours to a morning.  After seeing the girls rush out the door, we threw a few things in the car and left.

The goal for the day was to see a lion and, immediately after arriving, the other two were booked in to walk with the lions.  We also arranged for a game drive through the national park before hand.

We made a new friend while waiting for lunch.  His name was Mister Bones and he was a little monkey.  Our first encounter involved him running across Jonno's and my lap, jumping on Andrew head and biting his ear.  Needless to say, his behavior did improve.

After lunch it was game on.  We jumped in the back of a Land Cruiser ute, fitted with bench seats for game viewing, and headed into the park.  As this national park is fairly controlled, the game viewing was quite good as the drivers knew where to go.  We spent 1.5 hours in the park all up.

Once we had arrived back at the camp site, Andrew and Jonno left for the walk with the lions.  They were both given a stick (which was not for beating the lion should it attack you) and given a brief overview of what Antelope Park actually do with the lions.  After the debrief, they headed into the national park once again with their lion cubs and had the opportunity to walk with them, pat them and take photos with them.

Although the weather was pretty poor, it was a great day at Antelope Park amongst the animals (and the surprising number of Aussies) admiring God's creation.


Alex

www.antelopepark.co.zw