About 30 miles outside of Johannesburg, there is a place called Lion Park — a wildlife conservation enclosure where you can visit several prides of lions as well as encounter other animals roaming out in the open. You can either drive this yourself or hop on one of the trams which depart regularly (I did the former).
But first things first — I pay a little extra to visit lion cubs up close before going on my self-drive of the park. This combo ticket costs around $15 USD (200 rand), but without the cub interaction it’s a little less ($12 USD / 160 rand). I think they’re only supposed to let visitors stay with the cubs for a few minutes but the animal handlers on duty during my visit are very generous with the allotted time. These big guys (and gals) are dozing in the shade when I arrive:
I’m encouraged to pet them (just not their heads!) and a handler even offers to set one on my lap.
These guys really are just big cats… who could rip into your jugular at any moment.
Aww, she’s sticking out her tongue:
I can hear her purr:
While I don’t have any photos of the animal trainers, they are especially good at their jobs — they really want each visitor to have a good time (and they don’t know that I’m a travel blogger / photographer). They offer to take photos of the lion encounter on both my DSLR and iPhone; the guy who does it takes dozens of shots and they turn out great. This service is especially generous when you consider that they have a professional photographer there taking photos of each lion encounter to sell to tourists, so they’re cutting into their own profits a bit. I’m impressed by how much they care that I have a good experience and walk away with good photos on my own camera / phone.
Just as my time with the lions is winding down, more women arrive and the animal handlers allow me to stick around longer.
That was such a highlight of the day that I’m not even sure I need to stick around to self-drive the park! But I do, and it’s quick with lots of wildlife.
An ostrich pecks for food under a purple jacaranda-style tree:
That’s one of the tram tours below — you can hop on (for a small fee) if you don’t want to self-drive:
Zebras!
A type of African antelope:
Guineafowl and their colorful turquoise heads:
African buffalo:
Impalas:
After photographing a wide variety of wildlife on the open plains, I drive into the final area in the park — multiple enclosures of lions. Each pride is kept in its own space; I think I visit four different prides in total. There are signs everywhere to stay in your car and keep the windows rolled up. This is important because you can literally drive right next to lions and they are NOT in cages — your vehicle is your protection.
A few months ago, a tragic incident occurred at Lion Park — 29-year-old Katherine Chappell, a visual effects editor for Game of Thrones and other TV/film projects, was killed by a lion in this park. Her window was down all the way (despite signage stating that they must be kept up) when a lion lunged through the window and attacked her neck. My condolences go out to Katherine’s family.
In each of the enclosures, the lions are snoozing. It’s a warm afternoon and they’re not too keen on activity. But they do take notice of cars or trams that drive by, often picking up their heads and yawning or licking their lips.
These three full-maned males are perfect lion specimens. In the wild, I only saw manes like that at quite a distance — it’s neat to see them up close now.
A trio of female lions stare back at me:
A park tram drives by this sleeping male lion:
And there is one last enclose with cheetahs — I’ve seen plenty of these guys in the wild before, but it never gets old.
It cracks me up that they can lie down so flat — only their heads poke above the short grass. Neat party trick.
If you’re in Johannesburg and have a car, Lion Park is about 30 miles outside the city. (I did not investigate how to get here without a vehicle.) And even if you’ve already seen lions in the wildlife, the cub encounter makes this place extra special. Glad I stopped in for an hour or two.
