The Seaview Lion Park – (the place where we could pet the baby lions)

{ the lion and the calf will lay down together, but that calf won't get much sleep } - Woody Allen

     --- photos by: Bridget




So pretty much I came to South Africa so I could pet and hold a baby lion… ok well maybe for other reasons as well. But it was something I HAD TO DO! There was a large group of us who wanted to go so we decided to call a bus company and take a 22-passenger bus out to Seaview – a small town with nothing but some shacks and maybe a store or 2 (I felt at home!) haha

We finally rolled into the lion park and on the way to the lions we saw dear looking things (some sort of Springboks) and a couple of giraffe. It was fun to see a giraffe in the wild – they were just eating the tops of trees. It was also entertaining to watch everyone in the bus – all taking pictures and leaning out of the window. Oh Americans.

When we arrived we walked around and saw all the adult lions in cages (they had double caging which made picture taking a bit difficult). I wanted to jump over, at least the first fence but decided against that after seeing barbed wire and an electric wire. So I stood on the outside like a normal spectator and watched the lions. Sundays are feeding days at the Park so the lions were very active and hungry. Right before the feeding (which we were hoping was going to be a live feeding… and it wasn’t ) we saw a couple of the lions attacking each other. More like playing I guess but at that point I was glad I was not in the cage with them.

As the feeding time was nearing more and more people came to watch. I was with a small group and we had decided that we wanted to head up to see the baby ones as soon as the feeding was done, in order to beat all of the others. As we waited for the feedings to get to the pen we were standing at, we got impatient and decided that the babies were way more important. So we climbed up a huge hill on a dirt road and made it to the little café and pens where the smaller lions were kept. There we ordered food (may I add before all the other people, which was good because we were starving) and went and played with the babies. To bad they had just eaten and it was naptime. But it was still amazing to get to touch them and feel their paws. It was a rather large baby kitty. However, I think they are cuter than cats. After that we ate our lunch. I had a pineapple, ham and cheese sandwich thing. Anything with pineapple - sign me up!

After lunch we went into the other lion pen with the almost one year old lions. They were huge. We got to take pictures with them (most of them were asleep). We stayed near the alpha male for a while as he was sleeping – which I guess they sleep about 18 hours a day.. so the chance of catching them awake is kind of slim. Then he woke up and starting licking himself (pretty much all they do other than eat and sleep!). I found out that when they are full grown that their tongues are so rough that they can just lick meat off of the bone. I decided to feel the tongue – yup they are right it is pretty rough. One time, when my hand was close to his mouth, he decided to put my hand inside of his mouth. The lady told me not to put my hand in the lion’s mouth and I said “no he grabbed it.” I just slowly pulled it out. Luckily he hadn’t put much pressure but I definitely felt teeth!

After almost getting eaten by a lion, I was talking to a friend, Michael, who had ridden there with a South African family. He told me that they got to see a zebra and giraffe up close and showed the pictures. I was on mission. No way could I let this guy have cooler pictures of Melman and Marty than me! So I went and talked to Jan – who had rented a car and drove there – and asked if he would drive me around the park so I could find a zebra. He was willing to take me after he had finished eating. I was a little impatient so I helped him with his milkshake! (:

Jan, Patrick, Theresa, and I all jumped into the car to find the animals. Theresa has a nice camera like mine (we are the two artsy ones in the group). We first saw the giraffes. They were so close to our car. Of course I had to get out of the car to get pictures, which I don’t think I was supposed to do. Oh well, they seemed pretty harmless and they were. I am still alive. Then we kept driving because I was determined to see a zebra. I love them. We drove and drove and finally I saw one. So we crept around the corner and there they were - two zebras standing in the shade. I got out of the car (again) and started to get really close, hoping that they were as nice as Marty on Madagascar. Since that is pretty much all I know about zebras (from a kids movie). I got pretty close and was of course snapping away. Then I gave my camera to Theresa to take one of me close to them, I should have tried to touch it, but I guess I'm not as brave as Nemo!

The day was complete. I got to see Alex the lion, Melman the giraffe, and Marty the zebra. Now I just have to see an elephant and a water buffalo (which I think I might have but I am not for sure) and then I will have seen the big 5! Pretty much Africa ROCKS. That is all I have to say about that adventure. Oh and also that I maybe want to work at that lion park sometime. The volunteers get to hold and feed the baby lions and even burp them. I guess the mom does it in the wild – she licks them from the belly up to the neck… so interesting. Seaview was a success, if you get a chance you should visit. It was fun to see the lions up close, although they are in cages I think they are taken care of and fed well.