Ukutula Lodge

In early March I spent a wonderful weekend at Ukutula Game Lodge in Northwest province, just over an hour and a half's drive from Johannesburg, where Willi and Gillian Jacobs - passionate conservationists - breed lions for research purposes and have ongoing research programmes with 2 South African universities and 3 European ones. Volunteers come from all over the world to learn about lions and to work with them.

You can interact with very young cubs, meet their older siblings - the 3-6 month-old 'devils' - and then watch the older ones as they eat, sleep and play. The highlight was a 2-hour walk with 3 young lions - Michael, a 2 year-old white lion, and 2 younger tawny lions, Coa and Sesame. We followed them through the natural bush to a dam, where they cooled off, played, and then began the guided walk home.

The highlight was a 2-hour walk with 3 young lions. We followed them through the natural bush to a dam, where they cooled off, played, and then began the guided walk home.

Do it! It's something to share with your family and friends and an experience you will never forget.

I even have a few scratches to prove that I really was walking with lions.

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