Next three days were busy with meetings, last day meeting was over around at 4.00 PM .We were back to our rooms. We dumped our stuff, changed clothes and left to explore the hotel before to have our dinner.
Next day our flight was at 10.30 PM as per South African time, so we were having almost one full day to explore Johannesburg.
We planned our visit in this way that after our breakfast, we would leave hotel along with luggage. On the way to the Airport we would visit Lion Park , Sterkfontein cave & have Johannesburg city tour which was supposed to be finished by 6.00 PM. And after that we could reach Airport by 7 – 7.30 PM.
As per our plan we left the hotel at 8.30 PM for Lion Park. After a drive of half an hour we reached Lion Park.
Entrance – Lion Park
The Lion park was established in Nov. 1966 by the world famous Chipperfields Circus. The Lion Park is neither a game reserve nor a Zoo. It has been split into two areas – one area for herbivores such as Zebra, Giraffe and various types of antelopes and other grass eating animals .Rest of the area was for Carnivores.
The Herbivores roam freely around the area and visitor are able to view the animals at close proximity at any time.
The carnivore camps, which currently house three prides of lions and a clan of hyena, are protected by barriers and fences to prevent the different prides from attacking one another. By nature, lions are protective of their territory and can become fierce and aggressive if other lions or prides enter their domain.
Most of the lions at the Park are the progeny of lions that were originally from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Northern Gauteng and Botswana.
Lion park is having more than 80 lions, it includes cubs & white lions.
After parking the vehicle our driver took us to that place from where we had to buy the ticket to visit the Park.
Charges
Self drive – Adult R 150
Children (4-12) R 75
Guided game drive (DAY) – Adult R 150
Children (4-12) R 75
Guided game drive (NIGHT) Adult R 150
Children (4-12) R 75
Timing
1st Sep – 30 April 8.30 AM – 9.00 PM
1st May – 31st Aug 8.30 AM – 8.00 PM
Outside Ticket counter
We had a good laugh over the creative names given to washrooms i.e.Lion and Lioness instead of Men and Women.
washroom
After taking tickets we passed through a souvenir shop to visit Cub Park, we waited almost for half an hour before entering the Cub park because at a time only 6-8 visitors are allowed to enter.
Inside Cub Park we are allowed to touch & play with cubs. Last year also I got chance to play with cubs in Rhino and Lion park. Although it was my second time experience to play with cubs but I was equally excited as I was last time.
Cub Park
In Rhino & Lion Park one has to shell out R 30 but in the Cub Park and in the Lion park its free.
After visiting the park we came out , washed our hands and went to feed Giraffe & ostrich. The feed for Giraffe & ostrich is available @ of R 30 per packet.
First we went to feed Ostrich, our driver advised us to keep your palm straight while feeding to Ostrich otherwise it will hurt your palm.
Feeding to Ostrich
Ostrich are largest bird weighing up to 150 kg & can run at 70 kms / hour. They lay 15 to 20 eggs which hatch after an incubation period of 40 days. Each egg has a capacity equal to about 24 chicken eggs.
After that we went up to a platform made to feed Giraffe, it was really a dirty experience to feed a giraffe as our palm was fully clad with saliva.
Giraffe is world’s tallest Mammal It has extremely long neck and legs. The long legs allow to run 50 kms / hr over short distance and cruise comfortable 16 kms / hr over long distance. The average height of Giraffe is around 16-20 feets & weight over 800 kgs. The tounge of Giraffe is quite long , around 20-21 inches which help in plucking tasty morsels from branches of tree.
Feeding to Giraffe
We spent some time with Giraffe & ostrich and then proceeded towards parking area and moved further for safari. My other colleagues were very excited to see the King of Jungle as they were here first time and never spotted Lion so closely , I was more excited for city tour because I already had safari last year.
King of Jungle
After 15- 20 minutes of taxing we saw Antelopes. As informed in my previous post also that Male Antelopes are in black colour and female are in dark brown .
Antelopes
Antelopes
Moving further we encountered with White lions , they were looking very calm and quiet but by mistake had anyone happened to be out of the car,he would have been their lunch for the day.
After that we saw yellow lions. Clicked some of their pictures .We may not get chance to see Lions so closely in future.
Moving ahead we saw Cheetah lying on ground, they are very dangerous species , one of the fastest running animal.
Cheetah
Lastly we saw Zebras & than we came out of the Park & proceeded further for Johannesburg city tour which was my main agenda for this trip.
Zebra
Self-drive is allowed till sunset after that only guided tour is allowed.
Every Wednesday one can enjoy night feeding to Lions at 7.30 PM.
In my next tour I will take you to the place which is known as the birth place of Humanity.
Wonderful post Maheshjee ,
Enjoyed every bit of it. The pictures were great. Its so well managed park that animals have good space to roam unlike our zoos where they just have few feet to move around. Zoos I think should be managed this way giving space to everyone. Playing with cubs must be the most exciting and enjoyable part of the tour I suppose.
Thanks for sharing . Waiting for next.
Dear Vishal,
Your comment always encourage to upcoming writer like us. Playing with cubs was ultimate experience, second time I got the chance to play with cubs but I was equally excited as I was last time.
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WOW!!!! Mahesh ji. What an experience ! Playing with the lion cubs is perhaps one can not even dream of, because it is rare to find cubs and the lioness is over possessive of her cubs. This must be a life time experience.
tks for sharing this wonderful experience
Yes SS ji , play with cub and feeding to Giraffe & ostrich was an unforgettable experience.
Thanks for going through the post and leaving the comment.
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The animals are wonderful but Sharukh minus the six-pack is absolutely necessary for any post.
My dear Spell checker even in my last post also I requested you to say openly what exactly you want to say.
Ha ha ha….
This “hahahahah” shows that you don’t even know what you want to say , I am sorry to say that people like just want to be over smart and treat other like a duffer.
I am ready to listen where I am lacking so that I can take care in my next write ups . Suggestion for improvement from any one is is most welcome . But simply making fun of other in public platform is not good.
All you need to do is to compare it with posts by the veterans (huge number of posts won’t make a veteran, mind you) like M Khamesra, R Dhall, DL etc. We may not be able to match them but its good to learn a few points.
I didn’t want to make it too obvious in a public forum so tried to give you hints. Also, we cannot improve if you listen only to positive comments.
Sorry my dear friend spell checker , still you have not suggested where improvement is required . I never claimed I am a veteran.
If you can suggest some like other use to do than you are most welcome.
I don’t want to argue with you on this matter further.
My humble suggestion was that you compare your post with the post of a veteran. If you do that, you yourself can find out what is lacking in your post.
‘Mind you’ is not equal to ‘like you’. That was meant for some people out there who is racing to reach the top spot with all sorts of posts. You are not counted with them.
Dear Mr Spell Checker
I am sure you might be knowing that writing on ghumakkar is purely on your own will. The authors are not paid for writing here. Why most of us still write is to share where we have been to, what we have learnt and may be also to archive our memories of a trip that fades after some time (though this archival is done in public forum and readers are welcome to criticize as well).
Writing eats up whatever spare time we have and it is a painful process. Also, because the readers are demanding (they always want better from what they have read last time) and writers too feel that they want to write something better than what they have written earlier.
Modern life is hectic for all of us. I am sure that as a reader, you also took pain in going through the post and leaving your comment and I appreciate that. Now, think about Mahesh, how much time and effort he has put to assemble and publish all this information. I am sure that the only goal Mahesh has in mind is to share the beautiful place he had been, his experiences, and a few tips that may help future travellers.
Number of articles, the desire to own maximum of them or to come in top list is initially there, but once you are there, it goes away. Please remember that you are not given any reward for being in top 10 or top 20. In Mahesh’s case he is always among the top 2 -3, so that craze could not be there.
I must say that you have also clarified that you don’t count Mahesh among such authors. Thanks for this. In my personal opinion, if this feeling initially exists in any writer it fades away soon, so I think that none of the authors are in this rat race (but we can differ on this).
About having a personal picture in your post or not is again a personal choice. Some people do feel that if all the pictures are of the scenery and people around, what is the difference in a postcard or a trip. They want to share these stories with their near and dear ones as well (and they are sharing it on net as they are far from them), with whom probably otherwise they don’t have a chance to share in detail.
I am pleased that you liked my post, but in-fact they are all collected information. My kid rightly commented in one of his article that what Papa do write an article is to sit on google, collect information and paste it here. So here is Manish demystified. My posts are many a times boringly long. Even if you don’t think so, my wife and kid do think the same and I am sure many of my readers share the same feelings, after-all 67 % in my family feel the same, rest 33% is represented by me, so you can expect highly biased opinion.
We are not among the famous travel writers and in all possibility none of us is taking our writings as seriously to take it as profession. Still, we all write. I don’t know why, but we all write. I can only think probably to share our opinions, our experiences and to enjoy the travel together (with world being the family).
Said that, if we will not get critical comments probably some of us might not reach the potential we have. I think that your choice of Mahesh for these comments is because you see that he has a potential and may meet your expectations through his writing style. But possibly you missed the target. Your last comment shows the spirit, but unfortunately the first one grossly failed to convey it.
“We” (the authors and readers) are a family and I am sure together we will create a Happy Family.
Mahesh, I am sure that you will take spell-checker in the spirit of his last comment. I know that hectic schedule does not allow us to explore our full potential, let us accept the criticism and move ahead. The kind of mix of personal and place photographs that you have in your post looks perfectly optimum to me (but some readers may differ), without personal pictures, I feel otherwise it might be a virtual tour of a zoo. Mind it, one cannot make everyone happy.
Enjoy your trvels, travelogues , keep writing, sharing and archiving the memories :-)
Thanks a lot Manish, for the long response.
Propriety stops me from writing what I want to say otherwise I wouldve ripped apart some of the blogs. However, a few things need to be said.
1. We want to share our experience so share it but dont make it a brochure.
2. Definitely its your own will but one need to keep in mind that it will be read by many.
3. Its ok to show your face here and there but how about making every post a family album? If I want to share my snaps with friends and relatives there are lot of options in the internet other than putting it all in a travel blog.
4. Harsh words, if used, were the progression from milder ones.
5. I voiced my opinion. Youll soon see that its taken in the right spirit!
Dude – Spell Checker
it is very easy to speak when u r behind a facade.. have the guts to disclose your true identity and openly criticize.. u cud have given ur criticism in a healthy way but u seem to be too full of urself..
if u want to dish out criticism then learn to take some like a man .. and if the posts really bother u so much then don’t come to this site man..
cheers
Rahul
PS: Hope u have taken this comment in the right spirit..
True identity? Its the virtual world, buddy! We don’t go by face here. Who cares whether you are Rahul or Raymond?
You are identified by what you write here.
Maheshji he means that please avoid putting so many pics of your ownself.. This is a travel post and not a portfolio.
Dear Ravi,
First of all thanks for your comment & suggestion.
This particular post could be divided into three major parts (1) Playing with cubs (2) Feeding Ostrich & Giraffe & (3) safari. Playing & feeding , you can not show without some one , then choice was either you show other tourist who were playing & feeding those animals or put your own. So my mistake was this much only that I uploaded my own pictures.
If you have gone through my next post on Cave you will see there was hardly 2-3 personal pictures, especially on my post I put personal pictures depending upon the situations.
Its ok, Ravi. Maheshji has included a terrific snap of himself in the next post (it has nothing to do with the theme of the post is a different matter) so lets enjoy his superstardom.
Great travelogue. wonderful pics.Used to watch lions and other wild animals with much fascination on National Geographic and Discovery channels.But thro’ your eyes it is even more charming.congrats for such a nice post with such fine details and beautiful photographs.
Dear Ashok ,
Thanks for your appreciation !
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@ Nandan / Vibha – Site is demanding some maintenance , missing schedule , not able to see the option of putting the post in & when you log in & click dashboard on top this message come
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Mahesh,
You are brave! You really played with the cubs? That needs some guts! :)
I am sure it must have been a great experience at the Lion Park. Being close to the wild is truly a hair-raising experience, isnt it?
What was your first thought when you had the cubs near you? In Chennai’s Crocodile park, I was once tempted to put a snake around my neck. But NO.. I really couldnt muster courage for that!!
Great article Mahesh! Keep writing more!
Cheers!
Ya I played with cubs , it was my second experience. First one was last year in Rhino & Lion park. Playing with cubs is like playing with a full grown dog. No doubt it was a wonderful experience.
Thanks for going through the post & liking it.
Really good, nice pictures and good description. Playing with cubs looks dream come true. Thanks a lot for share such wonderful journey.
Thanks Suriender !
Hi Mahesh,
enjoyed the SA trip. Carnivore restaurant appears so appealing.
What is the reason for keeping the palm straight with ostrich (or why would it spare a straight palm) ?
Exotic cubs and animals make it feel like a true jungle safari.
Thanks,
Auro.
I am glad to know that you enjoyed the post.
Keeping palm straight gives easy access to food, otherwise ostrich could hurt you palm by their beak.
Mahesh ji,
It was really great to see you among African wild animals, that too so closed to them……. Really the post was breathtaking. I enjoyed the post thoroughly.
Thanks.
I am glad to know that you enjoyed the post .
Thanks Mukesh for being always with all the upcoming writer like us !
Thanks, Mahesh, for taking us along with you on a beautiful South African safari. In fact, I have been waiting for a long time for this travelogue. The pics of the wild animals have come out nicely. It must have been a thrilling experience to be in close proximity with those magnificent creatures. Were you travelling in an open jeep? Was there any extra charge for photography?
It is great that the authorities at the Lion Park allow visitors to interact with the animals but I wonder if it is a good idea to allow animals to be fed by visitors. In most places, visitors are discouraged from feeding animals. The animals can be infected by the visitors and it is possible that a rogue animal might attack a visitor.
Looking forward to your post about the visit to the birthplace of humanity.
Thanks DL !
Yesterday I got comment from two guys that my posts are disgusting & I write here for Nos. , do you guys also think so ???? second what improvement you suggest ???
Above question is not only for DL , any one is welcome. I will be great full to all those .
No we were not in a open jeep , It was a SUV. There is no extra charge for photography.
Once you are out of cub park you must wash your hands and than go to feed Ostrich & Giraffe .
Once again thanks for your comment & looking forward for your suggestions.
Dear Mahesh,
You write so good keep it up. That guy before comment so rudely to our senior member on my post, that i still felt hurt. For you me and other respected members, we already achived our goals in life and now we here just share views. Not seeking any reward from any body. So my request please not be take it serious. And request to that fellow ” Please write a post here then comment to others”. I can not write like others, it is my writing and everybody has unique. Not try everyone to written same, then no charm. I have great respect for you and other members, please respond accordingly to these guys and ask them to write something and then judge others.
Warm Regards
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Thanks Surender, Manu & prof Manish for your encouraging comments.
Nice pics Mahesh. The information around timings, price should help one to plan their day if they go to JB.
From the pics, it doesn’t appear that there were a lot of people around. Is it so ?
You once told me that you are in Sales :-), need I say more on how to manage certain comments. :-)
@Ritesh, Manu, Sandeep, Mahesh – I am looking at ‘Missed Schedule’ problem, so far I have not been able to find a elegant solution. I can put a patch (when a schedule is missed, we can do a immediate publish automatically) but that wont solve the real problem and would put more stress on the system. That ‘Yellow’ message was for a failed update which we do not need. Let me see more. Please write to me directly whenever you observe any failure/discrepancy.
Regarding the issue around certain comments, after Manish’s and Manu’s thoughts, I guess enough has been said.