LOVE LIONS ALIVE by Andi Rive

In Lockdown with Lions   ZEBRA PUZZLE We have a jigsaw puzzle of a dazzle of zebras which we planned to do during our quiet lockdown evenings. It lies on top of my chest of drawers under the Mx5 paintball rifle and a pair of binoculars, it is still tightly wrapped in its plastic jacket. We bought it to keep ourselves gently distracted from stress during lockdown.  I had also planned to write a bit on this blog every day during lockdown, because we would have so much free time. I romantically pictured myself and this laptop atop a boulder looking out at the expansive view, or tucked up in the shade under a bush alongside the lions or even typing away at the fireside with a cup of hot chocolate in the star filled evenings. What I had failed to consider was the fact that the only thing that really changes at the sanctuary because of no guests being able to visit, is the 100% cessation of an income. Other than that everything carries on as per usual. Everyda...

My chest is tight and I have a cough, it is more of a throat cough than a chest couch, it only lasts for an hour or 2 in the early hours of the morning and is accompanied by sneezing. It is clearly only the beginnings of an ordinary cold. But I am not at all happy with this situation.  I have not come into contact with many people in the past 6 days as the whole country is in lockdown.  On the last day out before Lockdown, we went to town because we had just read on the farmers’ group that all farmers should get a signed letter from the Farmers’ Union declaring us to be farmers and therefore engaged in critical activities. We had to present our copy of the letter to Advocate George Galloway at the Farmers Co-op where he would be sitting to sign from 10am to 11am on Thursday. But first we had to type and print our individual letter which was amended to specify our work as being that of "Lion Carers". In order to type and print, we had to go to our local computer s...

You can be anything in life that you want to be. An open ended idea which gives everyone hope and kills them at the same time. What unbridled pressure? Oscillation, duality and juxtaposing beliefs accurately describe my personality. I am a really calm person at the same time as being in a constant state of anxiety. I wake up inside a cosy, snug fog of grey but within seconds my mind is abuzz with thousands of flashing images, my stomach fills with bile, poisonous panic swamps me. I dread the light of day. Yet I have found my passion. I love my life with lions. So there it is, the dichotomy of Andi Rive. What I am doing is really important stuff to the lions in my care, but it is also very basic. In fact, the daily drudge of life with lions includes …. - Fetching carcasses, cutting up carcasses, throwing cut up pieces onto the back of the bakkie, moving the pieces from the slaughter area to the storage area then either loading the pieces into bags to be frozen or applying supple...

Bolts are are being bolted and keys turned in locks. The people of South Africa are locking themselves inside their homes as of today. In our case it is a matter of zipping up the tent. I can hear the lions romping and running, their feet pounding on the earth the sound reverberates through the canvas walls. I hear two of them have a tussle, lion moans turn into a few quick growls answered by snarls. Lions do this, they have spats, the thing is that spats from large cats are more intense in sound than that usually heard in alleys. But it is quickly over and the snarls evolve into roars. The royal proclamation is take up by surrounding lions and within seconds, 6 of the lions are in full roar. The baboons answer in a frenzy of screeches. I can hear rocks hitting rocks as the baboons throw smaller ones down onto the boulders below. Birds of a dozen varieties whistle and sing. In fact, as I listen I am amazed at the number of sounds I can here from my lock down spot in the tent. There ...