"These Few Seconds" |
| At this point I had been doing lion research at Selati for the last 5 1/2 weeks, eagerly studying each and every lion intently. Each and every day was different, and certainly each and every encounter with the lions was different. But today's encounter was going to prove to be my most intimate. As the sun was beginning to lay its warm blanket of light over top the Selati bush, we suddenly come across Shaka and Inkanya, Selati`s two almighty males. We meet them head on, and have to stop dead in our tracks and let them pass. Without hesitation my blood starts racing even as they pass our truck so gracefully and so quietly, as they are as magnificent now as the first day I saw them. We follow them down the road for a kilometer, and come to the conclusion they are heading for a morning drink at the dam. Thus, we take a side route around them and head to the dam and wait. Then, within a few minutes time we see these two massive males appear from the bush, glowing the second they step into the sunlight. First comes the confident Inkanya, master of his domain. He walks right by us only giving us a quick confident glimpse, a gentle but firm reminder of who's king. Next comes the sly Shaka, hanging back just long enough to investigate us for a few more moments. Clearly he is more interested in our presence than Inkanya, as he walks directly towards us remaining quite curious the whole time. At this moment he is only 4 meters away and I am the closest person to him. Suddenly, as if he hears me gently and silently whisper his name, Shaka looks up and meets my eyes with full force. At this point I can feel my heart instantly shift to a higher gear, as I am overcome with a feeling more powerful than anything I have felt before. He didn't simply look at me, nor did he look through me. But he looked deep down inside me, straight down to the very core of my existence. This is the spot I guard the most, the spot nobody else is allowed access to. Yet he seemed to get there so easily, so effortlessly. But I knew that wasn't entirely true, as it has taken me my whole life to reach this moment. My successes and my failures have led me to this brief but powerful moment in time, one that lasted not even a few seconds. Though right now, nothing else in the world matters but this beautiful and powerful lion and myself. You feel so little and powerless, yet so unimaginably alive at the same time. You not only see his confidence, but you feel it too, from the inside of your stomach to the ends of your hairs. It seems to vibrate throughout your body, as in times like this each and every sense your body has ever known comes alive. When our eyes met for that brief moment, things seemed to make sense. I knew why I was here, and I knew why the lion was too. Everything was perfect, if only for those few seconds. Bobby Lewis 2007 South Africa |