Hakuna Matata

Remember the movie The Lion King?  The animated film from the 90s?  We couldn’t help think of it as we safaried through the Serengeti.  When we saw the rocky outcroppings some of the scenes came to mind.  There is no doubt that the animators thoroughly studied the Serengeti’s topography and wildlife.  It was a perfect match. 

Remember the phrase and the song Hakuna Matata from the same movie?  Hakuna Matata is Swahili for No Problem.  When we first caught glimpse of the lions lounging on the rocks, it was easy to think that they live the life of hakuna matata.  Up close and in personal these wild kings and queens of the jungle exude strength and power.  To say that we were in awe only begins to describe our experiences with these super sized kitties.   

It was due to our expert driver/guide that we were able to observe loads of lions and several different prides.  In Tanzania, alone, we had 6 completely different encounters watching the big cats.  We felt so fortunate to have the time to relax and really take them in as well as to discuss the lion’s plight.

  These massive beauties don’t have any natural predators, they sleep for 21 hours a day and when mating they do it every hour or so for a week.  Looks and sounds like hakuna matata doesn’t it?  That‘s not the whole story, not by a long shot.  Their existence is hanging by a thread.  We weren’t surprised, but saddened, to learn that they are on the Red List of Threatened Species of the World.  Most of the lions living in the wild have been reintroduced.  Humans decimated the free ranging lion by killing 80-90% of their population in the last 50 years.  And Africans have wiped out their habitat by converting it to farm land.  

Cub survival rate is low due to availability of food and competition amongst males.  After battling it out for superiority in a pride, a male lion will kill any cubs in the pride that aren’t his.  Until recently, the Maasi tribe of Tanzania  practiced killing a lion as a rite of passage to manhood.  Hakuna matata for the life of a lion?  Hardly.   

It was an honor to have spent so much time with them.  We watched them hanging out and digesting after their meal, also playing and even mating.  We even had a very close encounter with a few of them where we were tempted to reach out and pet them, but we didn‘t!  And to top it all off, we heard roaring in the middle of the night on two separate occasions.  Meow….