IN NAMIBIA, CROSSING the northern desert in search of desert rhinos, I met an amiable doctor who was tracking desert lions. They were heavily persecuted in that part of Namibia, because they often encroached on farmland. The doctor was darting some, to study their health and
movements. He took our number, told us he’d call if he found one.
That night we made camp by a dry stream. Everyone else was in tents, in trucks, but I unrolled my mat by the fire and covered myself with a thin blanket.
Everyone on my team thought I was joking. This area is full of lions, boss.
I told them I’d be fine. Done it a million times.
Around midnight the radio buzzed. The doctor. He was four kilometers away and he’d just darted two lions.
We jumped into the Land Cruiser, raced down the track. Namibian soldiers assigned to us by the government insisted on coming as well. As did local police in the area. Despite the pitch-dark, we found the doctor easily. He was standing beside two enormous lions. Both were lying on their bellies, heads resting heavily on their giant paws. He aimed his torch. We could see the lions’ chests rising and falling. Quiet breathing.
I knelt beside the female, touched her skin, looked at her half-closed amber eyes. I can’t explain it, and I can’t defend it…but I felt that I knew her.
As I stood, one of the Namibian soldiers brushed past me, crouched beside the other lion. A big male. The soldier held up his AK-47, asked one of his buddies to get a photo. As if he’d made a kill.
I was about to say something, but Billy the Rock beat me to it. He told the Namibian soldier to get the fuck away from the lions.
Sullen, the soldier slunk away.
I turned now to say something to the doctor. There was a flash. I turned again, to see where it had come from, which soldier had shot his phone camera, and heard the men gasp.
I looked back: The lioness was standing before me. Resurrected. She stumbled forward.
It’s OK, the doctor said. It’s OK. She fell again, right at my feet. Goodnight, sweet princess.
I looked left, right. No one was near me. The soldiers had all raced back to their trucks. The one with the AK-47 was rolling up the window. Even Billy the Rock had taken a half-step back.
The doctor said, Sorry about that. Don’t be.
We returned to camp. Everyone climbed into their tents, their trucks, except me.
I returned to my mat by the fire.
You’re joking, they all said. What about the lions? We just saw proof that there are lions out here, boss.
Pff. Trust me. That lioness isn’t going to hurt anybody.
In fact she’s probably watching over us.
