And the herd moves on. Almost as if we insignificant humans are not worth the effort. For forty-five minutes we stood like statues of stone. A brief millisecond in Kruger Park history but in one fleeting encounter, enough time to understand the power and pride of the animals of Africa. With out hearts in our throats, my seven fellow trailists and I humbly step down from the rock.
Nothing seems quite the same.
The bush has taken on a new meaning and for several minutes, no one says a word. Johannesburg's concrete jungle seems a long way away. Moved by the magnitude, I suddenly understand at a gut level something Jan had said in passing after we left the trail camp for our first day's hike. You can drive through the land in a car but you can only feel the pulse of Africa through the soles of your shoes. I suppose it was that unconscious thought, and the masochistic wish to meet a lion face to face, which made me snap up the offer of a place on the Wolhuter Trail, one of the Kruger Park's seven wilderness walks organised by the National Parks Board.