Meeting the Lion in its Den !!

I had a chance to visit the Giza Zoo, in Cairo. When I get past the ticket gate, touts and photographers gather around me and show photos of people taken inside the lion's cage. They say this is only for special people, this that...and usual marketing campaign. I brushed aside all of them, and decided to meet the lion on my own.

I took a while for me to find out the Lions section, of the zoo. Checked about the bribes I need to pay, with some of the guys over there. They said for Egyptians usually pay 5 pounds(approx. $1) and as a tourist you may have to cough up two or three times the amount. So I decided to risk my life, for a really adventurous encounter with the lion. Mind you, I am going to meet the lion in its own den.

After a small negotiation for the bribe, the trainer opened the back door of the lion's compound and let me in. To my surprise he closed that door immediately. Now he is going to open the cage, and I don't have any place to run, in case of any unforeseen circumstances. We were confined in a 6 x 15, rectangular area, with high rise walls.

Mun vecha kaala, pin vaikarathu oru tamilanukku thalai kunivu, egypt la vanthu namma maanam poganuma innu paathen. Let me take it, open the 25 !!

There were three lions, in three sizes, all in separate cages. The trainer chose the one in the middle, which was an adolescent and agile. I suddenly thought whether these guys feed the lion properly not, or may be they get stupid tourists and feed to the lions.....invanungala namba mudiyaathu....paa !!

My excitement is increasing by every second. By this time the middle cage was open, and the lion slowly walked toward the trainer. Oh! ithu thaan singa nadai yaa !! It was a quite lazy walk. Then the trainer made the lion to lie down to give the pose for the photo.

I slowly walked towards the back of the lion, and quickly took few snaps. By this time, i had become somewhat comfortable with the with the lion and it seems he also has understood me, that i am harmless :-)

I slowly ran my fingers through the top portion of its head, and touched its shoulders also. At this moment, some stupid fly or beetle disturbed the lion’s rear portion and it swiftly turned its head to chase the fly away. The trainer got annoyed and he asked me to leave.

I handed him the 10 bucks he wanted, quickly wrapped up the camera bag, lying in other corner of the area and came out. Hey!! That was an amazing experience.

The zoo keepers offered me to take photos with tiger and elephants, for a cheaper price. Pothum da saami, aala vidunga, me escape!!