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Ron Geggus Loves a Safari!


Speaker meeting 23-Sep-2010 I


think we can all agree that Ron Geggus does a fantastic job as Speaker secretary, but due to cir-


cumstances beyond his control ,things got a little out of hand in the first few weeks of September. When it looked as if we were to be speakerless yet again on the 23rd. of the month, Ron did the honourable thing and became the speaker himself. He was very reluc- tant to let anybody know what he was going to talk about (you can imagine how the rumour machine was in overdrive) and it came as a very pleasant sur- prise when he revealed that he was going to talk about the start of his love affair with Safaris. In particular he became fascinated by Lions and he talked about some of his experiences in the Harare Lion Park (a park with- out fences) in February 1987 and Kruger Park in February 1988.


O A


ne of the experiences that stood out in his mind was how bold


the lions were as it was not unusual to come across a pride of lions just lying in the road, and they were not going to move for anybody. People and cars just had to wait! He was fascinated by the mating of these wonderful animals, and was im- pressed when a male would mate with a lioness 12 to 14 times before he moved on! (Did you watch all day then, Ron? Ed.)


nother thing that stood out in his mind was how a small pride of 4 lionesses organised


themselves so efficiently in order to make a kill. He watched, full of admiration, as one lioness slowly encouraged a herd of zebras and wildebeest (they are always found together) towards three other lionesses who were lying in wait to make their move.


H


e also told the rather sad but incredulous story of how a young Japanese honeymoon couple


lost their lives due to their ignorance and stupidity. When the couple came across a group of lions they got out of their vehicle, and the young man organ- ised his young bride so she was standing with the lions in the background of the shot. He carefully rigged his camera so that it would automatically take a photo when he joined his bride as she posed. Un- fortunately, he was not satisfied with the lions, which remained in a static position, so he began to throw things at them to get them to move to make the picture more interesting. They did not live to tell the tale.


A S


nother story involved three young lion cubs who played a game of „attacking‟ a herd of ele-


phants. They would stalk the herd and then when they got a bit too close the matriarch would chase them off. Then the cubs would repeat the exercise until they got tired of the game.


afari camps nowadays are very modern, with all mod-cons in the traditional huts. They are all


very safe, but one particular story illustrated the strength and power of the African lion. The com- pound was surrounded by a fence, and a large ditch, and these were thought to be a sufficient barrier to keep dangerous ani- mals out. Inside the compound there was a young wildebeest which was treated as a pet due to an accident when it was very young which prevented it from joining the big herds. It wandered about the com- pound, in what everybody assumed was complete safety. Attitudes changed some-


what when the young but not particularly small animal was taken one night by a lion. Not only did the lion have to jump the ditch and the fence to get in, it also had to do the same thing to get out but this time with his supper in his mouth! Pretty amazing, really,


and a good illustration of the sheer strength and agil- ity of The King of the Jungle.


R


on finished his tale with a story about his guide driving their safari land rover into the midst of


a herd of elephants. After a somewhat scary few mo- ments when the matriarch tried to lift the car with her tusks, the driver managed to reverse and get them out of a potentially very dangerous situation. You don‟t mess with elephants! As a result of this mistake, the driver lost his job!


R


on took the hint to finish when Tony fell asleep,


but all in all this was a splendid after dinner speech. Thank you, Ron, for sharing your stories with us.


Ron went into his 'local' the other night and said to his mate, "Did you know that lions have sex 10 to 15 times a night?" His friend said "You Idiot, why didn't you tell me this before I joined the Rotary Club."


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