A meeting with a lion/ Susret s lavom

She was strutting circles out of boredom or hunger, huge, twice the size of the male lion, and the rest of the females polishing their paws in the pride. She, was made of muscles and lion mojo and I fascinated, neared the feline, until a meter away she suddenly centered on the white fur hat on my head.

She stopped moving.

I froze. My heart beat a theatrical funeral march.

One yellow paw remained in the air, as does a cats when its about to pounce, and she aimed her huge hypnotising eyes and 50 kilo head at mine. She looked crazy.

All those documentaries of little gazelles and buffalos hunted by lions flashed trough my mind in the first I am actual game experience.

This was her territory.

The lioness was ready to kill me. Savage run for my life fear struck the backbone and I ran away looking like a roasted chicken in her double eyesight lion interpretation.

She sighed as if to say "if we where in Africa..."

I took my hat off. Assured my self of the unpenetrable nature of the fence between us.

And moved on to sea lions.

Susret s lavom

Ona je setala krugove iz dosade ili gladi. Golema, dvostruko veća od muškog lava, i ostatak ženki koje su lizale svoje šape u coporu. Bila je sastavljena od mišića i lavljeg duha, a ja fascinirana, priblizila sam se, dok na metar udaljenoosti macka iznenada usmjeri svu paznju na bijelo krzno kape na mojoj glavi.

Prestala se kretati.

Ja sam se smrzla. Srce mi pocme tući teatralni smrtni marš.

Jedna žuta šapa zaostala je u zraku, kao u domace mačke kada se sprema u zalet, a njezine ogromne hipnotizirajuce oči i 50 kila glave koncentrirane su na moje. Luda je.

Svi oni dokumentaraci o lavljem lovu na male gazele i bufale bljesnuli su kroz moj um tokom ovog prvog iskustva kao ziva lovina.

Ovo je njen teritorij.

Lavica je bila spremna da me ubije. Iskonski osjecaj bjezi za zivot sjevnio mi je kroz kicmu i potrcala sam izgledajuci kao pečena kokos u lavljoj interpretaciji.

Ona uzdahne kao da kaze "a da smo sada u Africi ..."

Ja skinem kapu. Uvjerim se u neprobojnu prirodu ograde između nas.

I prosetam do morskih lavova.