A crackling of garbled Swahili comes over the radio of the combi. It is a nice sunny afternoon with a light breeze, perfect weather for a safari. The driver explains to his nine passengers, four students, two parents and their three kids, that a lioness has been sighted lying near a grove of trees not far from where they are. After a quick unanimous vote, it is agreed that it is worth checking out. Once they arrive, the kids hurriedly jump up onto the inner rim of the raised roof of their safari vehicle, all trying to look at the lioness. “Does she have cubs with her? Are there any other lionesses? How close can we get without disturbing her? How old is she?” All these questions and more start flying around the combi as the father and the driver try to answer them as best they can.

In time, as the feline relaxes, the youngest child, an eleven-year-old girl, starts getting restless. She jumps from seat to seat, pestering her older sister and brother. She wants to see more action, something the lioness is not providing. Finally, the father gives in and they drive past the lioness, off the road and down a small hill, to turn around.

Unfortunately, at the bottom of the slope lies a sand pit, which causes the combi to lose traction as they try to get back to the road. After a good five minutes of spinning wheels and flying sand, the driver concedes defeat and calls for help over the radio. The youngest child, who has obviously forgotten about the carnivore lying on the ground not twenty meters away, asks why they have to wait for help, why they can’t get out of the vehicle and push themselves. In response, her brother smacks her gently on the head and gives an equally friendly reply. “That lioness will gladly turn you into supper the minute you step out of the combi. We are travelling in an armoured combi, remember?” Then he gives the white 9-seater safari van, with a raised roof for viewing, a friendly tap on the metal side.

After a restlessly long and dusty 10 minute wait, that may as well have been 10 hours, another combi arrives and pulls them out of the sand. With a sigh of relief from the adults, the travellers drive past the lioness and back to the hard dirt road. But as they drive past, the lioness perks her ears and raises her head for the first time. Something has caught her attention. Frantically, the kids jump from seat to seat like monkeys, trying to see what she sees, and one of the students figures it out. It’s not just one thing that has caught the lioness' attention, it’s seven little somethings. A small herd of warthogs is crossing a clearing maybe two hundred meters away.

It didn’t seem like much to the youngest child “Who wants to see warthogs? They’re smelly, ugly and boring!” But as the lioness stands and silently makes her way closer to the herd, the girl's complaints die on her lips. All of a sudden, the warthogs are off like lightning! Scattering like birds, tearing across the clearing, running for their lives, as fast as their little legs can take them because the lioness is not far behind. She ignores six of the little creatures. However, unluckily for one of the warthogs, she focuses her attention on him and takes chase. From the moment the large feline sets off behind him, he is doomed. As they sprint, the lioness easily catches him, and squealing that follows, as the boar tries to escape with his life, is worse than nails on a chalkboard. While the lioness struggles to put him out of his misery, his squeals act as a homing beacon, because two more lionesses from her pride arrive.

When the warthog’s squeals fade, so does the hypnotic fascination in the van. A muffled “This is boring” drifts through the warm dusty air, but this time it comes from the older girl who, in reality, just doesn’t want to watch the innocent warthog be devoured by the big cats. Seeing an opportunity, her sister pipes up “Can we go see more elephants and giraffes then?” and immediately her brother retorts “But a lion might still come! We wouldn’t want to miss that!” as a glimmer of hope sparks in his eye.

And so they wait a few more minutes, but the king of the jungle does not make an appearance. Then, again a voice comes over the radio, some more jumbled Swahili. A cheetah has been spotted! A ripple of excitement flows through the combi. “A cheetah! That’s almost as rare as seeing Simba himself!” And off they go, on their next adventure.