Touching the King

In those unexpected moments that pop up in our lives, we sometimes act first and think later, "What did I just do?" This may be one of the greatest examples in history.

Recently, on safari in East Africa, I was surprised to find just how close we were getting to some very dangerous animals.

I was taking a photo of a male lion sitting under a vehicle, when the big cat got up and started to walk towards me.

As it got closer, I was in photographer heaven, taking shot after shot of the King of Beasts. His enormous head filled my viewfinder and when he stopped to yawn, I could see every tooth in his mouth.

I was leaning out the window of a Land Rover as the large cat approached. My guide was in the drivers seat in front of me and also had his window rolled down.

As the lion reached our vehicle, the thought popped into my head that I could touch it's back as he passed bye, then pull my hand back in before anything could go wrong. I was going to touch a wild lion! It was a spur of the moment idea that no sane person would ever consider, and one of those truly human moments when stupidity out rules logic. Unfortunately, I seem to have more of these moments than most other people.

Just before I reached out, my guide turned and said, "Do not touch the lion!"

He had read me perfectly and knew what I was about to do.

Just as he said that than his hand shot out, grazed the lions back, and jerked back inside. Rolling up his window, he sat there for a moment trembling, then turned to me and cried out, "I touched it!"

I was stunned. Not only had I lost the moment, but it had been taken by the very man who told me not to do it. As you can now tell, at this point, I really was not thinking rationally. He had touched the lion! The great beast did not even seem to notice the contact.

If he could touch the lion, I needed to get close too.

Before my brain had a chance to catch up with my body, I leaned out the window, and snapped his photo from two feet away. Fortunately, the lion was looking the other way or you may have read about me on the evening news.

My guide looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and said with a grin, "Sorry, I could not help myself! I have never done anything like that before."

"Neither

Learn more about this author, James Dorsey.
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