Cila had set herself the fundraising challenge of a sponsored overnight sleep out in the lion camp with our three lions, Clarence, Winnie and Nancy.
Having raised €1029 in sponsorship, Cila was ready for the challenge. So after a day spent preparing her sleeping quarters (the back of a Toyota pickup truck!) with every bit of bedding she owns, Cila was ready for the off.
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| Final security briefing |
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| Locking Cila into the car! |
At 4.30pm on Friday afternoon, Becca was put on gate opening duty and Jo was sent to one side of the camp to distract the lions with meat whilst Flo drove Cila into the camp on the other side. Once Cila was safely parked inside the camp Flo made a hasty exit from the camp and we waited for the lions to come back over to see what was going on. It didn’t take long for the lions interest to be piqued and they were soon back on Cila’s side of the camp, observing the proceedings from the safety of the bushes.
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| Entering the camp |
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| Flo makes a speedy exit! |
The lions were initially very wary of the car and wouldn’t come near it, not even when we threw some treats into the camp for them (a horse’s head each – yum!) But once the sun went down the lions grew far bolder and ventured out of the bushes to eat the horses’s heads and have a snoop around Cila’s car. Fortunately after a few circuits of the car the lions decided they were more interested in finishing the horses’ heads and snoozing.
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| Cila in the camp, the challenge begins! |
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| Here come the lions keen to see what's going on! |
Despite freezing temperatures Cila managed to make a video diary of the whole night and kept the commentary going even whilst Winnie was snoozing right next door to the car!
At 6.00am the next morning, Cila’s challenge was completed and it was time for her to exit the camp. Unfortunately the lions were also fully awake and were all keeping a firm eye on Cila and her support team outside the camp! Plus, after their feast of horses’ heads the night before, the lions weren’t very hungry and despite Jo’s, Becca’s and Lucy’s best efforts, distracting them proved a little harder than before. Finally, after a rather nerve-racking 60 minutes, Jo, Becca and Lucy (with the aid of some chicken) were able to draw the lions away from Cila’s car long enough for her to drive out of the camp. Mission Accomplished!
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored Cila for this sleepout. Thanks to your amazing generosity we have raised €1,029 to put towards feeding all of the animals here at N/a’an ku sê.
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