In Kenya, big game is found on the Serengeti and in local restaurants

"That's a big lion."

"Yeah."

"Bit close isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe we should get back in the jeep?"

Kenya is a beautiful country and highly recommended for the lovers of our rapidly disappearing wildlife. It is one of the few places where you can still see herds of giraffe, zebra, elephant and buffalo charging across one of the earth's most incredible landscapes. Hippos surface out of mud-rivers; rhinos roam across the plains while the big cats pad silently through the brush. The last of these, in particular the lions, was what I was most interested in seeing during our three-week safari.

We flew into Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, or as it is known too many, "Nairobbery." It is one of those charming places where it is better to be mugged by thieves then the police because they will take less. However, Nairobi does have its attractions, and my personal favorite was the Carnivore Restaurant. Here they serve over 14 different varieties of game, from ostrich and gazelle to crocodile and zebra. You sit at long wooden tables while the chefs grill the meat on long skewers, known as Maasai swords, over huge charcoal pits. These are then handed off to the waiters, who circle the tables slicing the meat onto the sizzling hot cast iron plates in front of you. All you have to do is dig in, every now and again stopping to take a swig of your Tusker beer.

Tusker is one of the more popular beers in Kenya, and I took a particular liking to it. However, what I had failed to realize, was that in order to preserve the beer in the harsh jungle conditions, the Tusker Company had decided that it would be a good idea to add a little glycerin into the mix. After a heavy night's drinking on Christmas Eve, I was lying in the tent that I shared with my sister. Now, these where not your average crawl in through a small entrance and lie crushed with the other person next to you tents. These where full size, walk in tents with adjacent bathrooms for your early morning shower. The only problem with these showers was that before using them you had to check the water bucket for deadly spiders.

Halfway through the night, I felt an incredible pain in my stomach. I sat up and proceeded to projectile vomit all the way across the other side of the tent where my sister slept. Not the most pleasant of wakeups for her. As you can imagine she was not too pleased with me and I spent the rest of the night curled up in a ball of pain on the bathroom floor.

The other drink that was popular amongst our group was a soda called Stoney. It is actually made by the Coca Cola Company, but I'm told it is illegal in most countries outside of Africa. There are no ingredients written on the label, and when we asked our driver what was in it, he simply laughed and said, "You'll see." In fact when I think about it all we ever did when we drank it was laugh and get very hungry. My sister and I managed to smuggle a few bottles back to England, and one still sits unopened on my shelf.

From Nairobi we made our way out to the Masai Mara National Park, a vast 320 sq. k.m. slab of the Serengeti. The Mara has a reputation for having the most game out of all the safari parks, including the big cats. However, the first week went by, and the only feline we saw was a half-starved leopard clinging to a tree from a distance. You can imagine my excitement when halfway through the second week our driver skids to a halt and starts pointing excitedly towards a clump of bushes. "Massa, massa! Over there! Under bushes!" Sure enough, hiding away from the hot sun, playing in the shade, were three lion cubs. It was right out of a National Geographic video except there was only the glass window of the jeep between us, instead of a T.V. screen. Our driver immediately radioed the other three jeeps from our group relaying our position and what we had found. This of course informed all the other tourist jeeps, which constantly monitor each other's frequencies, and soon every jeep in the region was tearing across the plains to get a look at the lion cubs.

As the clouds of dust approached, we realized that some of the other jeeps would arrive before ours. This was a problem since my mother was the only person with a decent zoom camera. My own camera was a tiny Canon with no zoom, better served for point and click at bars and parties. We couldn't move the jeep any closer to the bushes for fear of scaring the cubs, so this left only one option. Getting out of the jeep. With the distressed yells of our driver ringing in our ears, James and I jumped out and moved slowly towards the lion cubs. They took no notice of us and continued to pounce on each other, rolling back and forth under the bushes. I quickly bent down and started clicking away, totally oblivious to the world around me. It felt like I was a wildlife photographer risking life and limb for the sake of his photos.

I was shaken from reverie by James's persistent tapping on my shoulder. When I turned to tell him to piss off I noticed he had gone quite pale. With one hand gripping my shoulder rather painfully he pointed. Rounding the bushes to our left was a large male lion. It was the most impressive beast I have ever seen. Its head swayed as it moved gracefully forwards through the long grass, its huge mane ruffled by the slight breeze. We stood stock still in awe for several seconds. I'm sure that when confronted by such a situation you are supposed to stand still or walk calmly away. That's all well and good until you find yourself facing a lion, and you see just how big those teeth are when he yawns lazily. We fled back to the jeep. The lion probably never even made a move towards us but we were too busy fighting to be the first one back to safety to notice. When the other jeeps eventually arrived, the lion sat there basking in the warm sun and the attention of a hundred photographers. At one point it looked over at our jeep, yawned and then winked at me, as if to say, "This is my world.