Alexandra alone in Bora Bora......with Shane above and below....

    In Mombasa, a group of us were taking advantage of a long weekend. Betty, Jack and her younger cubs were in residence next door to Lachlan and me. It was a merry and riotous time of fishing on Lachlan and Jack’s boats and grilling our catch at night. The cubs loved fishing. Solly took to it as if he had been a born angler. Luke Leoparde and his lioness wife, Jane, were also in residence that weekend. Their home is down the beach a short way from ours. We enjoyed their company immensely and Luke and Jane quickly became friends of Lachlan’s. Lachlan pronounced Luke Leoparde one of the finest animals he had ever met. He liked Jane too. On Friday Ashley and Lucy Lyon joined the fray. There was much drinking, eating and great camaraderie.

Betty tossing a ball with her sons and Jack.....

    In another quarter that same weekend, Juma Mnyama accepted an invitation from Leah Simba to join her parents, Roy Lee and Janice (Jaguar) Simba, at the couple’s estate in Mombasa. Juma was no lover of the water. In fact, neither was Roy Lee. But Roy Lee loved motorcycles and that weekend, over drinks, he found that Juma shared the same passion. Roy Lee kept two motorcycles in his garage in Mombasa and loaned one to Juma, who though lacking practice, took off like he had never ceased his biking days due to a heavy workload. Leah and Janice, being water lovers, engaged in water sports while Roy Lee and Juma rode at break neck speed through the streets and roads networking the Indian Ocean resort.

Roy Lee Simba (above) and Juma Mnyama (below) biking in Mombasa...

    The strong friendship that was growing between the lion AIDS doctor and lion superstar worked its own magic on Leah and Juma’s relationship. They grew even closer.

    Upon their return to the Mara, Shane and Alexandra got a shock. On her monthly check up and sonogram at the Exotic Animal Clinic, Dr. Frank Tigeres sat the couple down.

"These fetuses look human but are growing at an accelerated rate like feline pregnancies. I think you will give birth sooner than anticipated, Alexandra."

Alexandra looked a bit forlorn at this tidbit. Shane took her hand.

"I have so much to do at the State House, Frank, and I wondered why I was getting so big and tiring so easily," she sighed.

"Alex, you need to take care of yourself. The staff will handle those events that you have planned. You have planned them so beautifully that it is a simple matter of carrying them out, darling," soothed Shane.

"He’s right, Alexandra. You must take it easy now," added Frank.

"When will they be born, Frank?" she asked.

"I can’t say for sure but at the current rate of development, it should be before Christmas. I hope you have names for them," chuffed the tiger doctor.

"And they are healthy?" inquired Shane.

"They both look great, Shane."

    Chris Simba went to his job in the new offices set up in the Serengeti where he was now living and Director of AID Tanzania Program. The work seemed challenging although the offices lacked the luxuriousness of his suite in the Nathan Leoparde Memorial Foundation in the Mara. The porters who brought the coffee were often tardy and the offices were swept later than they should have been. Chris began to set a fire under the lackadaisical staff. He hired a Serengeti lioness as his secretary who seemed to be on the ball.

    Caitlin Cougar Leo set about cleaning the house that she and Chris were occupying until his was built. She hummed at her work, set up her laptop and cleared a room for sculpting. A native woman offered her services for cleaning and cooking and Caitlin hired her on the spot.

the house and below, Caitlin and Chris dining on their balcony....

    That evening, Chris came home to a fine home cooked meal and a cozy ambience. He hadn’t had this since his marriage to Christine Cheetah. If the truth be known, Chris had only had one wife that was inclined toward homemaking and that had been Christine.

"The President is holding a reception at his new home Thursday night, Cate. We’re invited. Want to go?" asked Chris.

"Sounds interesting. Sure, I’ll go with you."

"Good. Got a dress?"

"A great one. I just bought it from your niece, Leah, at JAGGERS."

"It should be a knockout then."

    Trevor Tau, slightly lonely and rather melancholy that Betty Chimpo had placed herself off limits by shacking up with Jack Tarzan, sought solace at the Watering Hole Pub one evening. A beautiful young female cat looking like a cougar sat next to him at the bar. She was drinking something pink and was alone.

"Hi, I’m Georgina," she smiled, giving him a false name.

"I’m Trevor Tau," he introduced himself. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Georgina looked warily at the bartender. It was a new young thing who didn’t know that she was, in reality, Georgy Simba.

"Yes, I’d like a Cosmopolitan," she said, her green eyes seductive.

"A Cosmopolitan and another Scotch," called Trevor to the bartender who at this point was becoming swamped.

Georgy hoped her house mate and cousin would arrive late. She didn’t want this gorgeous male lion to be sidetracked by Imani Lyon. She looked around her and fished for a cigarette in her designer bag.

"Shall we go to a booth that’s not so crowded, Georgina?" suggested Trevor.

"Oh yes, let’s," she said, scurrying off the bar stool and following Trevor to a booth in a far corner of the Pub.

    I noticed on my last visit to my dear friends, Ralph and Mildred Lyon, that Ralph had acquired hands and Mildred had undergone a few nips and tucks with the extraordinary cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Todd Tigeres. the tiger doctor is thought by my own cosmetically overdone mother (stretched like a plastic sheet) as the greatest animal in existence. Mildred seems to have also brightened her hair a bit. Paulette Poodle, owner of Beu Visage, shared this tidbit with me.

Ralph and Mildred Lyon....

"Alex, I want you to take it easy from now on. We’ll set up camp in the bush house until the babies are born and no more flying to your plantations. You must take it easy," instructed the concerned Shane.

"But, Luv, I have the art festival slated and...."

"Alex, no more overworking yourself. I mean it."

"Feeling cheeky and bossy, Luv?" she giggled in her throaty manner.

"Very much that," he laughed, pulling her close.

    In Trevor Tau’s home on the Mara River, he lifted Georgy Simba, never dreaming her real identity, and lowered her on his bed. As he removed her clothing, he asked a final question.

"Georgina, are you sure you’re legal age?"

"Yes, Trevor. I most certainly am."

He made love to her, never guessing that she was Georgy Simba, daughter of the Justice Minister for Kenya and the niece of the President.

    Caitlin Cougar Leo, in a stunning gown, escorted Chris Simba, her current live-in lover, to his first official function. The soiree was in the new president of Tanzania’s huge home in the Serengeti. As the entered the huge new home which was lit with an over abundance of crystal chandeliers, they both gazed at each other and suppressed their amusement.

"A bit over the top, I’d say," whispered Chris.

"Yes, it is," giggled Caitlin.

"Well what ever floats his boat, I guess," said Chris.

Pete Levin, the recently elected lion president of Tanzania, was in the receiving line when the new director of the AID-Tanzania Program approached with his stunning partner. Pete’s yellow eyes immediately lit on the beautiful cougar female. As they greeted the President and moved on, a loud and rather brassy band was playing. Chris led Caitlin to the dance floor. She wasn’t aware that Pete was observing her every move.

    Later after dinner which was good, Pete led everyone to the glitzy ballroom in his home. There he asked Caitlin to dance.

"Are you Chris’ wife?" asked an intensely interested Pete.

"No, I’m not."

"His significant other?" he pressed.

"None of the above," she chuckled. "Just special friends who are having an adventure together."

"How charming. Do you date others?"

"No, not at all. Actually I am not divorced yet from a lion in the Masai Mara in Kenya."

"Oh, I see. You are a very beautiful female but I am sure you are already aware of that. Your origins are in North America, aren’t they?"

"I’m from Montana in the USA. My uncle was the Vice President of Kenya under Ralph Lyon."

"Impressive."

About that time, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Chris breaking in.

"I want some of those hands," said Pete, as he stopped dancing and released Caitlin as his partner. "Where do you get them?"

"In the Mara," answered Chris. "A doctor named Todd Tigeres in the Mara. He has his own clinic."

"Thanks for the info and the loan of your gorgeous mistress," said Pete with a mock bow and wicked look in his yellow eyes.

And then he was off and after two more drinks, Chris and Caitlin returned to their rented home. They drove through the misty Tanzanian night, the quarter moon hanging low over the savanna in the Serengeti plains. They made love slowly and sweetly in their bedroom with the open window allowing in the night sounds of the East African bush country.

"Where did you go last night? I waited in the pub for hours and you never showed up....really rude is all I can say," groused Imani Lyon.

"I met this gorgeous lion and he took me home," bragged Georgy Simba.

"Which gorgeous lion? There are lots of them around. Most of them are blood kin to us which is a real bitch," remarked Imani, biting down with enthusiasm on a loaded peanut butter sandwich.

"This one wasn’t kin to us and he was HOT. His name is Trevor Tau."

"Oh shit!!!," exploded Imani, spewing peanut butter into the atmosphere. "That’s mom lover. They broke up a while ago. He’s a freaking doctor. He does sleeping sickness or something - oh malaria. I hated him and he hated me."

"He made love to me. I lost my virginity," announced a proud Georgy.

"Oh gawd, I hope Uncle Sloane never guesses that you’ve been laid," giggled Imani.

    The week of the art festival dawned with glorious weather. It was a wonderful event held between the arts center and the civic center with various displays about the Lewis Lyon Mall. I won a prize on one of my new works and Caitlin Cougar Leo won on an exquisite piece of her sculpture. Alexandra managed to keep going although she is now very heavily pregnant.

"Don’t let her overtax herself," Shane had asked Bernice Bear and me.

But Alexandra Simba is a barrel of energy even when carrying twins. She dashed about and helped make the event another whopping success for the Mara.

Me and the First Lady at one event of the art festival......