December 05: We buy the lions Amber and Lucy, then 4 months old.

February 06: We buy Oscar - the cutest lion ever.

March 06: We have an amazing week with the family and the lions.

April 06: Oscar dies. The vet's best guess (even after a post-mortem) is aspiration pnemonia.

June 06: We buy (well, the family does for us - we are stuck in the UK) Toby and Hannah, each born around the 20th May.

July 06: We hear that Amber is not well.

August 06: We manage to get out for 2 days to see Amber. She is very unwell.

September 06: Amber is having supplements and injections galore and seems to rally for a while.

October 06: We visit for a week at the beginning of October. Amber is very sick and had a huge fit in my arms. She was put down the next day, on the 4th October. Writing this, 3 years later, still brings tears to my eyes.

October 06: Luckily, while we are still out there, two baby lionesses become available for sale and we buy them on the 5th. Kara was born on the 21st September and Ali on the 28th.

December 06: We manage to get to Horseback Africa at Christmas, with my parents. All the lions are doing well.

February 07: We get out there for just a few days. On a walk to Lily Dam I ask Lou to marry me. Fortunately she says Yes. We decide to get married out there in May. Oh yeah, the lions are all well.

March 2007: A week at HA (Horseback Africa) arranging the wedding. Also, one of the last times I get to spend much time with Lucy, who is 20 months old by now. She no longer goes for walks.

May 07: We get married on the 21st May 2007 in the MacRae's garden at Horseback Africa. The whole MacRae family were there, with Chris and Salome, as well as my family, Lou's sister and Ali from Australia. As a surprise from the MacRaes we also had an Ndebele tribal wedding a couple of days earlier, which was superb. All the lions are fine. Toby and Hannah are with Lucy, so Kara and Ali now go on the walks - and love it!

May 07: The new, larger, lion camp is completed and Toby, Hannah and Lucy are moved across into their new home.

Up until October 08: We visit as often as possible, often staying for a week or two. The MacRaes are so good to us, letting us come whenever we want and we help out as much as we can. There were a few health scares, but generally the lions all kept very well.

October 08: On October 5th 2008 Lucy gives birth to 3 cubs. We name them Max, Marc and Miriam. We are lucky enough to spend a lot of time bonding with them over the next few months.

April 09: On about the 8th April Lucy gives birth to 4 cubs, but one dies very soon after. The others survive and are called Mario, Shannon and Petra.

August 09: Miriam, who has been separated from Marc and Max for a while because she got injured in a fight and then they kept bullying her, seems quite ill. She is very unsteady on her feet. We take her to Chris Kingley, a superb vet, on 20th August. He injects her with a whole cocktail of supplements and drugs.

August 09: We hear that Miriam is doing much better and Lucy has given birth again - to 4 healthy cubs - on the 24th August.

20th September 09: Hannah gave birth to 4 cubs but didn't hide them like lionesses are supposed to. Toby found them and killed two before he could be lured away.

27th September 09: We get out to Horseback Africa to meet all our new arrivals. We name Lucy's cubs Cody, Jack, Emily and Maria. Hannah's two remaining cubs seem healthy but one, who is a beautiful silver colour, appears to lack coordination. We call them Sammie and Silver. Lucy's 3 cubs from April seem to have contracted an illness which has put them in pain and made it hard for them to walk.

Early October 09: Mario, Shannon and Petra seem to be improving. Lucy's 4 new cubs (Jack, Emily, Cody and Maria) are all doing very well and are at that really playful (and bitey) 6 week age. They are great fun and a huge hit with guests. Silver still lacks coordination. The vet has suggested it could be a reaction to the special milk formula so we try a new one. She is gaining strength, but still cannot stand unaided. Sammie appeared very healthy until one morning - the 10th - when she was found very ill. She died in Lou's arms.

Silver also died, shortly after we had returned to the UK.

Early January 10: Lucy gives birth to 5 (yes, 5!!!) healthy cubs. They are a lot of work! Mario, Shannon and Petra are all doing well and love going for their walks.

February 10: The three male cubs along with Max, Marc and Miriam go off to live with another breeder. It is very sad to see them go, especially as the three Ms were our first cubs and we bonded with them so much - but we knew it would have to happen. We call the two little cubs which are left Blondie and Malika. Blondie isn't actually very blonde, but had very little hair on her head when very young, due to eczema or something so we had nicknamed her baldie. Blondie seemed a kinder alternative! Malika means Angel in Swahili.

We also got the vet (the excellent Dr Kingsley) in to microchip the 7 cubs due to be sold to ALERT in Zambia. They also all got their rabies vaccinations.

Early March 10: All the lions are doing well. The permits finally come through (eight months on) and the seven (Hannah, Kara, Mario, Petra, Shannon, Emily and Maria) going to Zambia are due to leave on 19th March. However, on the 18th the MacRaes are told that more blood tests are required. As I write this we are hopeful that they will leave on the 26th.

We have just heard that Hannah gave birth not long ago. We have no details yet as she will have them secreted in a bush somewhere.