Did I mention that Jake and I saw a total of 104 lions during our holiday? 104? That's insane! Many of our sightings were really close to the road, which was an experience in itself. Just to hear them growling at each other and to see how they interact with one another is a treat. I do love these magnificent cats.
Unfortunately, we seemed to be on the unlucky side of seeing them actually killing anything, although we did see some unsuccessfully stalking a giraffe. On two or three occasions, we missed the physical kill by just 30 or 40 minutes! Like this one, where we counted a total of 18 lions enjoying their mid-morning buffalo snack! Their pride consisted of 6 cubs, 8 females and 4 males, whom we hadn't seen hiding in the shade...
The cubs seemed genuinely excited to see their dad...
Look at their little round bellies...
The males weren't too happy about the females having already started on their meal and the females weren't eager to offer up their spots at the dinner table...
The pride, less one or two that were off snoozing in the shade...
Growl! Love how the cubs climbed on top of the kill... I'm the king of the castle...
Patiently waiting his turn...
It was like a writhing, growling mass of lions and we were fortunate enough to have front row seats...
Unfortunately, my camera settings had shifted in the bag and I only realised it later... lesson learned and it was a tough one, but I think we still managed to get some OK shots...
The boys were getting hungry and tired of waiting...
When the males were eventually allowed near the carcass, they headed
straight for the gut and had it open within seconds. I don't know what
they opened, whatever it was that came out looked disgusting, but as
soon as the carcass was opened up, it was a lion feeding frenzy...
Baby roars...
They couldn't get to the body quickly enough...
Feeding is exhausting work and it was very unusual to see a male step aside for the females and cubs...
This cub managed to get himself full of the poopy stuff that came out of the buffalo. I had wanted to cuddle him before, but I changed my mind...
I've decided that lions must be quite smelly animals...
A little one getting up close to his daddy...
And getting a right telling off...
It's so difficult to chose which photos to share and which to leave out. I haven't even finished looking at them and have hardly managed any editing... Also, forgive the poor settings on these snaps, I just love them though - how big was that pride???
Love,
Sue xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment