The 2021 Africa Journals, Ch. 24: In Which Serendipity Favors the Lions

 

Chapter 24

In Which Serendipity Favors the Lions

 

The lion is...rarely heard - much more seldom seen.- John Hanning Speke,

 British explorer famed for seeking the source of the Nile in Africa. 

Had John Speke, quoted above,  been with me, he most likely would revise his statement about lions.

Granted,  Speke and his fellow explorers and bearers were on foot while I was riding around in a Toyota Land Cruiser and able to travel much faster between lion prides.   Also, I suspect Speke et al were more interested in avoiding the apex land predators rather than seeking their company.

 

Speaking of Land Cruisers, we were up and out of camp at six in dark morning, in time to catch the rising of the sun over the Maasai Mara, and lucky us, found animals above us on the horizon.  We often see animals before it's light enough for photography, but the trick to the photos below is to have the animals above us so there is light showing beneath their silhouettes.

Wildebeest

 

Wildebeest and hartebeest

As soon as we climbed out of the creek bottom, we found a pride of lions and followed them for a long time.   

The whole pride was headed in a particular direction, never veering off.   They didn't care that we were there, circling around them, trying to get in the best positions for photos.   They walked right past us, through us, around us.

 

Note how unprotected the photographer is in the second row.   She is lying on a thin mattress and there is no door on the vehicle.

One sub-adult lion shadowed a collared female.   Apparently he was entranced and kept trying his luck with her.

I never got a count but this was a large pride.

We follow them into a shallow ravine where there is lots of brush.   Suddenly, the whole pride turns and runs uphill!

When we finally catch up with them, they are on a Cape Buffalo carcass.    The guides tell us the buffalo had become stuck in the mud and perished.   We can smell him and while it isn't a pleasant smell, it's obvious it hasn't been dead long.

 

 

Then, we watch the hierarchy of lions.    The males first.   Then female adults, followed by cubs.   Note the intent looks of the youngsters.

I'm not sure what the body language of this young male means, but it looks a bit territorial to me.

We leave the lions to their feast and on the way back to camp come across these beautiful Coke's hartebeest, so-called because their horns are shaped like a heart.

And some Northern any-eater chats.   I think one has just swallowed an insect and a string of goo is shown as the bird opens its bill.

Some other photos from the game drive:

A line of wildebeest.

A very small antelope called a steenbok.

Landscape near camp