It was a day of leisure, being Sunday.
If only I could say that about every Sunday. But then of course I forget that in my job every day is Sunday. (Much like the day the lions are having. Except I shot this clip several days ago after the lions had painstakingly tried to get that tortoise out of its shell.)
It was only in the late afternoon that I got out for a drive before sunset. There wasn’t much going on on Banyini except for a few impala.
And the airstrip with the grass now 3 or 4 feet high is not the most desirable place for many animals. They’re all looking for the areas of shorter grass. Which actually I don’t think they’ll have much luck with this season.
But for this lone giraffe bull the grass is of no consequence.
Woooo, hearing those lions in the grass so close gave me a bit of a chill. Used to live nextdoor to a neighbor that had a pet male lion cub that wasn’t much of a cub anymore. He was actually beginning to grow his mane. A tall hedge and fence separated our properties. One afternoon I was enjoying my back porch next to the fence and hedge when the lion made the low grunts–urhhh, urhhh, urhhh. Made the hair stand up on the back of my neck and some primative instinct telling me to “run”!! In many ways we aren’t that far away from our early ancestors. You continually leave me in awe with your close encounters.
Kim,
Ahha, the lovely sounds of spring, crickets and frogs; especially so in the midst of our grey winter….
I couldn’t tell if Manyari was with these youngsters. Does she have a limp from her November injuries? Was surprised to learn new take-over males would kill her because she is an old lioness, it’s bad enough to lose baby cubs, let alone adult lionesses, not to mention the pride male/males that you may have been lucky enough to learn about. And that’s Mother Nature, no taking into account the danger to any predator from man. Used to be somewhat able to assume an impartial point of view, but now that what I felt had to be true, the loss of the great population of lions, it’s very hard to watch them vying against one another even though it is their instinct to do so.
Has Manyari’s sub-adult son been driven off? Haven’t seen him in a while.
Yes, am also very, very much “in awe with your close encounters,” knowledge and skill. And. Must admit, must, envious. But my last large dream is to make it to Africa. So yet again, thank you ever so for my best “Africa fixes” these days.
b.
Manyari isn’t showing any signs of her injury. No limp and even the scars are hardly visible. So she’s strong and not in any danger.
Her cubs are all still with her, plus 3 others that are slightly older.
I would have never believed it when you first took that film of her after the injury. It boggles my mind that she has completely recovered. Thank goodness, as she seemed to be the most accomplished huntress of the clan. Those cubs are lucky.