Africa Wild

Then shortly behind the turn off to Gudzani East we had to stop as something was blocking the road and the roadblock emerged finally as uncountable lions



and as a precaution we in the beginning made a couple of safety shots from farer away



but as another car must have passed them and was now standing a bit in the background with two lionesses



without chasing any lions away we also dared to finally come closer



and started to fire away. In the end we could untangle the paws, bodies and tails and counted



in the end seven lions in the foreground,



two in the background



and as they were so many of them we had luck as one of them was at least lifting its head so



we were able to not only take pictures from sleeping lions.



The lions were in fact extreme relaxed, had full bellies and were not in the mood to move



at least one of the ladies was willing to check the vicinity out but fell soon asleep again. Meanwhile the other car obviously drove too close to the two lionesses in the background so one of them decided to join the group of seven in the foreground



and came steadily closer.



We were sure that the other car was looking at the male somewhere in the high grass but finally they carried on

and we were then all alone with them although it was a Sunday but obviously that road was not that frequented that day as maybe others were.





Nearly all of them were enjoying the shade of a larger bush close to the road and enjoyed the morning and needless to say that we did the same as this was indeed such a more than nice sighting.



In the beginning we thought their bodies were covered by sand but then we noticed that the small black spots



were tiny flies which was a bit scary



but we were happy with such wonderful sighting and the lions were so relaxed



and due to the position of the sun,



the rising temperature and maybe with the arrival of more cars that sighting might be over soon we were happy that we were allowed to stay that long with them.



The second lion which was lying also in the background now also decided to join the other ones in the foreground



and simply squeezed itself between all the others



and greeted one female quite extensively.





The other lion in the background meanwhile decided to lay down in the high grass but had to check out from time to time



what was going on with all the other lions.



to be continued………

That's a decent sized pride of lions

But they are full of ticks... I always wonder if it makes them uncomfortable in any kind of way.
So far, I've never witnessed any particularly intensive scratching or such. But who knows

The lions look well-fed, but with all those ticks they appear unhealthy

Mel wrote: ↑Tue Dec 28, 2021 3:21 pm That's a decent sized pride of lions

But they are full of ticks... I always wonder if it makes them uncomfortable in any kind of way.
So far, I've never witnessed any particularly intensive scratching or such. But who knows

It were masses of tiny flies - They always swirled around once the lions moved

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Tue Dec 28, 2021 6:13 pm The lions look well-fed, but with all those ticks they appear unhealthy

The kill at least we thought that there must have been one was lying a bit away in the dense bush - Vultures were hanging around there

So our feathered day turned into a feline day as well



although a sleeping feline day at least partly



and meanwhile also the one who looked out of the bush came now closer



and greeted a smaller lion also extensively



whilst these two still were blocking the road and did not move

[

and as we were also not in a hurry and still no other car appeared



we had no need in passing the lions as we stood in fact in perfect pole position and enjoyed the show.





The one lioness who came from out of the bush squeezed herself between the others and fell down as only lions do whilst this female was funny to watch



with all her facial expressions



Enough from playing clown



and now more and more of them awoke slowly and at least lifted their heads and started to look around.



Maybe here one can see all the flies around their bellies



or on their back and around their head – It must have been a pest for them.

The sun meanwhile made its way around the bush and the shade got smaller and at least in the beginning one or the other started to walk off





slowly in the higher grass on the other side of the road where they remained invisible for us



so we continued in taking shot after shot as it now was only be a matter of time when the rest might disappear too.



At least overall it came more activity into the lions



at least from time to time





and meanwhile five lions already disappeared but still four of them left





and still no other car in sight indeed we had again that luck on our last full day in that area.



Now also the rest followed the others after a little nap for sure



and with only two of them left we also dared to pass them as we still wanted to throw a glance onto the male provided same can be discovered somewhere.





to be continued……….

Some lazy Lions

Lions galore! Though mostly flat I wonder if the clown-like expressions of one of them were because of the annoying ticks or maybe she was just stretching the face muscles