"In all nature there is something of the marvelous" – Aristotle
The day after World Lion Day… Ah, it’s never too late to post a picture of a lion, is it?
This lion had claimed the carcass of an elephant that died of natural causes. He was very aware of his surroundings, scanning the bush and even the sky for other interested parties.
A beautiful male lion bashfully looking away. What an incredible feeling to be so close to these animals, and to notice that they don’t even see the open safari vehicle that you’re in! At first my hands were shaking, but with time I have confidence to come away unscathed…
Before our first gamedrive in Madikwe, our safari guide asked us, “What do you want to see?” Well, we had just been in Pilanesberg and seen both lions and leopards on multiple occasions, but always from far away or hidden in the bushes. So we said, “The big cats, but a little closer!” And boy did we see big cats! “Is this close enough?” our guide asked. It was so close that my 300mm lens almost didn’t want to focus…
An old lady lioness lying on the ground with a full belly in the sunset. Her eyes seem to plead for some undisturbed rest. Although gamedrives keep their distance and do their best not to disturb the animals’ lives, I sometimes do feel like an intruder in their world…
A lioness on a stone wall in the National Zoological Garden in Pretoria, waiting for the sun to rise above the horizon. Or maybe for the weekend?
A brief tender moment between two female lions in the National Zoological Garden in Pretoria. One of the lions is a white lion, a rare color mutation also knows as leucism. There are tales from over 400 years ago about white lions in South Africa. Today, because they were a favorite hunting trophy, there are only a few of these white lions in the wild – one famous example lives in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia.
A male lion resting on a rock, staring off in the distance. What does he dream of? And look at those beautiful paws!
