Mapoza male Lion

Mapoza is a stunning lion and the dominant male of a pride in the Thornybush Game Reserve. His right eye is cloudy because of either a birth defect – a congenital glaucoma – or an injury early in his life. Whatever the cause, it hasn’t hindered his success in life!

Of all the photos I took during our trip at KwaMbili Game Lodge, this is my favorite. As a friend said: His right eye is his spirit eye with which he looks into the world of the ancestors. That’s absolutely believable!

Cubs

One of the highlights of our trip was finding this mother lion with two cubs in a river bed. At this age – maybe three months old – they are still reliant on mother’s milk and too little to engage in the hunt with the rest of the pride, so mother will hide them for long periods to go hunting and come back for feeding and play time.

Lion with cubs

From the archives:
We went to Madikwe Game Reserve for the first time in 2018, and were blown away by the hospitality and the brilliant sightings we had. This was one of the highlights of our trip: a pride of lions, I believe it was two females and about four cubs, walking around in the early morning light. A breath taking experience!

Male lion

A close up view of a male lion walking past. It was so great to spend some time last January with a pride of lions that had just devoured a zebra. They were lying around, then getting up, lying down again, until they finally moved out of sight into the thickets. While female lions are beautiful, it’s the males that really stop my heart!

Male lion on a wet morning

It’s a wet morning, but this male lion has nothing to complain about, really. His belly is very full after his pride caught a zebra. A male lion needs about 7 kilos of meat per day to stay in good shape, but when a kill is available they will eat up to 30 kilos in one session. This male looks like it did just that…

Lioness in the grass

The intense stare of a lion stalking through the high grass of the green season. We came upon a pride of six or seven lions who had just caught a wildebeest and were busy devouring it. Lions have a strict hierarchy in who gets to eat first. This female was already done and was now looking for a place to rest and recover, while the others were still eating.

Playing lions

We were parked at the viewpoint at Lengau Dam. Just about to turn around I looked up and said, “There’s something else coming. Looks like kudus… or lions.” I wasn’t even serious about the lions, it was just that whatever I saw from the corner of my eye had that sort of color. I looked again and… there really were lions!! Seven lions came down from the hill to the water to drink and play. What an amazing sight!