My Cape Town Adventures: Lions, Lions, and....Lions

Right after finishing my blog yesterday, Jess and I went for a swim in the pool on the edge of camp. Not five minutes into our refreshing dip, we spotted a roaming elephant, a couple hippos and a group of about ten giraffes not very far off in the distance. It was astonishing to lean over the side of the pool, head in my hands, and observe these majestic animals meander around their natural habitat.

Last night on our drive, we witnessed what has been by far my favorite moment on safari. The early evening was filled with sightings of zebra, wildebeest, impala, buffalo, hippo (Dad got a fantastic shot of it widely opening its mouth in a territorial sign), jackals, rhinos and elephants. After a stunningly beautiful sunset, it had grown very dark. We were on our usual quest for animals when Jonno heard something on his headset radio and started gunning the Jeep. He likes to surprise us so he didn't tell us what we after until we approached an area of the bush where two other safari vehicles were parked. I jokingly asked, "Are we about to see more impala?" (an incredibly abundant species), to which he replied that the four male lions of this area were heading right towards us. Lions have become my absolute favorite sighting, so I gasped and got the hugest surge of adrenaline I've ever felt. He parked the vehicle and told us all to be very quiet and don't make sudden movements, and sure enough, the four male lions paraded single file right past our vehicle. They were about three feet away from us and each looked me right in the eye!! To be that close to four huge lions at nighttime in the middle of the brush was the most exhilarating experience I've ever had.

I thought the night couldn't get any better until Jonno told us he had yet something else in store for us. Within minutes, we found ourselves right next to the most gorgeous lioness. At that moment, she was simply curled up on the ground bathing herself, but she was soon up and moving. She was hungry and ready to hunt. We followed her through the brush and watched as she reached the wide open airstrip, stopped and crouched into the grass. Shining the flashlight on the other side of the tarmac, a massive herd of impala was illuminated, completely oblivious to the fact that a major predator was mere meters away from them. But the lioness was certainly taking her time, knowing that she would need to patiently wait for the perfect moment because crossing the wide open area would give her away in an instant and her food would dash. We wanted desperately to stay in the pitch black, under the most amazing views of the stars I've ever seen, to witness the hunt. But by then, it was almost 8:30pm and our own dinner was waiting for us back at camp, so we left the lioness in her idle position and headed home.

I am so blessed.
xo Em

The pool overlooking the reserve