The Queens Of The Savanna

On that late afternoon drive, as we were headed on the backside of a mountain, Meena shouted out that she thought she saw a lion coming down the mountain above us to the left.  

James stopped the Land Rover and scanned the mountain with his binoculars.  No lion.  Then he scanned the hillside on the right and exclaimed he found some lionesses!  Meena jokingly took credit for causing good vibes that resulted in James finding the lionesses.

The four of us expected to see the lionesses pretty quickly.  But as James dashed us down the hill, and then turned right up down a ravine and up the hill on the other side, we were confused.  Where’s the lionesses, we wondered aloud.  Then, as we crossed to a spot where James could not possibly see from where he “saw” the lionesses, there arose from the four of us questioning wonderment and grumbling skepticism.

Just then another Land Rover came barreling towards us.  I said, “ah, that’s how you know where the lionesses are.”  James quickly ‘fessed up that yes, he had gotten word on his iPhone.  By the way, at Lewa, cell phone connections are so good the guides no longer pass information along via the trusty, yet loud and annoying car CB radios that squawk loudly whenever a guide wants to pass along information. 

We bumped along for a while, and finally pulled up to the lionesses and some other gawking safari-goers like us, thrilled to be in the presence of the usual breadwinners of the pack.  There were four of them, and, even though evening was falling, they were non-plussed to get up and start their hunts yet.  

We intently watched them sleep.  We intently watched them roll over.  We intently watched them stretch and go back to sleep.  We got excited when a couple of them got up, but it was to stretch (and the crowd goes “whoa!”) and to pee.  All in all, we were pretty intent on watching them as the late afternoon light faded and darkness threatened to fall.

Given that we were in some rough territory, I was getting nervous and asked James when we should head back since it was getting dark.  James noted that we didn’t want to be the last to leave, in case there were Land Rover problems.  So we drove back in the dark, enjoying the thrill of having seen the lionesses, even though it wasn’t our guide who found them.

The lower lioness isn't playing, she's

sleeping and stretching.  Gawd

they are fun to watch.

Just awesome creatures.

Some times, when the light is just

right, I get really lucky with

a photo.

Like I said.

The tagged lioness is doing yoga.

It's part of her wake-up routine.

Alas, it's not a roar.  This big cat

is simply not quite awake yet.  

Given the camouflage, you can tell

lionesses, despite their size, have an

advantage when sneaking up on prey.

Time to huddle up before

the evening hunt.

As Hamilton said to Washington after

getting the Secretary of the Treasury

job, "Let's go." (Editor: You just

had to get a Hamilton reference

in, didn't you.  Writer: Look around,

look around at how lucky we are

to be alive right now.)