Encouters with Lions

Had an Incredible game drive this morning.
Less then 5 minutes upon entering the gate we come across a large lonely male lion walking just in front of us on the road. We fallow him off the path through the bushes until he lies down. We stop about 20 feet from and watch he looks over to us but does not seem to be bothered to we stick around for about 20 minutes to get some great photos. We then drive off to let other people come and get a look. We were supposed to have class out in the bush today but the other group saw Cheetahs and they were in the middle of the sighting quite a ways off so we just drove around to see what else we could spot. Soon we saw a Vulture flying in to land on a tree followed by another, then another, then another, until there were about 30 vultures in the trees. This means there has been a kill near by so we head to where the birds have landed. Unfortunately we got a flat tire on the way and had to stop and change it. By the time we were done the vultures where gone, so we never saw what it was they came to scavenge.

Heading back for the camp we came across our lion again. This time on the side of the road he had just caught a warthog. We missed the catch by seconds but saw the lion carrying the warthog away while he was still breathing. The lion soon laid down in the shade and started eating the warthog while it was still alive. You could see the warthog kick and hear the warthog breathing, it’s chest moving up and down, for a long time as the lion pulled the skin off and ate. The sound of the lion eating was so loud with the flesh tearing and bones breaking. Wouldn’t want to die that way.

Then, as the other group of students arrived to view this sight a Hyena also showed up to see if he could get in on the kill. The hyena was on it’s own so didn’t come very close in but sat off to the side and waited. The lion noticed the hyena and kept a close eye on him as he ate but the hyena never came any closer. We eventually had to leave them both so other vehicles could come in and see.

Best game drive so far!

More photos on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=461007&id=566115003&l=64fe9543b2