Lolling with Lions

The lion sat up and caught my eye.  He padded in my direction and stalked around the truck.  The female lion behind a nearby bush stood up, switched her tail and turned her back.

We’re on safari in the Okavanga Delta in Botswana.  All afternoon our guide drove the open-sided truck through flooded trails and swamps on the trail of the lion pack.  He spotted tracks on the trail in the woods near the impalas.  The zebras and wildebeasts were calmly eating grass in the clearing.  The guide wasn’t giving up.  The lions had to be around her somewhere.  Finally, he spotted a hairy mane under a bush on a spit of land near the lake.  He drove right up next to the lion group.

Four lions were hanging out in the shade under a few trees.  Two males and two females lay in the grass resting.  The males rolled around wrestling and shadow boxing.  They yawned and napped, totally relaxed, lying on their backs with their back legs sprawled out and their front legs up in the air with their paws hanging down.  The females lay under separate bushes on their stomachs with their heads on their paws.

As the shadows lengthened, male lion shook his head and stood up, looking around for action.  He spotted the nearest female and sauntered over, but she wasn’t interested.  He noticed the truck with the clicking cameras and came over for a closer look.  The truck wasn’t interesting so he went looking for the other female lion on the other side of the truck.  She stood up and began pacing around.  The lions were getting edgy and the guide backed the truck away and slowly began the drive back to camp.