Felix is an all round guide, but lions are his thing. We’ve decided he can smell them. He was certain that there was a pride hiding in some low scrub – but it just looked like brush to us.
His solution? Drive the truck into the bushes. Sure enough lions started popping up all around us – turned out they had a bunch of cubs so we left them to play
And then later………the incredible lioness in the tree!
As we were driving back to camp one night Felix quietly announced that there was a lioness in a “nearby” tree. “Nearby” in Felix terms is this close when shot through a telephoto lens
We bounce across the plain as quietly as you can bounce a 3 ton truck and in classic Felix style end up parked under the lion. Liz and Dick take the wise stance that she is just a 300 pound pussycat and has no interest in dropping into the truck for some Canadian Bacon.
She then moves around the tree. We move the truck around under her and take a lot of photos – more than any other animal on our safari. We’re so close we could have performed a gynaecological exam.
Felix assures us that we needn’t worry. She has blood stains on her jaws so she must have just fed. She looks a lot to us like a lady waiting for a second helping.
Following – more photos of this magnificent animal. A little genetic engineering to calm her down and you could add a whole new dimension to going for a walk with the dogs in the park!
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