Showcasing the beauty of Mother Nature
This past trip was quite exceptional for the number of lion sightings that we had. And not just seeing lions doing what they do best, sleeping in the shade, but interesting interactions between the pride: playing, feeding, mating and a pride on the move towards the sounds of a nearby herd of buffalo.
It’s been a while since I have posted any images; between preparing for a trip, the time spent away and then the return to normal life, the blog fell by the wayside for a bit. I’m slowly working on cataloging and rating images from my time away; and while I have a long way to go before that is complete, I don’t want to wait to share images until all that background work is done.
Today I decided to pick one image from each location I stayed at. It seemed like as good a starting place as any.
I wasn’t sure what to call this post, as it is simply all the African images I had saved in my quick collection in Lightroom, some from back in 2019, and others more recent. This finishes off the last of the really old trip images I wanted to edit, but I still have a few from 2022 that I’d like to work through, as well as my cruise images from 2023.
Today I thought I would share a selection of a few different safari images. Part of the excitement of being out on game drive is never quite knowing what you may see around the next bend in the road or over the next hill; but, on a South African safari, you’ll probably have the opportunity to see all of these at some point.
I missed posting yesterday, but since I thankfully had the opportunity to spend Mother’s Day with my Mom, that was far more important then spending my free time editing some images.
I’m still hoping to get out and capture some of the birds that are now is residence (or passing through). I’ve seen a few different species of warblers recently, but they are pretty crafty, flitting away the moment I get close enough to capture an image.
For now, this lion seemed just right for Monochrome Monday. It was part of a rather large pride that spent the better part of two days doing nothing (maybe next spring I’ll get a chance to know what that feels like!)
Wishing everyone a fantastic week!
A bit of a different view of a lioness.
She was part of the pride lounging the the roadway that I shared yesterday. They were fairly easy to find on day one, and even more so on day two, as they hadn’t moved at all, much to the surprise of our ranger.
Lions are incredible to spend time with, as long as you are aware ahead of time that more often than not, you’ll see them doing not much more than sleeping and yawning (though when you do catch them active and on the go, it is incredibly thrilling!)
With 5 weeks left in term, there are a lot of different tasks to do – papers to research and write, projects to complete, exams to revise for. Yet, today especially, I have found myself daydreaming of what I’m most looking forward to during the two weeks I’ll have off between winter term and the start of spring semester, and right now, it’s having a nap! I’m looking forward to having a weekend where I spend some time like these lions 🙂
Have a great week everyone!
As noted yesterday, my computer is dismantled for the time being while I work through some office reconfigurations, so today I’m sharing a few images that I have shared before. It’s just what caught my eye when looking through my media library, rather than a specific theme.
Enjoy, and have a great day!
We spent time viewing these siblings after a rather lengthy search, and couldn’t have found them in a nicer spot, next to a dam in the late afternoon. There was a giraffe watching them wearily from the other side as it awkwardly bent over to get a drink.
The body language here is interesting to me, with the lying down lion obviously not too pleased at the affectionate head bump from the young male. He had obviously been in a few scuffles already, judging by the healed gashes on his flank. One thing I have learned from all the guides I have met, and all the nature programs that I have watched, is life as a lion definitely is not an easy affair. Young males get ousted from a pride; from the small size of his mane, this one still had a bit of time left with his family, though I am sure by now, more than 1 1/2 years on, if he is still alive, he would not be with the pride any longer.