A mighty male lion in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.
His lioness.
They were breath taking and one of the highlights of the visit to Ruckomechi Camp.
I've a friend whose son loves, loves, loves animals. He always asks for videos of anything I see in Africa.
Thus far, I've videoed everything from lizards in Senegal to elephants in Zimbabwe.
And now! My chance to video lions for him, beautiful lions. He'd be so stoked. I was so stoked.
And then....we soon rapidly learned that the video I made may not be appropriate for a 4 year old.
I defer to his mom, but here's what happened (thanks for warning us, safari guide!):
Apparently this pair had been mating for just under a week and during the day would mate approximately every 15 minutes for about a minute. It was insane. And, how to say it? Progressively more rough each time. And loud. Very loud. I felt his roar after each session reverberate through me.
And to be honest, while he's here roaring, she never quite appeared to have enjoyed any of it.
Mating males are more aggressive than normal and very territorial.
Which makes it easy to understand why our guides are always armed on safaris in Zimbabwe.
Bonus points if you recognized the quote from this post's title!!
It's from C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
"[Aslan will] be coming and going" he had said. "One day you'll see him and another you won't. He doesn't like being tied down--and of course he has other countries to attend to. It's quite all right. He'll often drop in. Only you mustn't press him. He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.”
And our "tent" was wonderfully relaxing (when the hippos weren't startling us outside!!).
Here's the tent I stayed in (please ignore my forgotten to hide bag on the floor...)
I loved, loved, loved the rock walls.
The tent overlooked the open floodplains of the stunning Zambezi River and the mountains of Zambia's Rift Valley.
The personal facilities. Word of the wise: either know your traveling partner really well
or be willing to get to know them really well (advice for basically all of Africa!!!!)
...because standards of privacy (such as no doors...) aren't always what you're used to when you visit new places!
The lounging area with its wonderful relaxed air. Ruckomechi/Mana Pools is by far my favorite place I've visited in Zimbabwe thus far!
A perfect spot to watch the Zambezi River as elephants wander past with the Rift Valley mountains in the background. Divine.
The paths leading to the tents. More than a few times I found elephants hanging out here.
And while this skull really has nothing to do with the camp itself, it was too cool not to share.
Recently traveled to Mana Pools National Park in northern Zimbabwe in the lower Zambezi River region.
This the Parks and Wild Life office--easy to miss and a must stop to register with the park authorities.
Zimbabwe is crawling with these lizards. I have no idea what kind they are but this photo doesn't do their startling blue tails any justice!
The entrance to Mana Pools. My favorite rule? Please avoid behaviour likely to disturb wild life or people.
Um, yes, please don't give the lions any reasons to attack...
While the dry season is the best for seeing wildlife (it's the dry season now), it makes it difficult for more drought-prone areas in Zimbabwe to survive. Here, the park entrance makes do with a water tower (and public bathrooms!).
I thought baboons frolicking and leaping were a fitting way to start the new safari adventure!
And a sign of the difficulties of obtaining fuel in more remote parks of the country: the line of jerry cans...
And voila! Immediately entering the park we spot one of the big five: the African buffalo.
And then this impressive bull elephant that stared us down! This bodes well for the safari...
and to think! We hadn't even reached our safari lodge yet!