Lions of Ngala

Most people know that Ngala means lion and over the last few days it has really lived up to its name, with noless than three prides of lions roaming the property with a minimum of twenty seven lions seen. The one morning we watched as nine lion, females and cubs, crossing the open sands and trickling Timbavati River as the sun was just gaining height. We later stopped for coffee in a clearing watching a dazzle of zebra not too far off, what we only found out later once we were in the vehicle that about a hundred and fifty meters away was another pride of lions watching the same zebra from behind some trees. The same afternoon we headed out to the west of the reserve, after finding and watching a herd of about three hundred buffalo we moved back up the road to watch a single lioness stalking a herd of Impala not more than six hundred meters away. We waited and watched with anticipation for ages as the Impala unaware of the predators presence surrounded her while she lay hidden in the long grass. All of a sudden there was a huge explosian of alarm calls and movement as the herd of impala scattered and hertled passed our vehicle, she had missed. She walked slowly out of the thicket and up onto a termite mound, what she did next I have never seen a lion doing on Ngala, she looked up at the dead tree above her and leaped. The lioness climbed the tree and stood there with forequaters raised looking around to see what she could find, it was a trully awesome sight. After a few minutes she jumped down and you could hear the thud as her feet landed on the ground, as she moved off into the bush we viewed her from a distance while moving to around ahead of her, this was when we spotted the rest of the pride watching her from beside a pan of water in a clearing not far off. As she approached, a youngster pretended to stalk her and greeted her with a tackle. The rest of the pride reconnected with her by rubbing their faces together and groaning softly.

Posted: Ngala by Dave Waddington, Date: 23 February 2009

 
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