This morning’s game drive led, unexpectedly, to a pair of lionesses sneaking around in the dappled shade only metres from a big herd of buffalo. In the left corner, the Ross Breakaway lionesses lay in silence, looking eagerly through the thicket, and in the right corner, a large herd of buffalo grazed lazily in the sunlight. The buffalo were oblivious to the stealthy presence of the lions, and continued to mill around without a care in the world.
What started out of a buffalo sighting just outside the entrance to nThambo Tree Camp, turned into the game drive highlight as it became obvious that these buffalo were being stalked by the Ross Breakaway lionesses. The cats lay secretively in the bush and almost got away unspotted, but the guides in these parts are expert game watchers and word soon spread that the herd of buffalo was not alone!
Only about 50m away from the feeding herd, the lions lay and watched carefully. At first they were in separate positons, both well hidden from sight, but after a while one lioness got up carefully and padded over to her sister where they greeted and groomed one another briefly before locking eyes on the target once more.
The guests at Africa on Foot were out on a walking safari at the time, but news of the lion vs buffalo sighting came through on the radio and the walking guests were soon picked up in a game viewer and taken to see the lions and watch them watching buffalo. After a long time lying carefully and quietly in wait, the lions picked up on the movement of the buffalo, and without hesitation they rose and crept along in the herd’s wake.
Soon enough, the animals were out of sight and the show was over. Africa on Foot guests continued with their walking safari and nThambo guests went on to see all sorts of other wildlife before heading back to the lodge for breakfast. This just goes to show how much we might not see if we don’t look hard enough! We hope to follow up on the lions and buffalo, and perhaps we will be reporting a kill in our next blog!
Leave a Comment