The lions of Tsavo

Hi folks. Just got back from an excellent two week trip to Kenya. I travelled with my father and cousin and we had some great adventures! I took loads of photos which I am very happy with and I am really looking forward to telling you guys all the stories and showing you the things we saw :-)

The latter part of our safari took us to Tsavo East which is one of my favourite places on Earth. We had not seen many lions up till then apart from two at a distance in Nairobi National Park. Last Friday we decided to make the trip from our tented camp at Satao to the epic Lugard falls where the Galana River is funnelled into a narrow strip of wild water.

We had set of early and were seeing lots of the game which you would expect to see there like Impala, Zebra, Kongoni, Grants gazelle and of course many huge and beautiful Elephants! Tsavo was very green during our stay due to the heavy rains that had arrived and it was rather strange to see as I am more used to Tsavo vegetation looking grey and dry with that characteristic red earth beneath it.

As we were crossing the wide bushy green grassland towards the river we spotted some creatures on the road ahead. We quickly stopped to look through our binoculars and where excited to see ahead of us a pride of lions sprawled across the road. We slowly approached them to get a closer look. The pride was pretty unconcerned with us although they watched us with that cool, calm confident gaze of creatures who know that they are top of the food chain.

The pride was made up of six females and three males. The males looked young and had rather short manes of the kind I associate with lions who live in thick bush. One of the first things we noticed about the pride was that they all looked pretty thin. It looked like they had not eaten for a few days.

Most of them had scars on their faces to attest to the fights they must have had with other lions and between them they looked like a capable bunch. They gave me the impression of a band of scarred, experience pirates waiting for the next ship of plunder to come along.

The rains may have been one of the reasons for the prides thinness. It is a blessing to most animals because they no longer have to rely on the permanent rivers and waterholes for their daily drink and they can venture further afield. The plains also become filled with a fresh growth of plant life to eat. For the lions the rains mean the scattering of their prey far and wide and the start of hard times.

There was a lovely moment of tenderness when one lioness walked up to another and started to rub her head against her sister's in that distinctive feline way the same as a pet cat would. After a while the pride wondered off the road and dissapeared into the thick bush. It was a great pleasure to share a few minutes with them and was one of the highlights of the safari for me! :-)