queens of the jungle

queens of the jungle, originally uploaded by suddenly.

we stayed at nkorho bush camp, a swanky lodge in sabi sands that’s pricey for sure but well worth the money if you want an expert ranger and tracker to help find all the game you want to see. rangers are allowed to drive off-road to track animals–something you can’t do self-driving in kruger park where you get traffic jams around any game sighted on the paths.

for the steep price at nkorho you get accommodation in a gorgeous room, gourmet meals prepared by a trained chef, and two game drives a day in an open-air vehicle. each game drive is 3 hours long. on our first morning drive (starting at 6 a.m. – ouch!), we saw a pride of lions headed by lionesses. these ladies are so fierce they don’t need any males around. in fact, they successfully kicked the butts of some males who tried to threaten their cubs. you go, girlz.

the pride had just come off an impala kill. and often when one has food, one searches for a drink. they gathered around a watering hole and began lapping. you could see their distended bellies full of impala steaks, chops, and offal. the lioness lay on their sides to keep the weight of the meal off of their internal organs. apparently, digesting such a big meal really gets a kitteh fired up and hot. you could hear the heavy panting of the lionesses as they tried to cool themselves down.

after recovering a bit from their food coma, some of the lions and cubs ventured out toward our vehicles. it’s amazing how the animals don’t give a second thought to our presence. they’re pretty used to seeing the vehicles and don’t perceive them as a threat.

the cubs in the pride were around 10 months old. just like kittens they play and nuzzle with each other while their mamas lick them clean. it’s crazy to imagine that by the time they’re two years old, they’ll be full grown and strong enough to take down a full grown buffalo on their own.