It soon became clear that the specialty of the Sabi Sabi rangers was to find big cats, take you to them, and then take you so close you can’t even believe your eyes.  We had our first encounter with big cats the first morning!  Our guide Neil told us that the lionesses had taken down a Cape buffalo nearby and that we would go to see them feasting on the carcass.  True to their word, there were several lions just hanging about!  They had seemingly eaten their fill at this time and were mostly just focused on digesting.

Relaxing Lions

Lioness takes her turn at relaxation

We were typically between 10 and 20 feet from the lions, allowing us to get a great look – and to smell the nearby corpse.  Eventually we saw a few more lions and one of the lionesses decided she was a little peckish:

Taking a drink....

... And a little snack

This ain't no milk moustache

At least none of the buffalo would go to waste.  Even their horns play host to a particular type of fungus after a while sitting in the sun.  This particular group of lions was interesting since the males were new invaders into the territory and this was one of the first times that the females allowed them to remain near them.  It was the first step toward acceptance of these new males for the territory’s control.

Lioness cleans her plate

Everything the light touches...

The next day we were in for a treat.  Having finished eating even more of the carcass, the lions turned to other primal desires.  One pair of lions mated while we were right there!  It was crazy to see and to hear.  The male made lots of high-pitched whining noises while the female produced a long, low growl.  Apparently their biology is such that they have to go at it on a regular basis for the female even to ovulate, so we got a couple of chances to witness this unique sight:

Privacy doesn't seem to be an issue..

One happy lion..

Afterwards they all seemed to go on with life as normal.  The one female lion frequently laid on her back though, I’m told it’s a fertility thing:

Still Eating...

By the time the next day rolled around the carcass had been eaten quite thoroughly, most skin was gone and you could see a clear skeleton in the grass:

Remains Remain

More Relaxation

Well if you made it through the gory details you will be in for a real treat because the next day we found the cutest sight of all: a pack of lionesses with 10 cubs!  Our tracker Creamson was really vital for this and we were the first car to find where the group had set up camp.  We off-roaded about a half hour through really hilly territory to get to the place and had the site to ourselves for a few minutes before a few other cars came up to see.  They were adorable!

I'm the baby.

Relaxin in the grass..

At one point the male lions started fighting loudly in an area a few km away.  We heard it quite clearly, and this was really interesting to the lion family:

Did you hear something?

I definitely heard something...

Nothing came of it, though, and after a little while we moved off to allow others to see the cubs.  This was definitely an amazing sight!