19 – Lions I

On my first evening in Somalisa we came across a male lion resting by the body of a giraffe, which was one of two killed earlier that day by the lion's pride (eight females and two young males). The others had devoured the first giraffe, but this male (having eaten some) was guarding the remaning carcass, until such time as he was hungry again

But for him the big question would be how to get water, and still guard his next meals? Impossible. The moment that he left to drink, jackals, hyenas, and eventually vultures would descend on the carcass so that they too could eat. You may remember the hyena we saw a few pages ago. We discovered it and a partner gnawing on the bones the next day, just paces from where the lion had been

It was soon after we left him that we came across the other ten lions in the pride. They were lying in the evening sun, sated and happy

This is just the first of many pictures of this family that I took, and with which I will bore you

They are the last pride sired by Cecil, the famous lion killed recently by an American dentist

I was tempted to get out of the Land Cruiser, and wander over to rub the tummy of the lioness in the next photo. But perhaps that would have been unwise