Lions at Dinner Time

The family on my vehicle only recently moved to South-Africa and I wanted to give them the best time possible, so finding a lion was important. It was a cool summers evening and we were looking for the centrals. We had a very nice drive with lots of fantastic sightings so we decided to stop for drinks at sun set hoping to hear them roar. As we were getting ready to leave it happened, the vocals came and our voices were filled with excitement.

They were loud and clear, and sounded very close by so I told everyone to keep their eyes peeled. However, Mother Nature is unpredictable and nothing was working we just could not find them. Eventually we decided to head back to camp with hope of better luck in the morning. I dropped my guests off for pre dinner drinks while I parked the car. I heard one of the other rangers on the radio say that the lions were walking on the road not far from the lodge. With the speed of light I ran into the lodge to find my guests hoping that they were up for another attempt. Everyone rushed to the car and we headed out into the night.

Within five minutes we saw the shapes of two big male lions walking down the road towards the car, it was perfect. As the first one got close to the car I noticed the scar on his right eye, I mentioned his name was Kitumetsi, and he has more scarring than his half brother Labola-Bontle, who was slightly bigger with a somewhat more impressive mane, but both lions were magnificent. As they past us the silence broke with a mighty roar that vibrated through the car. We turned around and followed them down the road. As we were talking saying it couldn’t get any better, Mother Nature surprised us all. With a silent signal the two lions dashed off the road into the bush and a loud distress call followed, breaking the silence.

We turned the spotlight towards the sound finding them working together bringing down a male waterbuck. Kitumetsi had his jaws around its throat and Labola-Bontle was pulling it down from its hind quarters. After a few minutes it was all over, the two boys were lying panting to catch their breath beside their prize. Once again the night was filled with a loud roar of victory. After watching them for a few minutes we decided to let them feed in peace and we headed back home for our own victory feast.

Ranger Janco