King of the Jungle


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Africa » Namibia » Etosha National Park
August 22nd 2011
Published: September 13th 2011
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M – Etosha is the largest park in Africa and was to be my first opportunity to see the big game – lions, elephant, rhino etc. so I was pretty excited. It didn’t disappoint - within 1km of checking in at the camp inside the park we came across three lion (2 male, 1 female) tucking into a Wildebeest approx. 50 yards from the roadside. Beginners luck?

Anyway, although we missed the actual kill we couldn’t have missed it by long as shortly after we arrived about 30 jackals began circling nervously. We watched the lions take it in turns to eat their breakfast and take naps for about an hour although we could have sat there for longer. Real Discovery Channel stuff!

Since this initial viewing of lions we have been lucky to see many lions in different situations. However, one thing that consistently amazes me is that they really don’t pay us tourists any attention. We pull up in our cars to view them and they don’t even turn at the sound of the engine. On other occasions they were very happy to walk across the road in front of and around us and still don’t bat an eyelid. Their arrogance is incredible. I know they know we are there but it’s as if they are purposely ignoring us.

Back to this particular breakfast feast - needless to say the jackals had a long, long wait before they got a sniff of the carcass. At times I think the lions were tormenting them with it.

Enjoy the photos - my favourite shot of this edited sequence is the male lion with his legs in the air scratching his back on the earth without a care in the world for the audience of jackals and tourists - Truly the King of the Jungle! I wonder what is going through the mind of the two jackals in the foreground.

My second favourite is the brave jackal who got away with the tail. He was the first one to get a piece of the carcass and despite being chased by all his mates I think he managed to get away with it intact. He was last seen vanishing into the distance with the others having given up the chase. Scroll down for more photos.





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15th September 2011

Stunning
So glad you have having a great trip - all sounds wonderful x

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