This morning started out like so many before it and I had a specific plan in mind for the current group of guests that I’m hosting. We had discussed venturing into the southern extremities of the reserve to scratch around for the Hlarulini female leopard. I had no idea what “Lady Luck” had in store for us though...

We left Bush Lodge at a snail’s pace, pausing to discuss every small detail that was on offer to us as well as the herds of general game spotted near the roadside. I like to take it slow and to appreciate the intricacies of the bush. Before long we would be nearing the southern section, but we would need to pass by an area we know to be housing the Floppy Ear’s cubs! We have known for almost two months that she was looking at this particular den area as a potential site for her to initially raise her offspring and all the tell-tale signs were there for all to see.

About 5 or 6 weeks ago it was confirmed that she had indeed given birth, but we knew nothing in terms of numbers. Our policy is to ensure that nobody goes to these special sites trying to sneak a peak at these precious young babies so as not to place them or the female under any unnecessary pressure and on top of this, not to draw the attentions of other animals, like hyenas for example. We kept our distance, happy with the fact that she would bring them out in due time. Today was that day!

We wandered through this area, traversed many times per day by Guides on safari during recent weeks, casually chatting about what we may see and then we caught a glimpse of another vehicle ahead of us, thinking perhaps they were looking at something else. We were not expecting the lioness and her cubs at all. It was an incredible sight! The lioness emerged from the area in which she had been keeping the cubs hidden to the world and behind her were two little bundles of fluff following suit. I almost lost my cool at this point, just full of excitement. In my years of Guiding and visiting the bush, I’ve never been lucky enough to have a first glimpse at such young cubs and certainly not to see a lioness carrying them from time to time in her mouth. It was an absolutely sensational experience for me! I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for some of my guests that had never even seen a lion before, let alone 5-week old cubs!

This is one of those special life-changing experiences for everyone involved, but at least for me, it won’t be the last time I see them. Below are some of the images I was able to capture of the experience. The light was very challenging on this uncharacteristically overcast day, but I think I can be very happy with the results overall and even if I never took one picture, I don’t think I would be able to forget this experience. WOW!