If you’ve been following Chloe Cooper’s blog series about the Dune Kings of the Kalahari, you’re going to reel with delight when you see the below photos. After reading Chloe’s blog posts I decided that, during my stay at the Haina Kalahari Lodge, I would search high and low for these lions. I became a little bit obsessed with finding the Black-maned lions.
The guides and management at Haina are flexible with regards to your “wildlife needs” so coercing them into helping me track my lions did not require too much charm from my side. At 5 am yesterday we drove for 2 hours into the Central Kalahari Game Reserve’s Deception Valley and spent a sweltering hot day tracking the Black-maned lions. My determination to seek these beasts was nothing short of a life and death situation – I needed to tell Chloe that I’d met her Dune Kings or she’d kill me.
So, Chloe. This is for you. I found “our” lions.
There’s something foreboding about the Kalahari lions. They’re tougher, more powerful and larger in stature than the Kruger lions. They’re also skittish and sceptical about humans. They’re beautiful, proud and arrogant. They make eye contact with you in a matter of seconds and even averting your gaze does not work. They’re like the Mona Lisa, their reflective eyes follow you. The first sub-adult male lion I encounterd looked me in the eye and slapped his tail against a branch. We only needed to witness one swoosh of the tail to know that it was time to leave.
A rather bumpy ride later, after letting our guard down, we accidently stumbled across two lionesses on the side of the road. Myself and one of the lionesses were startled. It was clear she DID not like me. She locked eyes and gracefully slid into a pouncing position. Yet again, we found ourselves having to rapidly move the vehicle. As we chugged forward in our 4 x 4 we noticed her sister keeping a close eye on us from under the shade of the Umbrella tree. I am still in awe of the lions of the Kalahari. They’re wild, untamed and unforgiving – just like the landscape.
If you’re interested in tracking lions, come and stay at the Haina Kalahari Lodge. I’m blogging live from the lodge and it’s quite the little oasis in the middle of the arid Kalahari.
Lion fanatics (and Chloe) these pics are for you…
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Carolynne Higgins
