Masai Mara 2012, Lion Mating

On this safari, we had seen cheetah resting under a bush, a lion resting beside the remains of it prey, and a family of elephant grassing on the plain. The guide turned the car toward the bushes, and stopped it right in front of two lions. He whispered that the lions were on honeymoon. Both lions were lying on the grass. She was completely relax and was probably taking a nap, and he was having the regular lion posture of having its large head up and staring at the distant. He was a big fully mature lion with an enourmous head and long blond manes covering all its neck. We were only less than 4 metres from them, and we were in an open safari car. It would be impossible to do anything if it suddenly attacked us. However, it looked relax and ignored us.

The lioness woke up from her nap, stretched her body, and took a big and long yawn. In less than a minute later, she stood up and walked deeper into the bushes. He got the message and followed her. She walked only for 20 seconds, and couldn't resist the urge any longer, and squatted on the grass on her four legs. He got the signal and mounted her. The act was very quick, and lasted only 6 seconds. She took the lead again and walked farther into the bushes with him following her closely behind.

Late in the afternoon, we were in an open plain with many animals like topis, zebras and gazelles. We suddenly saw a pair of lions in the far distant. They must be on their honeymoon too, but our guide had other plan and continued our trip toward the Mara River to see the crocodile. The lion had a distinct long black manes. The guide knew that the lions would not go very far and he would find them again.

After seeing the crocodile, we turned around and moved inland toward the plain. And soon our guide spotted them in the open plain. He stopped the car only 4 m in front of them The male was a beautiful lion with darker fur. Its upper mane was blond and the lower part was black. It was a gorgeous lion. Not like the other lioness that we had seen  previously, She didn't mind of doing it in front of the many spectators in the safari cars. She woke up from her nap, walked passed him, and started her usual ritual of squatting on her four legs in front of him. And the rest was as usual. She then rolled on the grass satisfactorily, and walked passed beyond our car outside of my view. I was concerned that she might turned around and got too close to the car. But Ching confirmed that the lioness was far away. Somehow, the lion knew that she would come back and he didn't have to follow her. This act repeated again after 3 minutes, and then again after 7 minutes. They were both tired and lied down on the grass, and we felt that it was time to leave them alone.


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