acacia blossoms

acacia blossoms

Monday, October 3, 2011

Sunday Lunch




It is a hot sultry sunday.  Low clouds have moved in and the heat is building for some promised rain. I am outside pottering around my new planting projects and staring at the bottle mountain for the umpteenth time to see if i can come up with a creative recycling creation before Google Earth calls to investigate.  I am not moving fast. Nothing is.  Perhaps I will take my book to the pool for an hour.

Next thing, K is calling me from the doorway. It looks urgent. I drop what I am doing and hasten indoors. "There is a lion here!"  They were hunting the warthogs that were near the house.



 Another lion arrives. They greet and both stare fixedly at us from the edge of the treeline.  They settle down and a third lion arrives. This is the dominant male, some people call him Shaka.  He eases in to the shade and lets the other two be more watchful.

We stare at each other through glass and  across a space of some ten meters - maybe a bit more. One by one they move off, alongside the boardwalk, past the pool and the guest cottage, and on to the waterhole between the koppies.


Sunday quietens down again.

9 comments:

Reya Mellicker said...

Holy cow!! Here on Capitol Hill we get excited when we see a raccoon. For heaven's sake!

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Like a royal command performance - everything must stop to acknowledge their presence!!! Thanks for sharing!

Val said...

Reya - it is always pretty exciting to ahve lions around!

Bonnie - they are the superstars thats for sure. Royal and Regal are just made for them.

xxV

Kerry said...

Just another Sunday afternoon at your place...jeez-Louise!!!!

You really can't just randomly run out your back door can you, without first looking around real hard?

Marcheline said...

And here I was getting all excited about my squirrels..... sheesh! 8-)

Angela said...

Sorry I`m late, but I must bow my head before your royal visitors, too! Can you imagine how i am bragging to my pupils about the friends I have in Africa? Having lions for lunch? Oh man!

Anonymous said...

Lions look in great condition, we had excellent sightings in the Kalahari. Sorry about the hail but good the rains are coming. Peter F. xx

Val said...

Kerry - well a visit like this is pretty special but you do have to check when you are walking around anyhow. sometimes the monkeys or birds give warnings that we can heed.

Marcheline - squirrels are cool!

Angela - it sometimes amazes me that its possible to live here and have NOTHING to do with lions and elephants, and all the myriad amazing creatures!

Peter - Hi! yup these lions have a good life most of the time. Despite their waist lines though they were clearly hungry. perhaps they knew there was a big storm coming - do you think?

Cheryl Cato said...

I love Reya's comment!!! Are you ever fearful that these creatures will try to come through your windows? What defenses do you have? Just askin'.