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<\/a><\/p>\nThis lioness was guarding a creche of 7 cubs of varying ages (we later saw that she was the mother of the eldest bunch of cubs), and she was marching them to the water at a pace!<\/p>\n
The cubs spent quite some time drinking and playing around the waterhole…<\/p>\n After about 15 minutes the whole bunch moved across the road where we were parked and up into the dunes. We decided to proceed north to Mata Mata as we needed to refuel.<\/p>\n Seeing as we needed to return to Urikaruus anyway, we decided to check up on whether the lions had returned to the waterhole at 13th Borehole when we came back down at around 11am. Sure enough, the whole creche was lying up under a bush right by the waterhole again!<\/p>\n They were going to be there for a while, given the heat and the proximity of water, so we headed back to our camp (about 10km from there) to have some lunch and a quick rest. The plan was to get back to this spot by around 14h00 and see what they would do for the afternoon.Upon our return they were still lazing about – but the incoming storm caused the temperatures to drop and the light to go nice and soft, which turned out great from a photographic point of view.<\/p>\n At one point the smaller cubs began playing around in one of the camelthorn trees close to the waterhole…<\/p>\n Afterwards, a couple of the cubs tucked into the female for a bit of milk – and she certainly wasn’t having a great time between their sharp claws and fangs!<\/p>\n The weather was turning ominous pretty fast, and I had a feeling the lion creche would be on the move soon…<\/p>\n Sure enough, all of them got up and moved down to the waterhole again…<\/p>\n …filling their bellies with life-giving water…<\/p>\n The lioness then moved back across the Auob. Seeing that they seemed to have come down from the dunes on the Namibian side I concluded that they would head back there (their place of shelter) when the storm came in.The cubs played around for a few more moments, and then followed after her.<\/p>\n We drove around to the main road leading over the Auob riverbank heading back north to intercept their approach as they made their way back up the dunes.<\/p>\n As they moved away, we reflected on the special time we had with these 7 cubs and the lioness that took care of them.<\/p>\n For the most part of the day, except for the morning session which was shared by about 10 vehicles, we had them all to ourselves because we stuck it out in the heat and spent time with them when everyone else was trying to relax in the uncomfortable hours of the afternoon.It’s worth putting the time in with wildlife photography! I always say – keep what you have.<\/p>\n Too often people see an animal, decide that it’s too static for them, and move on in search of the next sighting. When much can be achieved by simply sitting, observing, waiting, and merely enjoying it for what it is – a privilege!<\/p>\n Morkel Erasmus<\/p>\n <\/p>\n