This week’s Virtual Safari was one of anticipation and awe — the kind of afternoon where you can feel the bush holding its breath.
We started out heading straight toward where the two Gijima Males had been left that morning, after an enormous 13km walk right through Londolozi. For the first time that we know of, they crossed north through the Sand River — a bold move that tells you everything about their growing confidence. To add even more tension to the mix, the Plains Camp Males were found barely a kilometre west, resting on Ximpalapala Crest.
With both coalitions so close, we waited. Surely, something had to happen.
As the heat began to fade, the call of alarmed impalas nearby broke the stillness. Keagan followed up first and discovered the Ngungwe Female with a freshly hoisted impala kill — the very same jackalberry tree we’d seen her in not so long ago.
As darkness crept in, we moved back to the Gijima Males. The distant bellows of fighting hippos echoed through the river, catching the lions’ attention, but the dense reeds made it impossible to get closer. We waited, cameras ready, the atmosphere thick with expectation.
This week, I also brought out an old favourite — the Canon C300 paired with the 600mm lens — a serious setup that I’ve decided to dust off after spending time filming with Shannon Vandivier and Bowen Parrish from Cold Collaborative. Their creative energy and technical mastery reignited my passion for the kind of detailed, cinematic storytelling this camera makes possible.
In the end, the night brought no conflict, but instead, a spectacular, quiet show of power. The Gijima Males moved with intent, walking right past the Ngungwe Female without so much as a glance — the kind of moment that reminds you just how commanding these lions are when they’re in their element.
Enjoy this week’s Virtual Safari…
Thanks for the great video, Sean. Great that the Ngungwe female’s cub seems to be fine after you had feared that it was killed.
I think it’s really great that the animals at Londolozi can move around so freely, over such distances and figure out who fights whom or who lives in a coalition.
Sadly there are lots of places where this is not the case any more and people have to regulate the numbers of animals. So the Sabi Sand and Kruter area is the big and wonderful exception.
We are so relieved that the Ngungwe Female’s cub is still alive.
It certainly appears that the Gijimas have made themselves at home in Londolozi , given the disappearance of the Ndhzengas and the lack of aggression by the other coalitions. It will be interesting to see if the Kambulas that don’t have cubs and the Ntsevu’s will stay around. I assume the two Kambulas with their six cubs will do what the two Ntsevu’s did a few years ago when they disappeared with their Birmingham sired cubs.
As for Ngungwe’s cub, it was reassuring to learn that it had been spotted after Reece’s blog that intimated it may have disappeared the way of Ximungwe’s …. let’s hope her cub will continue to thrive by staying under the radar as it seems to be working for now.
I found your information regarding the Canon C300 quite interesting and look forward to seeing more of your videos. I’ve found ND filters extremely useful in landscape photography, but leave them home when shooting wildlife.
The Gijima Males have made this home for now and are a fairly regular presence. A number of the Kambula Lionesses have already mated with the Gijima Males and are likely to be giving birth soon. The mothers have all moved further north following the Ndzhenga Males, that is from both the Ntsevu Pride and Kambula Pride.
I am excited to see what we can capture with the C300 and if it is worth continuing to use it.
Hi Sean, this was quite exciting to see the Gijima males again, I was wondering when the Plains Camp males and the Gijima males are going to fight. Hopefully that won’t happen. The Ngungwe female eating on her fresh kill, hopefully her cub also got some of that carcass. That old camera is a beast and heavy with the 600 lens. Such beautiful images you took with it. What would you say is the best size lens to use in the bush, and one for birds shooting.
Although it would be exciting to see the Gijima Males and Plains Camp Males clash, I feel that it would be costly for one of the two coalitions.
The best over all lens for me personally is a 70-200mm f/2.8. Here we get close enough that you have enough zoom with that and the very low f-stop is great. But a good diverse lens for birding would probably be the 100-500mm as you can zoom right in with that.
Hi Sean, the little giraffe looks also a female! How lovely! I like all the images…. the sounds of hippos clashing is rather upsetting… I guess no life form gets around them! The Gijma dominant lion walks with his left leg rather rigid. He is a gorgeous lion, it is maybe a slightly permanent handicap as he walks for so many kilometres. I wonder how much this fact will interfere in his future encounter with other lions. Superb Ngungwe female! Your camera did an excellent job!
Thanks, Francesca. Hippos fighting is brutal and intense.
Yes, he has a limp on his back left leg, after an altercation with the Nkhulu Males a few months ago. The limp is more pronounced when he first gets up but loosens up after walking for a bit.