Our penultimate drive turned out to be one of my absolute favorites of the trip. We set off with a clear mission: to find a massive herd of buffalo. JJ mentioned that about 800–1000 of them had moved through the reserve overnight, which sounded almost unreal. But with his sharp tracking skills, it didn’t take him long at all to pick up their trail and lead us right to them.
I have to admit, being surrounded by a sea of noisy, smelly, dust-kicking, fly-covered “cows” isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. Buffalo may be impressive in number, but up close they’re basically walking poop machines, and not exactly easy on the senses. Thankfully, we didn’t linger too long. Still, they’re one of Africa’s famed Big Five, so at least we could tick that box and move on to the next adventure.
In Africa, the Big Five game animals are the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo.
As we started to leave the area, something caught my eye and I suddenly called out, “Lions!” They had blended into their surroundings so perfectly that even JJ had missed them as we rounded the turn. There they were, stretched out on an amber-colored rock, bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun. The way their coats melted into the golden light made them nearly invisible—it was the kind of scene you could drive right past without ever realizing the kings of the savanna were watching you.
JJ pulled the vehicle closer and parked in the perfect position for photographing the lions in the sunset.
We didn't realize at first, but there was a male lion directly in front of us, maybe 15 feet away, laying in the grasses below the lions on the rock just above. If that wasn't enough, we spotted two cubs up on the hillside to the left of the rock.
The cubs eventually decided to come down to visit their mom before laying down on the rocks. One of them, as it settled into the golden light, instantly took me back to my very first safari in 2017. I remembered capturing a lion cub then, perfectly lit by the rising sun. That single photo sparked my passion for photography and set my wife and I on this journey of wildlife trips around the world. Looking at this cub now, I couldn’t help but think it was about the same age as that first one. But this time, I had the right gear in hand—a chance at redemption, to capture the image I had always wished I could, with all the quality and detail that moment truly deserved.
A nearby impala caught the attention of the female lions and their heads rose, locked on to their target.
A brief chase took place, but the lions were unsuccessful in the hunt.
Tired after the chase, the lions took a break in the sand next to a pool of water. A female took a drink, looking up toward the hill where she left her cubs.
Another male lion came into view in the distance, eventually joining the group.
At this point, the drive was almost over. As we pulled away, leaving the lions on the sand, I took one more photo of the landscape, the sun setting over elephants and lions.
On our way back, JJ managed to check off yet another item from my ever-growing safari wish list. For years, on every trip, I’ve asked about Martial Eagles. The guides would nod and assure me they were around, but somehow, one had always eluded us. This time, though, it was my wife who spotted a large bird perched in a nearby tree. The light was poor, and I couldn’t make out much detail, but JJ quickly raised his binoculars. A grin spread across his face—he could hardly believe it himself. It was a juvenile Martial Eagle. What amazed him most wasn’t just the sighting, but the timing. We had just come from a picture-perfect scene of lions on a sunlit rock—another big wish list item of mine—and now, not even an hour later, we were ticking off the Martial Eagle too. It felt almost impossible, like the bush had decided to grant every wish at once.
Shortly before reaching camp, we came across yet another sleepy lion. This was one of the larger males in the territory.
