My main goal was to track down some lions and we thought there would be nothing better than finding them on the morning of such a stunning sunrise. We set off for the day from Earth Lodge with hope and positivity and I had a certain good feeling for the day. The safari came to a complete standstill when we saw a Hooded Vulture perched in a tree beside the road we were travelling on. Vultures are usually great indicators of some sort of activity arising in the area as they focus on scavenging off old carcasses made by predators and this became a good topic of discussion...

I was getting into quite some detail about the vulture itself until we came across a monogamous pair of Side-striped Jackal busy running around the same area as the vulture was in. Seeing jackals in the day is a rare occurrence but having them close to the vulture was even rarer. My tracker and I immediately stopped what we were doing and started scanning the open bush from left to right. The guests were confused and yet so naïve until I explained why we were so concerned.

My tracker Louis all of a sudden shouted: “Lion” and we all sat still with shock and amazement. We saw a female lioness running straight into the bush so we followed her, she led us directly to a huge buffalo bull that had just been taken down and killed by some of the Southern Pride. With steam still heating the surface and blood still covering the mouths of the hungry and yet brave lions, we found ourselves sitting amongst seven of the pride, lying down and one lioness feeding away on the fresh kill they had just made.

We were all stunned and the guests on my vehicle remained quiet for the first few minutes as we watched a big lioness feed and tear away at the fresh flesh off of the body of the defenceless buffalo that lost the battle. This big male buffalo was old and must have had quite an experience roaming around the beautiful reserve but his day had ended when he was surrounded by seven lions that had a goal of cornering him and taking him down which caused him to take his One Last Breath...