The Manyeleti Nature Reserve is renowned for its large prides of Lions and so we had high hopes for excellent sightings before we arrived. We didn’t have to wait long into our first afternoon drive from Ndzhaka Camp for our first encounter with the “Kings of Beasts” as we happened upon a large pride walking with determination through the veld while our guide tried to manoeuvre the vehicle into position for the best pictures.
As we drove out of Buffelshoek Camp our last morning at Manyeleti Nature Reserve dawned like a painting with a glorious orange sun backlighting large trees eerily peering through the mist that settled on the plains overnight.
Sunrise over Manyeleti
Years of visiting our wild places has given me a sixth sense that told me we won’t be waiting long for another audience with Manyeleti’s monarchy that morning, but our first sighting as we drove from camp was of two spotted hyenas lying lazily on the two-spoor track, as if just waiting for us to arrive.
And then, there they were! Two enormous Lionesses with their stomachs distended from a large meal enjoyed overnight. Eventually they got up and started moving in the direction of the nearby waterhole. We followed along for a few hundred metres, until they probably felt they needed another break and picked a termite mound as an elevated bed. One of the Queens flopped onto her side almost immediately, but the other was very interested in something happening between us and the camp, still visible in the distance.
Don’t miss the chance to visit Manyeleti along with DeWetsWild and Hannes Rossouw Photography!
DeWetsWild 
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Ek’s seker jy besef hoe bevoorreg jy is om hierdie leeus in hulle natuurlike omgewing te sien. En daardie sonopkoms … sjoe, dis ongelooflik mooi!
Baie dankie, Corna. Inderdaad n voorreg. Een wat ek nie sonder sal kan lewe nie.
Lovely shots here, sadly been a long time since I’ve been near a Lion
Thanks a lot, Ed!
You’re very welcome to come visit Manyeleti with us to get close up with wild lions again.
I enjoyed the colour in these photographs. I take it you didn’t photoshop or played with exposure/colour calibration? Dont remember a similar colour atmosphere in your other work. Probably the time of day, soft hues of sunrise. That’s besides the content of the post. Leeus is regtig baie spesiaal.
Thanks a lot, Petru. The light was really special the morning when we encountered the two lionesses – orange sunrise and dense mist worked together beautifully.
Right! That will do it!
When you publish your guide / coffee table book then consider using that early sunrise photograph on the cover. It is the essence of the magic of that part of the world.
Thank you very much, Anne! I think with that particular photo my colour blindness may be truly doing me in. Our camera club members and judges were also very excited about it and while it is a beautiful photo to me as well I didn’t think that it was that remarkable.
Believe me … it IS!
Thanks again, Anne.
I love the header shot of the male looking magnificent…which is easy when you don’t do any of the work!! I also like the larger closeup of the one female looking directly at the camera. I enjoyed the way you used the still shots in the video and got a good chuckle from the one female rolling over and then both of them taking a post-dinner nap. The sunrise shot is wonderful, very like many I took in the park in Illinois, as odd a comparison as that seems. Of course, for our younger daughter, I like the hyenas. 🙂
Thank you very much, Janet. I am grateful to know you enjoyed the video and photo’s so much!
I liked the lion pictures, especially the last one, but the sunrise photo is spectacular!
Thank you very much, Siobhan!
Dries, you know I like my ‘big girls’ but the big male lions are gorgeous. Just curious how you could tell the female’s stomach were full from a large meal and not from being pregnant?
That’s a good question, Lois! When female lions are that pregnant their nipples are normally already very enlarged and prominent. The “extra weight” is also carried further behind in their tummies, closer to the back legs when they’re heavily pregnant, not in the centre as when they’ve had a large meal. That’s not to say that they’re not pregnant also – female lions without cubs usually are. The final clues to their meal was the fresh blood stains on their chests and front legs and bateleur eagles and vultures in nearby trees.
Thank you, Dries. I appreciate the info!