The Curious Case of the Limping Lioness

23 December, Thursday; Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Today we bid farewell to the life-filled plains of the Serengeti. We awoke before 6am this morning for an early morning game drive.

We weren’t more than 50 feet out of the gate of our lodge and we ran into a group of five graceful giraffes leisurely snacking on acacia trees and strolling past us. What a great start to the day. This is why it was worth the early morning wakeup call. No trickster baboon needed today.

Shortly thereafter, we stopped for a gorgeous view of the sunset and three hot air balloons.

and a glimpse of the seedier end of the food chain.

Ben earned his keep today with a far-off cheetah spotting. Keen eyes, that boy. I could barely believe he could make out the slim figure of the low-to-the-ground cat walking through the brownish grass. He (assumed he) blessed us with a great view sauntering towards us, then a slow gallop across the road where he proceeded to take a dump on a mound of dirt.

We also spotted some small animals – Silver-backed Jackals and a hidden huddle of bat-ear foxes.


Bat-eared foxes hiding near a termite hill	Bat-eared foxes	Silver-backed Jackal

A bit later, Ben asked Moses, our driver, to stop. He saw something in the distance and it seemed to be two lions, one of whom was injured and limping. It seemed one of the lions was missing her front right paw. That seemed a tad bit strange. How does a lion lose her entire paw? Her walking seemed labored and she frequently stopped to rest; her friend stopped with her. The injured lion was clearly being guarded by the other lion and it was actually a bit endearing to see the loyalty and companionship. As the lions came closer and eventually crossed the road directly in front of us, we could confirm the missing paw theory. She limped off with her friend, likely to join the rest of the pride.

Before heading back to the lodge for breakfast, we made a detour passed a large pride of lions on a nearby hill. They were far away, but it’s still exciting to see these majestic beasts in the wild. Photo_20101223_305660