Sex in the Afternoon

As our guide called it, lions have a honeymoon.  When they pair off they spend 7 days having sex.  They neither hunt nor eat during the period.  Roughly 80 sexual acts are necessary to ensure pregnancy.

If you will pardon the indelicacy, here are honeymoon photos.

Flirting

The smell test, to see if she is ready.

The act.

I am ready for a cigarette.

Another round.

Cheetahs

Adult cheetahs embody grace.

Their cubs are too cute.

The Defiant Ones

Defying our expectations, there are violent vegans, and ferocious herbivores.  Hippos and buffalos are two of the most dangerous animals on the savanna.  Both are easily irritated and will charge the perceived threat or annoyance.  At a top speed of nearly 25 miles an hour, hippos will crush, while the horns of buffaloes will pierce.

Our lodge was on a portion of the Mara river known as hippo bend.  We saw hippos during the day and heard them at night.  They need to spend at least 10 hours a day in water or they dehydrate and die.

Early in the morning many left for the grasses of the savanna.  As evidenced by this footprint, they were sometimes within a few feet of our tent.

We saw hippos feeding during our game drives.  Also a few relied on a waterhole rather than the river.

The horns of the buffalo inspire fear, but the young are still  cute.

As fearsome at they are, birds keep them company perhaps as protection from predators.

A few more pictures, many featuring horns.