October 2019 - To Rouse a Lion
The blood more stirs
To rouse a lion than to start a hare.William Shakespeare, Henry IV.
Henry Percy had it right. The blood does stir more to rouse a lion, although in his case, it cost him his life and all he had.
In my case, it gave me this picture of two cubs in the dawn light near Satara in the Kruger National Park.
Roused by their mother, who encouraged them to move closer to the N’wanetsi river and a well-deserved morning drink.
The light in the dry October air still has the whiff of winter. It’s golden and rich and sumptuously drapes itself over the grasslands.
It’s a wonderful time for photography, before the rains fall and the animals disperse far and wide and close enough to spring for the migrant birds to start arriving. The Impala ewes are heavy with their young and everything is waiting.
Waiting for that first patter of drops on the earth that signals the end of thirst. The end of hunger and the start of life, here in the southlands.
Lion cubs at dawn
