Mara’s Pride

Photographed By Percy Fernandez

We couldn’t have asked for better than these pride of lions ushering us into the new year. That was 2021.

It had rained heavily the previous night. But that didn’t dampen our spirits at the lodge we stayed at the edge of the Mara Reserve. We retired early though, like every night. The morning skies were still and grey and the grasslands were wet. It drizzled and then stopped. Briefly, the sun appeared and shafts of lights dressed up the vast Savannah. And it soon disappeared. Our guide, Jonathan found out that the Safai Area males, seen above, were getting ready for a hunt. How the hell one knows that? Well, after having spent years in the bush and observing their behaviour, you get to know every movement of the big cats.

And here we were, waiting for them for hours. The pitter patter of the rains would punctuate that cold morning as these boys surveyed a huge buffalo herd. The four of them suddenly decided to split at this point. Three of them disappeared into the tall grass and we could see only one. And then from nowhere, the hunt began. It was a lesson in ambush, stealth and perfect coordination.