Heartwarming Lions Encounter In The Serengeti
I saw a lot of lions during my African safari in Tanzania but there was one very special encounter that really stood out. One of my personal objectives was to see lion cubs in real life since they look so cute on TV and YouTube videos. My safari guide Leo from Safari By Leo got us to a sighting of a lion pride (term for a family of lions) consisting of four females and two males when we reached the Serengeti after our time in the Ngorongoro Crater (which is a very special place too in my opinion).
Lions usually hide their cubs when they go hunting and we came upon this pride of six adults who looked like they just came back from an unsuccessful hunt. The four females were leading the way with the two males behind. As they were walking right past our safari vehicle (and a few others which were also present), they called out to their cubs to come out of hiding.
As the cubs all came out, I saw the most heartwarming reunion as they were sharing so much love with the moms. Everyone was so happy and cubs started to nurse. Leo told me that the cubs could nurse from any of the females who were in nursing mode as it doesn’t always have to be with just their biological mother since the female adults work as a team. Meanwhile the two male adult lions whose job is to protect the pride relaxed on the sidelines.
Neither the adult lions or the cubs even cared that we were right next to them. I assume that even at a young age, the cubs are already use to seeing safari vehicles on a daily basis. Best of all is that I got this sequence from the adult lions returning and calling out to the cubs and the reunion all on video below. This encounter is easily one of the top experiences for me on this safari.
You can imagine just how thrilled I was after just my first safari day starting with all the amazing wildlife and scenery at Ngorongoro Crater and then capping it off with this incredible lions experience in the Serengeti. By the way, I ended up on my very last game drive day of my safari seeing unique tree climbing lions in Tarangire National Park.
