We (Johan and Federica) recently did a Cape to Victoria Falls CV21 camping tour and had the most roaring experience in Etosha. Firstly… in the 6 years I have guided in this park, I have never ‘not’ found the lions (touch wood). So yes, they are normally on the tick list. But our experience this time was one to remember.

On the first afternoon when entering the park, we had a lovely young male greet us at the gate, so smiles already… That evening we made a traditional Potjie for the guests, and as they were enjoying their meal around the campfire, we heard 3 male lions roaring about 200 m away from us outside the camp. These 3 males are they dominant coalition in this territory. They were roaring the entire night, making sure that all other males would hear their strength and not even attempt to enter the area, or look at their ladies.

So the next morning we head out and then found these 3 males walking in the road… 2 meters away from our vehicle. They walked with pride and blocked the road, on their way to go drink some water. And to our surprise, 2 of their ladies were waiting for them. It’s always special to see how lions greet each other after being separated for a day or 2. So by now I wanted to say “ok guys, let’s go back to camp…” as a joke. But the safari continued…
Of course other game was plenty, but we were concentrated on finding a leopard next… but just more lions popped out of the grass hunting Zebra, it was an unsuccessful hunt, but still something to witness. As we continued we found another pride doing what lion’s do best…sleeping, and then mating, every 10 to 15 min…constantly! So yes, my guests enjoyed this pumping safari for about 3 sessions, and then we gave them some privacy.

On our way back, we got the 3 males again next to the road, being lazy… and then, boom! A leopard 3 meters from the road, having a rest in the shade. The Leopard caused a bit of a traffic jam, but for us it’s no problem in the red elephant (truck). Because of our height advantage, we look over the other cars and had a beautiful view. So yes, that was the cherry on the cake. We got back to camp for a beautiful sunset and then had our 3 males come and wake us up that night again…but we didn’t mind!