Trip Reports – Alison Buttigieg Wildlife Photography http://test3.alisonbuttigieg.com Wildlife & Travel Photography and Blog Sun, 24 Jan 2016 11:48:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.18 There are Lions in our shower! Mabuasehube, Botswana http://test3.alisonbuttigieg.com/2013/08/15/there-are-lions-in-our-shower-mabuasehube-botswana/ http://test3.alisonbuttigieg.com/2013/08/15/there-are-lions-in-our-shower-mabuasehube-botswana/#comments Thu, 15 Aug 2013 13:38:48 +0000 http://www.alisonbuttigieg.com/?p=882  

When you embark on a safari in Africa you never know what you are going to get – especially so when you self-drive and dare to stay in remote unfenced campsites.  That is why I love it that much! Traveling in this way I have had many special encounters in camp.

But the experience we had in August 2013 in Mabuasehube (also captured on video) just beats all others!  Mabuasehube is part of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier park, on its very eastern side in Botswana.  It was the last leg of our 2 week self drive through the Kgalagadi.  One night we were just chilling out in camp when a Brown Hyena showed up to drink from the leaking camp shower.

Brown Hyena

We thought that was it for our excitement for the night and were chatting and doing some last chores around camp before settling down in our tents to sleep.  A strange slurping noise came from the direction of the shower.  Did the hyena return?  We shone our flashlights in that direction and we had the surprise of our lives when we saw lions drinking from our leaking shower.  The Royal Family were in town and they were thirsty!

Shower time? Think again …

They kept going in and out of the shower jostling for the best spots enjoying the fresh water.   How many lions can you fit at once in one tiny shower you may ask?  The answer is 5.

Young Lions Exploring our Shower

Protecting the Privacy

This image would be really disturbing if one of us was missing

While most of the pride decided to snooze after their drink, two of the young males had other ideas.  They started wrestling and playing around our campsite.  They discovered our frozen tablecloth which of course had to be pounced on and killed!

Things are getting rowdy

Wrestling

Busted! Guilty Face

What do you have there? I want it

But it’s mine!

Just before dawn they left as silently as they had arrived, leaving us with an unforgettable experience etched in our memories.  It is such a privilege to share space with these magnificent creatures.  Africa is not for sissies and you can bet we will be back soon in its beautiful untamed wilderness ready for anything it decides to throw at us next!

* This experience is also captured on video

 

]]> http://test3.alisonbuttigieg.com/2013/08/15/there-are-lions-in-our-shower-mabuasehube-botswana/feed/ 4 Lions in our shower in Mabuasehube http://test3.alisonbuttigieg.com/2013/08/14/lions-in-our-shower-in-mabuasehube/ Wed, 14 Aug 2013 11:09:27 +0000 http://www.alisonbuttigieg.com/?p=857 I have been so naughty – it has been a while since I updated my blog.  So I thought I would share a titbit of what I have been up to.  A couple of weeks ago we were in the Kgalagadi on a self-drive where we also visited Mabuasehube on the Botswana side.  On the night of the 1st of August 2013 we had the most amazing experience while camping!  A group of lions paid us a little visit in the Mpaya #1 campsite.  The object of their interest was our leaking shower!  Here is a video we managed to shoot:

 

I will be blogging in detail about this experience and the rest of our trip, so stay tuned.  Meanwhile my Facebook page  is always active so follow me there if you just can’t wait to see my new images.

[fbshare] ]]> Trip Reports http://test3.alisonbuttigieg.com/2013/03/03/trip-reports/ Sun, 03 Mar 2013 20:49:13 +0000 http://www.alisonbuttigieg.com/?p=765  

It has been a while since I last posted anything here, but I have a good excuse!  I have been working on a thorough trip report for our self-drive in Zambia and Zimbabwe in 2012 and I have just published it, with loads and loads of pictures.  Follow our adventure through Kafue and South Luangwa National Parks in Zambia as well as Mana Pools in Zimbabwe.  Check it out by going to the trip reports section in the main menu or else following this link

When I am researching for a trip the thing I enjoy the most is reading other people’s trip reports, and I can never find enough of them, so that is why I will start contributing my own.  Hopefully you will find mine as helpful and inspiring as I have found others to be.

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