13.05.07 Cub Love (with pics)

Here is a selection of cub photos. I have hundreds and hundreds, but I don't want to bore you silly, so there are just a few cute ones.

This first one is of Chando, one of the 3ACs. He looks like he's concentrating fiercely and is about to pounce on something, but actually he just sat down and stared into space. He vies for first place in my cub top 3.
This photo is of one of the 5Ls - a litter of 5 all of whose name begins with L, after their mother Lulu. It makes me smile as he was posing nicely and then just moved at the last minute. Its such a cute wee chin though.
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This is sunrise about 2 weeks ago, taken from one of the bridges that cross the lake next to camp.








This is with an unidentifiable member of the 5Ls litter, I think its Lisha, but I can't tell from the photo. One of the ostriches in camp committed suicide in front of a truck so we used some feathers as cub toys.






This is a photo of one of the A-frames where guests stay, taken from across the lake.

This is Anne and I with the 2Ls. They would have been 11 months in this photo.
This is Msasa, one of the 3Ms. She was 3 1/2 months old in this. Msasa and her brother Masai like to sleep with their heads in the water bowl. They now have a new big square water bowl, which they still use as a head prop.

This is Lina, one of the 5Ls. Looks like butter wouldn't melt, but she's clever and has a bit of a temper. Most of my scratches and bruises were from Lina and her siblings. Its not so bad when a 2 or 3 month old nips you I suppose.
This was a python we found out on a lion walk last week. It was about 3 1/2 meters long. As you can see, I wasn't massively keen on getting up close and personal.


These are the 2Ls, brothers. Ltalo is on the left and Landela on the right, and its just before their first birthday.

This is Amandla, one of the camps resident teddy bears. He's a fantastic character, really cuddly and affectionate. He's one of the 3ACs - my favourite group of cubs, same as Chando, and also in my top 3. He's just over 7 months in this photo.

The 3Ms were just over 3 months old in this photo, which is one of my favourites out of the hundreds that I took. L to R is Msasa, Mana and Masai. One of the highlights of my time at AP has been seeing these cubs go from being very skittish and hissy to being quite playful and affectionate, and looking like they might be good walkers. Masai, the only boy in the litter, is the best looking cub in the park, and by far my most photographed lion. He's a little sweetie, and sometimes falls asleep with his head on my lap. Masia is the other contender in my top 3 - partly on looks, partly personality. Other times he will be quite cheeky, and sneak up behind you and give you a nip. He liked my hair and on a few occasions I had to pull a chunk of hair out of his mouth before I got an unplanned haircut. One of the best ways of playing with these guys is to take a garden rake or shovel and drag it along the grass. They go nuts and jump on the rake and you are then dragging them along too. They also had a thing about the hose pipes and sprinkler heads so we had great fun turning the water on and off while the poor cubs tried to figure out what was going on.

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