Lion

Lucky was determined to find us a lion in Chobe, so this morning we left even earlier, at 5:45, to get to the park as soon as it opened at six.

(On the way, driving down the main road, we saw a hyena proving that he was the Very Model of a Modern Scavenger, rooting around in a garbage can.)

Once in the park, we didn't stop to look at any of the wildlife we passed, heading straight for an area where lions had been reported, and  Lucky found this paw print on the way.

Still I wasn't really expecting that we'd be successful; somehow, despite having been so close to the lion cubs in Vic Falls, and despite the elephants and giraffes and zebras and impalas we were seeing every day, a lion just seemed -- improbable.  It was as though someone had reported a sighting of Aslan.

So it was actually shocking when we came around a bend in the road, and there was a very large, not even remotely mythical, male lion sitting in the grass enjoying the early sun.

He was maybe three or four years old, according to Lucky, and didn't appear at all interested in us. But after a few minutes of posing for photos, he got up and strolled into the underbrush.

He peered out at us for another couple of minutes, maybe waiting to see if we were going to follow him.

Then he did what cats do best.