"Jambo, Habari yako/  ( Hello, how are you?)

Whilst driving this morning we came across an old badly wounded lion, probably gored by a buffalo.
It crossed the road in front of us and not far behind a hyena was following. The lion tried to hide itself under a thorn bush, the hyena slouching around waiting.
This is one animal I have never really liked. Their look, and that well known laugh,and that  giggle of theirs, don't think I will be painting one of these!

                       


Anyway all this left a very sad feeling for there is nothing you can do, but sad to witness all the same. This is of course nature, one animal feeds another and so on, down to vultures cleaning up the carcass. In respect for the lion we drove on.

                                                                                                   
Later on that afternoon I saw something in a clump of brush. The surrounding area had been burned by the Masai to encourage new grass to shoot. This helps feed their wild stock, cows, goats and also the wildlife.They are also now encouraged to help look out for the animals to help them survive, especially against poaching. I insisted nicely that we drive up to the bush although the driver thought it was a waste of time, he thought there was nothing there! But tucked away was this lioness with her cub. The cub was about 1 week old and tucked up in between her front paws.They both blended in so well with the surrounding colours, I was very lucky to have spotted it.But what a find!

We sat and watched her tenderly groom her cub, whilst ever alert to any danger.
This made our day, from the sad mornings event, to the joy of seeing this mother and cub.Real tender motherly love.

Yes, this was one I had to paint.

"Tender Love"

Back at the lodge, sitting round the wood fire with a long cool drink, ice tinkling in the glass, the aroma of dinner just about to be served, what a day we had had. Chatting to some other visitors it seemed we were the only couple to see this lion. Their driver had seen our land rover and come over after we moved away to find nothing. The lioness had moved away with her cub.

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This is what
I hope to start and will show you the picture in stages. Jill a dear friend gave me her photo of the robin. Much nicer than the one I had.

 Drawn out and ready to go
the "Robin" picture    

Until next week.  "Kwaheri"  goodbye.