The Lion
 

The Lion is one of the most well known of all of the African animals.

During my visits to Southern Africa in 2012 & 2013, I was fortunate to see several prides of lions at several locations, many of which are shown below.
 
 
The above image shows why the safari vehicle is by far the best place to photograph lions from.  But the image below is a much more regular pose as Lions spend 80% of their day asleep.
 
 
 

Everyone wants to see and get images of lions at "the Kill", indeed this large predator is often seen hunting during wildlife documentaries on TV.  But the reality is very different.  Lions usually hunt at night, in poor light, and you have to be very lucky to see this, yet alone capture it with your camera.
During one visit, we were lucky to see a lioness with a freshly killed Warthog, but due to the lions position, it was virtually impossible to get photos.

But it great just to see them and to experience their size, power, and the feeling that they are in charge is felt as you sit and watch them.  The images below show several lions in Botswana, the Karoo, and the Eastern Cape  going about their business.