Hand signed by Klaus Tiedge – Vigilance 1

IMAGE STORY

After a long journey from Northwest of Namibia, near Opuwo where I portrayed Himbas in their village, we arrived at camp Okaukuejo in the Etosha National Park in the late afternoon.

Quickly we set our camp and light the fire, to rush off to the huge waterhole, that is a unique asset of this camp.

When a pack of lions appears out of the surrounding darkness into the well-lit circumference of the waterhole, we even stopped whispering. Too dark for a great photograph so we sit back and enjoy this magical atmosphere.

The next day we are out and about early as usual. When stopping to discuss shortly our route according to the local map we met a couple from Germany, travelling in a MAN throughout Africa for a more than a year. We chatted and exchanged some travel tips. They gave us a hint that near Okandeka they saw a pride of lions and reckon that they were still roaming in the same area. Following their advice we carried on towards Wolfnes and Okandeka.

Carefully I observed the low grassland surroundings. Suddenly something moved. It was hard to see so I grabbed my binoculars.

Indeed, there was a fairly large pride of lions moving towards us! They were split over the two sides of the road and still too far away to capture by my camera.

Impatiently waiting, observing the scene, I hoped for the best. Then three lionesses appeared, stalking through the grass, while another group of them was moving closer in a circle. There was no doubt that they prepared to hunt for some zebra or gazelles that were grazing in the distance.

A scene as perfect as in a study book. Excitingly I prepared my camera.

Mother nature was definitely on our side when the three lionesses approached ducked down came closer to our position.

Amazing, how camouflage their fur appeared in the same color of the grass, a pure wonder of nature.

As much as I would have loved to see the hunt happening close by, I decided to stay put and to capture this image to my best ability. Eventually these lionesses were only about 30 meters away from our car. It was breathtaking.

The calmness and vigilance by the animals and the balance of colors by nature at the same time was truly fascinating.

Shortly after I had captured this image the lionesses set off to sprint and go after a gazelle – we could only get a glimpse of it from the distance but I was content that what I captured far more exciting and tense approach then the kill itself.

Signed and Packaged