The Lion King & Other Stories

I'm delighted to report that I'm in South Africa at the moment...for work.  I know.  How on earth did I scam this one, eh?  Not one to pass up opportunities to mix leisure with business, I also managed to tack a 4-day safari onto the trip this past weekend.  A-Maz-Ing.  In video and photo below:

Elephant gestation apparently takes a whopping 22-months, but I think you'll agree with me that it's totally worth it if this is the kind of adorableness it produces:

I want to take him home.  (But I won't, for the record.)  

We also took a couple of night drives, which elicited the following video, of which I am MASSIVELY proud.  (Even if I was so thrilled, awed and a tiny-bit-terrified in the actual moment, I had to be reminded to use the video camera in my hand.)  Being in their space felt like utter privilege -- or perhaps trespass, if your perspective parallels that of the lion.

[National Geographic sidenote: Apparently it's the female lions, who hunt and take care of the cubs, while the male lions hang out, laze around and show up for dinner.  Gender politics also alive and well in the large cat community, it would seem.]

Of course, I also managed to take a few (hundred) still shots -- call it the ultimate roadtrip...