Sunset

Serengeti Gold: A Golden Hour Lion Cub Encounter

A young Serengeti explorer watching from his vantage point as the golden hour fades into twilight.

The Serengeti plain turned gold as the sun hit the horizon. The air smelled of red dust and wild sage. We were jeeping toward camp before the night chill, but the driver cut the engine. The savanna went silent, save for the sounds of clicking of cooling metal and the cicadas in the grass. A pride rested nearby, but one cub held my eye.

He lay quietly on top of a tall termite mound, silhouetted against the sky. The low light caught the fuzz of his fur and made him glow. He rested his chin on his paws and watched me casually with heavy, slow-blinking eyes. He did not move.

Below him, two cubs wrestled in the dust, biting at each other’s ears with soft growls. A third lay flat on its back, twitching at flies.

The cub on the mound ignored them. He let out a long sigh against the warm clay. Far off, an elephant herd rumbled. The gold turned to purple, the cub closed his eyes, and the night took the plain.


Interested in big cats? Check out this one: And Then Our Eyes Met: A Serengeti Encounter.”


Bible Land Explorers are headed back to Tanzania June 3-13, 2027. Lake Victoria, the Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater are on our agenda as we photo-hunt big cats, small birds, and everything in-between. See the link here for brochure and reservation forms, or contact us at BibleLandExplorer@gmail.com.