Lioness protecting her cubs

Duba Plains is known for its lions.

This was unknown to us when we booked our safari and it wasn't until we were already on our safari adventure, talking to other guests, that we learned about the attraction of Duba Plains (score another for our travel agent for getting us in to this popular camp).

That all said, Duba was in an odd state when we arrived. The usual lion/buffalo fighting wasn't going on. Instead, all of the lionesses were off having cubs - and hadn't been seen for some time.

So we spent our days searching out the lions and other animals (and we found Duba to be just as lush and teeming with wildlife as the other camps).

On one of our game drives we drove around a shrub and right into the lap of a lioness with her cub. This itself was exciting but what happened next left us all speechless.

The lioness walked around the shrub and we heard an incredible roaring. We drove around to check it out and there was a male lion, about whom the lioness was debating whether he was a threat or not. The lioness decided to carry her cub to another part of the savanna. We stayed with the lion and soon realized that there was another cub!

The lioness didn't stay away for too long and soon came - with great urgency - to take her remaining cub away from the male lion.

It was quite an impressive sight and we were all amazed that we stumbled upon it.

Our guide recognized the male lion as "Junior" and speculated that he was the maturing son of the female lioness - hence why she allowed him to get even that close to her cubs.

Junior is still trying to assert himself among the lions on the plains - and his attempts at showing his domination are evident across his body - it's only later in looking at the photos that we were able to appreciate how tough life must be - even for the top of the food chain.