Photographer captures amazing images of lions after submerging himself in watering hole for three months




Wildlife photographer Greg du Toit was so determined to capture the perfect image of wild lions drinking he sat submerged in their watering hole for three months.

The defiant photographer had endured a year of failed attempts at getting the right picture after building hides and digging trenches near the animals' drinking spot.

In a final desperate effort, the 32-year-old decided to take the plunge and climb into the murky pool with his camera and ended up contracting several tropical diseases.

Determined: Greg du Toit's persistence paid of as he captured this image of two lionesses venturing to the pool in search of a drink of water

He began a long-term waiting game where he sat semi-submerged for 270 hours to get the big cats on film.

But as these never-before-seen pictures show, his hard work - three hours per day for seven days a week in the water - was definitely worth the wait.

It came at a huge price for the photographer who was diagnosed with Bilharzia and contracted several parasites which he soaked up through the dirty water in the drinking hole.

Unique: A family of warthogs cool off at the pool in the Nguruman Hills, Kenya, as Mr du Toit looks on

Pride: These lions were only a leap away from Mr du Toit and were aware that there was something in the pool

Mr du Toit was also diagnosed with deadly malaria twice after contracting it through mosquitoes breeding in the pool.

Green and feeling sick from his ordeal, the South African visited doctors who were shocked at seeing the worst test results they had ever recorded.

'The doctors panicked when they noticed that my red blood platelet count was sky high,' Mr du Toit said.



'The first real symptom was blood in my urine, which is when I went for blood tests. The blood test confirmed that I had Bilharzia.

'It's caused by a type of flatworm which had spent part of its life in water snails and the other part in my liver. It left me weak and in bed for weeks.'

He added: 'The high red blood platelet count signalled that I was carrying a lot of parasites. This included numerous species of internal worm parasites and a particularly nasty external worm parasite known as Hook Worm.

'This worm was actually visible under the skin of my foot and would move at night. It became a game to find the worm in my foot each morning.'

After a long stint sick in bed recovering, Mr du Toit was finally given the all clear following courses of powerful antibiotics, pesticides and by spraying liquid nitrogen on the parasites visible under his skin.

Determined: Mr du Toit, 32, decided to climb into the pool after several failed attempts to capture lions at the pool. His efforts saw him contract Bilharzia, malaria twice and several parasites - and land a spot in the March edition of BBC Wildlife magazine



The photographer, who was living in south Kenya's Great Rift Valley, was then able to enjoy the fruits of his labour.

His stunning images captured at the watering hole in the Nguruman Hills in Kenya, three miles from the closest Masai village, give a rare and powerful insight into the lives of lions.

And during his several weeks spent with only his head-and-shoulders above water, Greg also managed to capture several other African species making their visits to the beauty spot for a refreshing drink.

One spectacular picture, taken from Greg's unique 'frog's eye view', shows two lionesses lapping gracefully at the 20 sq metre pool's edge.

Another shows a whole pride of lions joining in the watery action as they cool off only metres from watchful Greg who was just 'one leap away' from the colossal predators.



'There were times when I was shaking with so much with fear I had to stop what I was doing and breathe to get myself calm.



'I had to get the camera steady so I could get the pictures I had waited so long for,' he said.



'The lions knew there was something in the water but we think they only recognise humans when they are upright on legs so they took little notice of me and my camera.'



Mr du Toit also captured zebras, warthogs, baboons and much of Africa's huge variety of birdlife in his stunning images.

He added: 'It was worth it 100 per cent and I would do it all again, worms and all.'



The photographs will feature in the March issue of the BBC Wildlife Magazine.



