The Lion House: when humans abandoned this safari lodge, the lions took over.

We are in Gorongosa region, in Great African Rift Valley, central Mozambique, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, and it has made efforts to preserve its unique ecosystems since the 1920s.
The more than 4,000 km2 park comprises the valley floor and parts of surrounding plateaus, with rivers originating on nearby Mount Gorongosa at 1,863 m that water the plain.
Seasonal flooding and waterlogging of the valley, which is composed of a mosaic of soil types, creates a variety of distinct ecosystems, with grasslands dotted with patches of acacia trees, savannah, dry forest on sands and seasonally rain-filled pans, and termite hill thickets.
The plateaus contain miombo and montane forests as well as a spectacular rain forest at the base of a series of limestone gorges.

By 1940 the wildlife reserve was such a popular attraction a safari lodge was built to accommodate tourists.
Unfortunately, it was built right on a floodplain.
As a result every year, during the rainy season, the Mussicadzi River would flood the building, and the lodge was abandoned before it was even fully completed.

However, traditionally, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure or, at least in this case, a pride of large wild cats.
In fact, when humans abandoned the lodge, the lions moved in.
Not by chance, the empty structure was named “Casa dos Leões” as Portuguese is the official language of Mozambique, literally “the Lion House”, and lions have occupied it ever since.
In 1960, Gorongosa became a national park, and today the wonderful animals and their unexpected residence in the deserted building are a National Park’s popular landmark.
Either way, for generations, lions have been coming back to their house, even guarding it like their own territory, a curious behavior for a wild animal, and some of them use it as a safe haven for their cubs as well as a place to take shelter from the rain.
The animals are known to ascend to the roof of the building for a better vantage point from which to watch their prey for hours, carefully choosing the best warthog or bushbuck to target for their next meal.
And, of course, they use the house to do what felines do best: lie around and nap!
The park estimates there are 30 to 50 living on the reserve.

Images from web – Google Research