Case file · Folklore / legend
The lions on Finch Hatton's grave
After the hunter and pilot Denys Finch Hatton died when his plane crashed at Voi in May 1931, he was buried in the Ngong Hills; Karen Blixen later wrote that lions came to lie on his grave.
1931 CE · -1.40, 36.65 · status: account
The account
In 'Out of Africa' (1937) Blixen said that a lion and lioness had been seen standing or lying on the grave for long periods, which she found fitting for the man. The grave became a place of pilgrimage for readers and film fans. The point is approximate.
The sceptical view
A memoirist's report of what others told her; lions resting on a raised grave with a view are not unusual.