South Africa
Eventually I managed to get back to Africa. Having found a cheap flight to Jo’burg I headed off to visit the cute fluffy animals in the Kruger and down on the East coast near St Lucia
Do long grasses make it easier to stalk prey and stay hidden or do they make it more difficult to find such prey. Such are the philosophical questions of lions.
Lions are not so difficult to see in the Kruger. However I didn't manage to see any that would pose for photos until my last day. Most were hiding in the long grasses.
When you are only one day old and walking already it can be hard to know what direction the rest of the herd is travelling.
This baby elephant is doing a really good job at walking despite being only a couple of hours old. The newborn babys are able to stand after an hour or so and walk almost immediately.
The start of the wet season is baby birthing time. The longer grasses give more food and more hiding places for the young.
Because I went during the rainy season I missed out on a lot of the stunning sunsets that Africa is famous for. There was too much cloud too often. However some days were amazing and camping out in the bush really gives you the true feeling of the wilderness.
Unfortunately travelling in the wet season meant more low cloud and not enough sunsets. However if you stay long enough you will always get something,.
This little fella is only about 2 hours old. And walking already.
How long does it take to wait for a zebra to turn and face the camera in the wild? Well in South Africa there are so many that there is a pretty high chance of it happening.
Apparently nobody eats waterbucks. They supposedly taste disgusting. Still though it doesn't stop corcodiles giving it a go if they get too close in the marshes.
Hornbills are very common in South Africa. These guys were playing around in a parking lot behind a hide designed for bird watchers. There were no birds on the other side but these two were happy watching their reflection in the cars' shiny bits.
Just take a moment to reflect on the lack of water in a massive river. Then imagine how great this photo could have been with a better reflection. Drought affects us all, even photographers.
The male lion, with his fluffy mane is a symbol of Africa. We are losing too many of them but there is still no better feeling that coming face to face and managing to get a photo of such a powerful animal. #thisismytrophy
Red Zebras? Well when I took this the Kruger was in a bit of a drought condition after three years with minimal rain. That and the end of the natural dry season meant that there was dust everywhere. And I mean everywhere.
I spent an hour chasing this guy along a dried up riverbed. Eventually he agreed to pose. What do kingfishers eat if they can't dive for fish? Well this one dove for bugs on the forest floor.
An attempt at an artistic photo of a Zebra. I hope you like it as much as I did. There are so many Zebras in the Kruger that you soon start to try more with your photography than just proving you saw a zebra.
Dung Beetles and Butterflies. Not as classic a photo as a lion but it is awesome to see the amount of life that exists in wetlands when they aren't farmed on an industrial level.
There is no escaping Impala if you go on safari in Africa. No escaping it at all anywhere. This is just a couple of a long stream of them wandering along the side of the road in Kruger NP.
The Saint Lucia estuary and wetlands are renowned for its birds. However you don't have to be a twitcher to get good photographs. There is plenty more to be seen there, including all the hippos in the river beneath me. However it was too dark to get good photos of them.
On the east coast away from the main plateau of South Africa it is positively tropical and monkeys are everywhere. Most common are the Vervet Monkeys, known in German litterally as green sea cats since they were a pirate's favorite pet.
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