tinhouse Wildlife Pics:Last bunch Pg 4
My family and I have just come home from a weeks holiday in
the Kruger National Park.
We are huge animal lovers so we try to go there at least once a year.
You cannot begin to imagine how beautiful it is.
We set out every morning at 6am and clicked away on our cameras
until we were forced back before the gates closed at 17:30 each evening.
I guess one of my dream jobs would be wildlife photography!!
I have over 750 pics to go through, and carefully choose those I wish to keep.
When I see one or two you may like, I will post them.
Here are some of my (very amaturish) pics, hope you enjoy them
Something is always lost when resizing pics, but still, I dont ever enhance or Photoshop them in any way.
(except to remove a 'flash eye')
A photo is a moment in time, and that is the way I like to keep them.
An African Sunrise!
A mommy Buffalo
A baby Buffalo
A Sunbird
Three baby Giraffe
Zebra
Thank you so much!
I wasn't sure if you guys would like them,
Im a bit over the top when it comes to wildlife.........LOL
Here are some more.......
This is a Baobab tree. Called an 'upsidedown tree' by the Bushmen.
There is an ancient Baobab in Zimbabwe, that has a hollow trunk which can hold 40 people!
There are tons of African legends surrounding these trees.
Just an idea of the size of its trunk!
This young cheetah caused quite a traffic jam! Great excitement.
They are shy and quick and we don't get to see them too often. They are slender and sleek, just after I took this pic, she lay down and completely disappeared into the grass!!
Everyday we used to visit the rivers and watering holes in the area around our camp, this sight was
waiting for us one morning.
Another ellie. They can be really scary and will chase you off if you irritate them.
This elephant was drinking out of the tank where underground water is pumped and stored to fill watering holes in the dry season. Every so often he would rest and have a nap leaning on the side of the tank.......he was doing that when I took this pic! lol
Hippos can stay underwater for quite a few minutes, so sometimes when you arrive at a river it looks deserted.......and then some eyes will pop up and there are hippos! This young lady decided to yawn for us! They are extremely dangerous and agressive and kill more people than any other wild animal! Check out those teeth!
The same young lady soaking up the African sun! What a figure she has
On out last day this little chap had wondered off from his mom, and when he saw our vehicle up on the bridge, he dashed over to her and tried to hide behind her. They are very vulnerable to predators at this young age.
We found this Spotted Hyena warming himself, early one morning. They usually scavenge for food, and have emmensely strong jaws. Females are dominant over males.
This is a group of Impala. There are over 150 thousand of them. You will find groups of them all over. The females are always with a ram. When the young males become a threat to the dominant ram they are kicked out and form bachelor groups, where they wait until it is time to fight to become a leader of their own 'harem'.
This is a group of 'ladies' (ewes)
They are so pretty and dainty.
Obviously a 'loser'! LOL
Sorted out some more pics,
these are the last of those uploaded to PB,
so I won't be spamming you indefinitely with animal pics! lol
Some birdies.
Lilac Breasted Roller
Had enough of being photographed!
A young Scops Owl snoozing during the day.
Vultures
Back to some big stuff!
We stopped to look at some buck and this young man was standing a few feet away in the bush with his mom.
What he wants to be when he grows up!
One of my favourite animals...warthog! They are adorable, if they are startled they take off
running with their little tails straight up like aerials!
The go down onto their knees to root for goodies to eat!
Four bums in the air!
One of the highlights of our trip was a sunset drive. Everyone has to be back in camp by 5:30pm in winter.
It gets dark early and you are not allowed to be driving around in the dark, for obvious reasons.
But you can go out with rangers after dark. Our ranger Meshack, asked what we would like to see,
and the only member of the Big 5 we hadn't seen was lion. So as if he had planned it, this young lioness was in the road as we rounded a bend. The sun was low in the sky and the world was tinged with gold and pink.
She passed within 1 meter of our (open!) vehicle then stopped, turned and stared at us with the most incredible golden eyes and a look of utter comtempt and stepped into the grass where she flopped down next to an older lioness who was in bad shape.
I took pics of her companion, but she was thin and had a huge ulcerated abcess on her left eye.
The ranger told us that the younger animal would hunt and share with the sick female, as the older
one would not be able to hunt effectively with her eye in that condition.
As animal lovers our first instinct is to rush off and help, but with good management, nature is generally left to take its course, unless the animal is hurt by humans through reckless driving (you really don't want to get in that kind of trouble!) or poaching traps (shocking horrific pictures are posted at all the camps to try and stop this desperately cruel practice), infectious disease,..........or unless a breeding programme is in place.
The number of animals, particularly endangered species, has grown steadily in the last 10-20 years,
through good management and research.
This incredible National Park is one of the few places, where all these fantastic animals are protected, but left to live life as God meant it to be.
The sun sinks on another day in Africa.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my pics,
you have no idea how much I appreciate it.
Thats all I have for now.
I do hope you enjoy them
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