Not Ready …

I’m just not ready to let go yet … of the Safari I told you about last week! (Click Here)

Recommendations came for more pictures and goodness knows I have hundreds! There are a few pics I think are unique and would like to give you a bit of commentary! 

I promise these are UNEDITED photos, which means the photo is what my eyes saw. I often see photos on the internet and know filters and color enhancements have altered the pic. Meaning it didn’t really look like that and I could never see that in real life. Some I realize are artistic, creative license, that’s fine. I’d rather see nature photos as they really appeared not enhanced for effects, just real. Although, we all know NO camera fully captures the real experience; it’s impossible! 3-D in person is always best!

I promise you could go to South Africa and see these exact images, if the animals cooperate and you have an astute guide!

Hop on in and let’s go see what we can see …

They call it “the bush”. It seemed more plains and mountains to me. We traveled up and down. Even on the upper parts there were flat areas were animals grazed. Don’t count out the bushy scrubby area though, lots of animals hide, eat and sleep in there. All eyes open all the time … you never know where you’ll spot them.

How many Giraffes do you see, above?

The Rhino’s were big, brawny and intimidating. Whenever our guide stopped the Jeep, we were instructed to stay seated, do not make a lot of movement, no reaching out to touch them and be as quiet as possible. She talked in whispers. Most of the time we were silent and observed their natural behavior. The closer they got the quieter we got …. Mesmerizing!

The Rhinos roll in the mud as sun protection. They will get sunburned without mud: mud is a necessity for them.

Did you ever notice that their stripes continue into their mane?

I didn’t until it was pointed out to us.

So creatively unique!

We saw this little guy both days on very different parts of the Reserve.
How did we know it was the same colt?
See on his face the stripes have been disrupted into a large black area. Our guide told us he was born during the drought and they believe the grass he laid in when born had something in it that marred his face, like a burn and scarred him. It was a very distinguishable feature. Poor buddy!

This is his Momma. He was trailing right behind her? This was the second morning.

Do You See It?

She has a fresh wound on her hind quarter! The day before it was not there!! Our guide said, “She very likely escaped a Lion attack this morning, a short time ago.” We found the Lions not too far away. Thank goodness Momma fought them away from her and her baby! That was a reality check!

How many Reedbucks do you see? A type of antelope.

All the Elephants … Mommies, Daddies, Brothers, and Babies. Everywhere we turned more and more came out of the trees! We ended up with probably 20 around us! They were so playful and happy. We were told they like interaction. Man … some of them were so huge!! If they put their ears out, it means they’re threatened: trying to make themselves look bigger and more intimidating. Also, I learned babies don’t learn to fully use their trunks till about 4 yrs. of age. It was delightful to watch them try; clumsy & uncoordinated … adorable!

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This guy, our guide told us “can be a testy one”. She saw him coming from behind. The elephants travel in pacts, but they don’t stay close together, just in the region. The males often fall behind. She said, “They get distracted.” Hehe! See the wet area coming down his face? I explain it in this post, click HERE. Our guide backed the Jeep up and gave lots of space because this other Jeep was near us. She didn’t want “Mr. Testy” to feel threatened. He wasn’t … he chose to show off and get up close and personal. I loved capturing this pic!! There were several children in that Jeep … bet they never forget that!

The KING!

Wow, we felt blessed to view him and follow him for a distance!

There are two Males: a Dad and Son, three females in this Pride. The Father has a darker mane. He is in charge until he gets too old and relinquishes to his son.

Unbelieveable, I caught him marking his territory!! You could wait a long time to get this shot. Maybe, National Geographic Photographer is in my future!! Honest you could wait months for this shot! I was giddy! He wasn’t “marking” because of us. They can hear other lions from long distances and have no idea they aren’t in their Reserve.

By the way, all of my photos were using my IPhone 8!

Lions mostly sleep during the day. They primarily hunt at night. Which is why it is hard finding them at times, cause they lie down and sleep in the brush during the day. This day, they chose the open displaying their grandeur for us!

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My last pic, if you’re still here ….

We climbed a hill and turned the corner and this is what we saw ….

WHAT ARE THEY ALL LOOKING AT?

I felt like I was on a movie set with some kind of trained animals set up for some amazing cinematic shot! All these different animals acting in unison! It was incredible!!!

It reminded me of the Lion King when Simba was being presented for all the kingdom to see and all the animals stood together in one crowd; all looking at the new cub! Complete with an awesome soundtrack making the hairs on your arms stand up and sending shivers down your spine! That’s how it felt! Epic!!!

I didn’t realize there was harmony between many animal types! We did see lots of animals hanging near others, but NEVER the Lions or Elephants!

Our guide looked out in the distance over at an adjoining mountain. It was so small none of us could even see it!

“They see an Elephant coming down that mountain moving in their direction!”

Holy Moly they have good eyes!! We couldn’t even see it! But they felt threatened even from that distance. Our guide said it was about a 15-20 minute walk for the Elephant. I suppose, if it didn’t turn in another direction they would scatter. We left before they stopped looking!! They were intensely keeping guard!

Thanks for hopping on the Jeep with me!
It’s been so much fun!

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Your Safari guide,

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