We had so many amazing experiences in the Kruger this year. Sure, we did a lot of driving and some days were less exciting than others. But, looking back on the photos though, we were lucky enough to see some gorgeous animals, up close and at play in their natural surroundings. Like this elephant bull, who was quietly enjoying himself at a waterhole at a bird hide. We were out of our car, in the hide, watching him enjoy his drink...
He chased this herd of elephants away, but they were sneaky and managed to get to the river from the opposite bank...
It was so lovely to be so close to these gentle giants...
But then the old grump chased them off again...
I was busy telling my mom a story about a previous trip to the park, where we'd seen 2 male lions on these rocks and looked up, to see two lionesses on the very same rocks...
On our way to the elephant capture, this gorgeous male lion strolled up the road towards us...
These pics were taken through my windscreen...
He literally walked right next to my window, if I'd wound it down, I could've touched him...
Besides seeing lots of ellies, we saw lots of buffaloes too, but they tend to be eating all the time and they're not that easy to photograph...
We were told to go look at a kill, where the lions were feeding. We were told it was an elephant, but it turned out to be a rhino that had been injured in a poaching and then had to be put down. Jake was NOT happy. Warning... there may be a photo overkill here.
A young male lion, with a very dirty face...
You can see how fat and full their tummies were...
The lions were thrilled with the free meal and we had to do our best to appreciate them...
Lions gorge themselves and then sleep it off...
Mmmm... this stinky, vrotting meat tastes gooooood...
They pant in between tugging at the carcass for more food...
And they get right in there and dirty. I can't actually imagine how bad lions must smell...
Holding onto his meal tightly...
And using his entire body to pull the flesh off the bone...
When we'd seen enough, we headed down to a nearby waterhole and caught the tail end of a big herd of buffs...
Aside from drinking, they like to get all muddy...
These two ellies were part of a herd of bulls that chilled outside our campsite for the day. Look how big the front one's tusks are! And yes, that is the fence to the camp just behind them...
The next morning, we decided to get up early to go and check out the rhino carcass again and the lions were still there. There were more at the kill - apparently 9 in total...
We didn't get as good a spot as we'd been lucky to have the day before, so the trees were in my way...
In the lion pride, the females do the hunting and then they have to wait for the males to finish eating before they can tuck in. This one was trying her luck...
The male wasn't very happy when he heard her sneaking in and there was lots of growling and moaning...
We thought there would be a bit of a scuffle...
But the male actually dealt with it pretty well and stalked off, leaving a gap for the female to tuck into the meal. He must've been full...
OK, enough lions already!! We did see quite a few rhinos, all white, but mostly in the distance. Not that Jake and I could complain - we'd been up really close to one already! Here's a mommy and her calf. They were pretty far away, so my pics are a little fuzzy...
A little disappointing, were our leopard sightings. We only saw one and it was really far away...
She did come out of hiding, so briefly that I didn't even get time to change my camera settings and the sole photo is just not great...
More sleepy rhinos...
We probably saw more elephants than any other animal in the park. They are beautiful and quite and their babies are just too precious for words...
We were charged by this bull... Believe me when an elephant charges you, it's a fairly terrifying experience. We were charged 3 times in total, but this guy was the worst and my car wouldn't go and it was revving through the roof and he was right next to me. It was close...
Another bull, who was minding his own business, drinking quietly, when his water hole was taken over by a herd. Look how tiny that little one is! The babies were so excited to get to the water...
Ellies are very protective of their babies. It's amazing how they herd around the little ones to protect them...
Another baby...
And a baby buff... they're much cuter when they're little, aren't they. Looks like it's mommy's moaning at it...
Despite how they look, buffalo are strong and you do not want to get on the wrong side of one of these guys...
An ellie snoozing, while standing up. He's resting his trunk on his tusk...
One of our holiday highlights was a herd of ellies that found water near our campsite. Whether it was the excitement of finding water (winter is a very dry time in the park), or hormones, these ellies were HAPPY and put on a great show for us. They all seemed to be mating at the same time. This guy was really excited. He looks like he's smiling...
And he trumpted...
Ahhhh...
It was quite frightening watching the babies in the water with all the big ellies, who seemed very pre-occupied with one another...
There was a lot of aggression happening too... chasing and trumpeting...
And displays of dominance...
The herd eventually got out the water, mudded up, dusted off and headed off again. I wonder how many babies were made that day...
Oh one last one mudding up...
Oh wait, more lions...
The grass was still pretty long and these guys are so well camouflaged...
It made me realise that they really could've been hiding behind the bushes when we went out with Steven and his dog...
A picnic stop for lunch. You can't see it in this pic, but there are ellies drinking at a reservoir just behind Jake...
OK, so now you can't see Jake, but you can see the ellies...
This was our stop - you can see the ellies walking past to the right of the picture...
There's Jake and me...
Late in the afternoon, a group of young ellies stayed to drink water, while their parents moved off slightly...
I'm getting there slowly, but surely!! I have over 2500 photos to wade through to find my favourites. Be patient!
Love Sue XXX
2 comments:
I also adore those ellie babies - they seem to have their very own proportion that differs just the right bit from the big ones. And you know leopard must be one of the hardest animals to find and see. I think you were extremely lucky to see the one you did
Thanks for stopping by again, Cat! I know the leopard is a pain to see, but I did hope that with 10 days in the park, we'd have a better chance than normal.
Sue X
PS. Busy learning new editing software, so some of these are not 100% yet...
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