Elephants and Zebra

Apart from wildebeest the most common large mammals that you see on safari seem to be zebra and elephants, which is great because both are really unique looking. These elephants are the first photographs of animals of my trip taken as we entered the Serengeti late in the evening. We caught up with the migration on our way out of the Serengeti heading towards Ndutu. The Zebra were dashing around a sandy basin where a watering hole had dried up, chasing after wildebeest and visa versa. We watched them run in circles, dashing across the remaining water and kicking up dust trails behind them.

An elephant gazing across the Serengeti plains.

An elephant having an evening snack as the setting sun catches their shoulder and tusk.

Zebra and wildebeest dashing across the sandy basin together.

Zebra slowly cross over a stream. 

A mess of strips and ears that could only be the migration

The Big Five

The big five are traditionally the five most dangerous animals in Africa to hunt. It is also a sign of a good safari trip if you are lucky enough to see them all. As much as I enjoy capturing wild animals in situations which make them look particularly dangerous, it can be just as fun photographing them at their most passive and vulnerable moments.

A large male lion asleep a-top some rocks in the Serengeti under the watchful eye of a lizard.
The lizard was carefully capturing the flies that were landing on the lion's noise, hiding behind the rock
 whenever the lion opened his eyes.

A few week old baby elephant following the herd across a track in the Serengeti.

A 5 month old leopard cub looking for his mother through the grass in
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. 

A Cape buffalo taking a mud-bath in the Ngorongoro Crater.

A family of black rhinoceros in front of the flamingos on the lake in the Ngorongoro crater, Tanzania.
Unfortunately due to the high value placed upon the rhino's horn there is still a level of
 rhinoceros poaching, and the Black rhinoceros in particular is critically endangered.