"Psst! Did you know that our closest relative is the elephant?"
"Get out!"
"No, really!"
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"Psst! Did you know that our closest relative is the elephant?"
"Get out!"
"No, really!"
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Waiting in the parking lot to take off the face of an unsuspecting tourist. That 'cute' thing really works to its advantage.
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Waiting in the parking lot to take off the face of an unsuspecting tourist. That 'cute' thing really works to its advantage.
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Dickson, our guide around the Serengeti visitor center. The display is showing the inside of a termite mound. I wish I remembered the statistics, but basically it amounted to "...the mounds that are this size are really old and have produced a bajillion new termites -- every hour!"
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Dickson, our guide around the Serengeti visitor center. The display is showing the inside of a termite mound. I wish I remembered the statistics, but basically it amounted to "...the mounds that are this size are really old and have produced a bajillion new termites -- every hour!"
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Wow. The lighting makes it look like a movie set!
[Hint: mouseover.]
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Wow. The lighting makes it look like a movie set!
[Hint: mouseover.]
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A rock hyrax! (And a birdie. :)
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A rock hyrax! (And a birdie. :)
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Everything about this scene was so beautiful. I'll just have to let the pictures speak for themselves.
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Everything about this scene was so beautiful. I'll just have to let the pictures speak for themselves.
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Wow. It's a leopard. Just wow.
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Wow. It's a leopard. Just wow.
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The the semi-sepia-toned colors here are mainly from adjustments in the camera.
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The the semi-sepia-toned colors here are mainly from adjustments in the camera.
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The leopard is still there. I don't know if Fabian would have seen it or not. He's pretty good at spotting things, but in this case, there were bunches of safari vehicles on the road on either side of the tree, so we couldn't miss it. Thank goodness!
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The leopard is still there. I don't know if Fabian would have seen it or not. He's pretty good at spotting things, but in this case, there were bunches of safari vehicles on the road on either side of the tree, so we couldn't miss it. Thank goodness!
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Marabou stork.
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Marabou stork.
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So, yeah... The Serengeti pics might go on for a while. The start of this pages is only about 400 photos into a day of over 1200 pictures. (Holy buh-jayzus!) The thing is, it really IS everything it's cracked up to be! The wildlife is THICK! Vast herds -- VAST! The circle of life and all that Lion King stuff. For real! And it's just so amazing and beautiful there aren't enough words to describe it. (Well, I guess that's why I'm posting pics, no? :)
Not long after the vultures, we came across a mini migration. By miniature, I mean there were mere thousands of animals involved, instead of millions. It wasn't really part of the seasonal migrations, as far as we could tell, just a bunch of gnu who decided they needed to be over there... RIGHT NOW! I think the zebra went along for the ride. They weren't quite as worked up about it as the wildebeesties.
Later we came across the most beautiful herd of elephants. The weather had turned cloudy and there were occasional patches of rain. The color of the grass, the trees, the sky, and the elephants themselves... Wow. Pure magic. Almost too beautiful to be real. Looking at the pictures I can't believe I really witnessed it all in person. So, so beautiful.
Not far from the elephants, we finally caught sight of the elusive leopard. This one was far off in a tree, trying to get some shuteye. The lighting and the distance made accurate photos difficult. My lens, however, was able to pick up a lot more than my naked eye. I didn't even realized we'd gotten to see the leopard's face until just now as I was editing the photos. (Thank you, as always, to Irfanview, for some quick crop and tweaking tools.) Some of the exposure adjustments came from the camera, others came in post.
Ah, and then there are the storks! As I was quickly sifting through the pictures before fine tuning them for posting, I saw the storks and just had to stop and admire them. I took a quick break and once again reviewed the Lion King trailer on Youtube. There were storks! Woohoo! And they really look like the real ones we saw! So neat. Actually, every time I've watched that trailer since we've come back, I start to cry. Africa is soooo beautiful. I must go back. There is something of my heart there now.
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Comments
It's simply breathtaking great capture keep them coming and thanks for sharing
