Another Purty Sunset

I think that the title says it all. Another purty sunset!!! This was taken in Chobe National Park from the dinning platform in our camp. The sun was actually setting across the Chobe river and there was a fisherman on a traditional Mokoru passing in front of the sunset for this even more incredible shot:

It was very nice of the fishermen to pose like that for us! :) I love how the light of the sunset is reflected in the slow wake of the Mokoro. If you click on the second shot you will see it even better :)

10 Little Bee Eaters All In A Row

It can be cold on those African mornings! Or, at least cold for them :) The mornings were around 45 degrees and many of the locals were huddling together for warmth including some of the birds and animals. These are Little Bee-Eaters and every morning these guys lined up on a branch just under the dining area and huddled together for warmth. It was actually fairly dark and they were hard to see...yea for the new camera and image stabilization. The next day they were lined up again, but not all in the same direction.
As a bonus, here is why they are called Bee-eaters...

The guides were describing a behavior of these birds that I wish I had seen. When they catch the bees they slam them against the branches on either side of them to kill the bugs before eating. We did see that and it is quite something to watch. However, if the birds eat the bee and it isn't quite dead, the bee-eaters will fly themselves into branches slamming their tummies into the branch to kill the bee inside them!!!!!! I guess it is a learned behavior and the parents will pass it on to their offspring. Weird!

Just can't quite reach that one spot.....

Can you scratch just a....little...bit....lower????

This has to be one of the funniest grooming potions I have ever seen! There baboons were part of a very large troop--around 70-100--that we saw near sunset one night in Chobe National Park in Botswana along the Chobe river. There were several male-female pairs grooming but This guy bending head over heals to get that right spot is my favorite.

The most dangerous animal in africa

Believe it or not, this guy is considered the most dangerous animal in all of Africa! Much of their problem is their temper. The males are out on their own (not part of the heard) and as they get older they get more and more irascible. They will charge pretty much anything and don't do mock charges like elephants. If they come running they mean business. And that horn, or boss, on the top of their heads?!? I goes all the way across the skull and can stop a bullet! Wowzers. Needless to say I wasn't petting one of these!

Why did the elephant cross the road....

...because he could! At a couple of tons you don't argue! Actually, I think it was just so that she could show off her baby to the tourists and look really cute. Baby elephants really are charming and we had the opportunity to see several on our travels. Most cute!!!

See the Birdie

Giant Kingfisher:
African Darter:
Here are a couple of pictures taken of birds in flight that I was impressed with. Once again, yea for the new camera that can focus on the fly :) The first, the Giant Kingfisher is larger than some of his other kindred like the Pied Kingfisher but this is still a smaller bird--say a little larger than a large robin. The second picture is of an African Darter. They have the most incredible necks that look for all the world like minnows. In fact, here is another picture so you can see the neck:

As common as an....

...Impala! When we first landed in Kruger National park in South Africa there was a short drive from the airstrip (OK, some mowed grass) to the camp. On the way we say some impala, baboons, and kudu. Our guide assured us that we would see MANY more impala (impalae?!?!) on our trip and wow was he correct. As common as an impala is a phrase used down there for good reason. These grazers are everywhere and we saw them in all of the parks that we visited. They are the main course for many a predator but don't usually care about the Land Rovers so we often got very close to them. Being unconcerned with the jeeps did make them easy to picture (see below) but one of the most impressive things about them is to see them run and jump whch is a little harder to get on film if they don't run away from you :) A couple of times something else spooked them (in fact, that is how we spotted the lionesses in Hwange but more on that in a later post) and my new camera made itself useful--it is almost instantly on and there is only a fraction of a second delay to focus usually so I was able to get this shot. In truth, they are capable of jumping 4 meters int he air--clean over the land Rover if they wanted though we did not get to see that. They are really beautiful while running and their leaps are incredibly graceful. I have added another jumping shot below as well as a group shot. These were taken in Chobe National Park in Botswana:

Heffalumps and Woozles

At sunset on June 1 were along the Chobe river in Botswana. There was a veritable plethora of animals that came down for one last drink before nightfall including elephant, baboons, impala, and mongooses. We hung around at the water's edge for quite some time and I got many, many pictures including some really cute ones of the baboons that will be coming soon. This elephant was on his own, but we were about 30 yards away so I was able to get some nice close-ups. Here he is in full profile!