Pretty Girl: Lion Walk in Zambia

 Africa, Animals, Travel, Zambia  2 Responses »
Nov 032013
 

Today’s photo was taken during a day where we rode elephants and walked cheetahs and lions. The cheetahs are walked on leashes and then you get to watch them chase down a bit of meat, which resulted in this photo. It was an amazing day capped off by coming face to face with the king of the jungle.

We were introduced to two adolescent lions, the female you can see below, and a white male who was starting to get his mane in. Rather worryingly, the guides said that these lions were reaching sexual maturity so would be released onto the reserve soon as they would get aggressive and be too dangerous to walk. The plan is for these captive bred lions to breed in the reserve and produce lions that have had no contact with humans.

Fortunately, for this trip, they were pretty docile, walking along with us a we patted them on the back and held their tails like leashes. The most exciting part was when the female decided to leap into a tree above us. From where she was I’m pretty sure she could’ve pounced on any one us at any moment.

Face of a female lioness up close on a lion walk in Livingstone Zambia

Ostriches in Namibia

 Africa, Animals, Namibia, Travel  2 Responses »
Sep 192013
 

The drive to Walvis Bay to the dunes at Sossusvlei is pretty barren. It’s mainly a long flat road, not suited to the vehicle we were in. We bounced along at half the speed limit as giant overland trucks sped past us. Still, it was an exciting drive. Every now and again, dotted across the landscape we’d spot flocks of ostrich strolling about. This group corresponded with a driver change 2 hours into the drive.

Ostiches in the desert in Namibia with a mountain in the background

 

Yawning Hippo, Zambia

 Africa, Animals, Travel, Zambia  No Responses »
Aug 122013
 

It’s been a while since I’ve made a post.  It’s been a pretty hectic couple of weeks with cupmatch and a stag one weekend after the other. On top of that, my usual laptop decided to stop working on me so I’ve been using my old one, which I was shocked to find still works, kind of.

It may be debatable as to whether or not I can claim this photo. I really wanted to get a good shot of a yawning hippo. While on a booze cruise, I had the camera all set and had been trying to catch it on avail. My travel buddy, Harleigh, asked to look through the camera to get a closer look at what was a pretty inactive hippo. Just as she pointed the camera at him, this happened. Harleigh reacted and held down he shutter button, firing off about a dozen shots. This was the best of the bunch.

Hippo yawning with big teeth with baby hippo in the water next to it in Zambia

Running Cheetah, Zambia

 Africa, Animals, Travel, Zambia  1 Response »
Jul 192013
 

On my last trip to Zambia, I got to walk with lions and cheetahs. Then, they showed us how they run the cheetahs. A bit of meat is tied at the end of a rope and a winch drags it round a circuit at high speed. The cat takes off after it at amazing speeds, culminating in a cloud of dirt as it comes to a sudden stop and receives its treat.

Even though I knew exactly where and when these cheetahs were going to be running past, it was still pretty difficult catching a photo of them. I like this one a lot, mainly because of the explosions of dirt flying up where the cheetah has pushed off.

Cheetah running with dirt flying up behind in Zambia

You’re being watched, Sable Antelope in Botswana

 Africa, Animals, Botswana, Travel  6 Responses »
May 072013
 

While driving into Chobe National Park, we were gawking at the numerous elephants along the roadside and almost missed this  sight. Luckily, one of my travel buddies spotted it. It’s called a sable antelope and stood motionless in the bushes, just watching us until we moved on.

Sable antelope in the bushes in Chobe national park Botswana

Elephant Back Safari 2011, Zambia

 Africa, Animals, Travel, Zambia  1 Response »
May 062013
 

My first tie on elephant-back safari was on my first trip to Africa in 2011. We went in Zambia. The elephants all have a handler assigned to them from when they’re babies. This little guy was in training, happily trundling along next to its mother. You can see her shadow on the ground where he’s standing.

Young elephant with his trainer besides the Zambezi River in Zambia

Follow the Leader, Hippos in Botswana

 Africa, Animals, Botswana, Travel  2 Responses »
Apr 102013
 

As we waited to go on our boat safari in Botswana, the waiting area of our safari operators filled with Japanese tourists. When we were told to head to the boat we managed to take off in front of the crowd. When we saw the boat we noticed it was a double decker and decided we definitely wanted to secure a spot up top. Unfortunately, they’d reserved the upper deck for the tour group so that they could all hear the translator. As a result, we were stuck with the bottom. As it turned out, we were the only three on the bottom. Apart from getting hit in the head by a lens cap dropped from the upper deck, it was actually great. It was like we had our own private boat and guide for a few hours.

I snapped this shot from the lower deck, of a mama hippo and her baby.

A baby hippo following it's mother as they swim in a river in botswana's chobe national park.

 

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