An African safari is often a highlight of a lifetime. Seeing the animals up close and personal is an encounter one never forgets. To photograph the animals allows us to share these memories with others. We have traveled with Unique Safaris to Tanzania. We were able to plan out trip and after that Unique took care of everything. Their guides are professional as well as knowledgeable. Our guide, Pokea was great at finding the animals we wanted to photograph. His knowledge of the birds of the area was very useful in allowing us to photograph many different species.
In February the wildebeests have a lot of newborn calves trotting along with them. The carnivores of the area have figured this out and makes seeing a lion very easy.
Pokea and other Unique Safari guides have been very flexible with how long we spend observing any given encounter. A number of the Safari companies are on a tight schedule which really doesn’t lend itself to good photography. When one sees a group of vehicles and you know they have found something interesting. We followed a safari group who were trailing three lionesses. Because of their schedule the group of five safari vehicles had to leave missing the opportunity to photograph this male lion. He and his two brothers walked by our vehicle and we observed them until they went up on some rocks for a nap.
He may be the king of beasts but the queen has a lot to say. She does most of the hunting and taking care of the cubs. The male does offer protection to the pride from other marauding male lions. As in any old married couples there are sometimes disagreements.
The highlight in seeing lions is to view cubs. They are born away from the pride and when they are physically stong enough the mother introduces them to the others. The cubs are then watched over by the aunties and play with cousins.
Leopards are probably the easiest to photograph, if you can find them. They usually spend their days lounging in trees. Once one hears about a leopard it doesn’t take long to go to the spot and photograph the cat. If lucky, one may find the cat dining on its meal or see the remains of its prey hanging from a tree. The leopard below was resting within a short distance from camp and if weren’t for the trees, could be seen from camp.
Our coveted image was that of young leopard cubs. By getting up early we were able to spend about an hour and a half observing these two leopard cubs with no one else around.
Eventually they disappeared into the tall grass so we left. We heard that a large group of vehicles surrounded the tree when the mother got back. Apparently, she didn’t like the attention and moved the cubs as they were not at the tree the next day.
The cheetah is one of the rarer felines on the plains and sighting one is highly desired. If lucky one may get to see them hunt as they do this during the day. We saw one trio of brothers take down a young wildebeest and the cheetahs were immediately surrounded by safari vehicles. Other times cheetahs can be seen strolling across the open plains or resting in the shade. That makes it easy to spot and photograph. The lines on the face and the spotting on their coat helps camouflage them as they stalk their prey.
The serval is one of the smaller more elusive felines on the Serengeti. We were fortunate to see one.
They are found hunting rodents or birds in the grasses of the plains. If lucky one may actually see them jump to capture their dinner. Unfortunately for this serval he missed and then went on hunting.
One of the hardest cats to find because it is small and hangs out in tall grass is the African wild cat. The cat looks a lot like our domestic felines but it is truly wild. They too hunt for rodents and birds hidden in the grass. We were lucky to find one out in an open short grass area.
The jackal is the main canine on the Serengeti. The most common are the black-back and the golden jackal. They often can be seen trying to steal a meal from others that may be dining on a carcass.
Finally, the hyena. A beast unto itself. Although they are primarily a scavenger they will catch smaller animals. Traveling in packs they sometimes are able to chase away a lion or a cheetah from their kill. They are not afraid of vehicles and will sometimes be seen checking out the tires. Fortunately for us the young hyena was not able to deflate the tire with its bite.
I hope you enjoyed this sharing of portraits from the Serengeti.
