From the Tiny to the Tall - more animals in the African bush

As our time in Africa nears towards a close, another thing we enjoying some more game park drives. We will miss the African bush which is always ready to give new and unexpected experiences.  We recently took another visit to the two tiny local game reserves. Neither have the big cats, but still there are wonderful sights to behold…even though they can never all be captured on camera. Sometimes I can even have the camera positioned and about to ‘click’ and the animal or bird suddenly moves!…

But here are some of the moments I managed to capture. When you drive around a Game Reserve you never know what you might see. Sometimes, like on our recent two drives, you can drive for ages and see nothing or very little but you never know what is around the next bend or behind the next tree…and this time of year with the softer winter sunlight, each experience seemed to have special beauty to it. 

 Our first experience that time was ‘just another wharthog’…but this guy was a really good specimen, with two rather impressive tusks!, and with a hitch-hiker bird on his back. And its not often you can get a photo this clear and looking right at the camera!

Toward the end of that drive we also spotted a few other warthogs in the marshy grass, nose-to-nose and busy discovering some kind of tasty morsels in the mud.

Then it was ostriches that were our next view - these large flightless birds of a small brain and long neck, whose large egg shells are prize souvenirs, and feathers provide many effective feather dusters across the region’s homes, are fascinating in their peculiarliness. 

Then we had a completely new experience of seeing a group of these smaller Spotted Dikkop birds about 40cm tall, that freeze like statues and stay mainly on the ground. They are nocturnal, well camouflaged, and can live up to 20 years. 

This one was standing motionless on one leg for ages.

And this one nearby was also motionless in this position for ages too. 

The next drive also included mostly birds, including probably the most hornbills that we have ever seen in any one drive…

And then a goose just resting by a small dam.

And a beautiful tiny butterfly perfectly positioned in the sun, warming itself on a thorn tree branch

But just when it seemed like that was all we were going to see…

...suddening around a bend we spotted some zebras - two mothers and their foals. But unfortunately they quickly ran off into the thick bush and I couldn’t get a photo. 

However, after another long period of ‘zero’ animals, there was another bend in the road, and WOW…three Rhinos! (Two adults and a youngster). They too started off into the bush, but I did get to zoom in with a photo of the second adult who paused slightly before disappearing completely also into the bush.

I was amazed again at just how big these creatures are!

Then as a final ‘icing on the cake’ we were able to enjoy the young version of the tallest animal - the giraffe, when we spotted a couple of young ones behind some trees, but they were playing ‘hard to photograph'.

But after some quiet patient waiting till they moved a little bit, we were finally able to see them more clearly.

God’s creatures on the African continent never cease to cause us to be in awe of our Creator and His magnificent creation. What an wonderful privilege and opportunity we have had to enjoy them as much as we have.