While I have seen ostriches on several of my African trips, they aren’t the most common bird to come across, so they are always special to see. Until you are right alongside one, it is easy to misjudge just how enormous these birds are.
This past trip we had a couple encounters with ostriches; first a group of them at sunset, who were all moving like they had somewhere to be, and second a lone female and a lone male (though the lone male was too far away to bother trying to capture any pictures).
A lone female ostrich feeding in the early morning in Moremi Game Reserve. Botswana, April, 2024.I love that you can see the dust being kicked up so you know that this group was really on the move. Our guide was desperate to find the ostriches so everyone in our vehicle would have the chance to see one (there were quite a few safari newbies on my trip, which is always fun), but we didn’t know he was also desperate to get us to a special spot for a wonderful sundowner party at the top of a hill. We did miss most of the sunset, but spending time with animals and birds is why we were there. Savute, Botswana. April, 2024.
