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.
I’ve just finished a blog post for Londolozi’s guest blog page, and now it is time to get back to keeping up my own page. Except I’ve got a touch of writer’s block.
A different perspective of an elephant – from on top of his back. Lovely Danny carried Mom and I for an amazing hour long safari. April 2013, Livingstone, Zambia. 1/100, f5.3, ISO400, 40mmDuring our transport to Nelsruit Airport, we spotted these lions just as we exited Londolozi’s property. I love that the male is watching the female stalk the impala. Waiting for someone to get him some lunch! 1/400sec, f11, ISO200, 68mm
I’ve been trying to think of what angle to take, what animal to highlight, and right now, nothing is coming to me at all. But these past few weeks, I have been working on a photo book project with my Mom, so I thought I would post a few of the pictures we have selected to include so far.
For some reason, this particular elephant shot makes me think of Dumbo. Such a soft and gentle face. At Chobe Park in Botswana. 1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO400, 300mmThe antlers on kudo are truly impressive. Such a beautiful animal. The timing was perfect as both oxpeckers are looking in the same direction as well. 1/320sec, f5.6, ISO100, 300mmWe saw 10-12 wild ostrich on the way to and from the Cape of Good Hope. We even witnessed two members of park staff free a male that was entangled in some wire and had fallen on the rocks. It was very lucky those men didn’t get injured in helping the Ostrich. Everyone that had pulled over to see what the commotion was started clapping and honking when the Ostrich took off after the rest of his group and the men were safely back in their vehicle. 1/640sec, f8.0, ISO200, 55mmSunrise on my last game drive at Londolozi (for now) 1/1250sec, f9.0, ISO200, 55mm
