First event next morning and not too far away from the camp we found a group of four female lions. In fact it was a three generation group, two young ons, less than one year old, their mother and the grand mother.
This is one of the two young lions.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 330mm, ISO 16000, f/8, 1/800 sec)
This is the mother of the two young ones, according to our guide, she must be about 4 to 5 years old.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 330mm, ISO 16000, f/8, 1/800 sec)
This is the grand mother. She is supposed to be about 9 or 10 years old.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 390mm, ISO 16000, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
As this group is known to our guide he explains, that the grand mother is not very active in hunting anymore, but very much in observing possible targets and in preparation of the kill. The mother of the young lions is mainly active for hunting, more and more assisted by the young lions.
The group is roaming around to find a good spot for the day.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 11400, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 500, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
They found a decent place where they are gonna spend the day. They observe the area but mostly they just rest.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 270mm, ISO 720, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
We decided to continue our drive and plan to come back later in the afternoon.
Beautiful landscape with Linyanti River (Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/3200 sec)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
Giant Kingfisher (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 320, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
On our way we saw this impressive group of impalas.
Close to a small water pond we stopped for our morning coffee and tea break. This way we could closely observe a group of zebras and an impala that had joined this group.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 220, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
The baby zebra was not very old yet and always kept very close to its mother.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 450mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
This eagle observed the scene from above.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 320, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 360, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/640)
After some time we found a group of five to seven younger elephants playing in the river. Obviously they had a lot of fun and we had a unique opportunity to film and photograph them.
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 100mm, ISO 320, f/8, 1/500 sec)
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 100mm, ISO 320, f/8, 1/500 sec)
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 201mm, ISO 500, f/8, 1/500 sec)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 640, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
After this enjoyable experience we made our way back in direction of the camp. We saw a Kudu with birds on the back, warthogs, zebras, impalas and birds.
This bee eater was observing the area from this little branch.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
Back at the camp in our cabin we saw this giant lizard in a tree right in front of our balcony. Most of time he remained in the shade, but we managed to get a few nice images from this impressive animal. The overall length is probably close to one meter.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 1100, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 300mm, ISO 1000, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
For our afternoon game drive we first checked on the group of lions. They were still at the same location, resting and not showing any big activity.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 1600, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
We continued our drive along Linyanti River, similar direction as this morning.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 1800, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 1400, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
It’s funny to see a giraffe drinking water from the river.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 1400, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
(Sony A7R3 24-240mm at 216mm, ISO 800, f/9, 1/500 sec)
We crossed quit a few elephants on our way. Some of them were blocking the road, but with patience we always managed to pass and continue our drive.
(Sony A7R3 24-240mm at 124mm, ISO 1250, f/9, 1/500 sec)
Even being in a car, getting close to those giant animals is impressive, specially when the wave with their ears and make a lot of noise.
(Nikon D500 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 3600, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
We stopped again at the location with the four lions. They still were there, now showing some more activity,
(Nikon D500 200-500mm at 410mm, ISO 9000, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
All three generations are playing together – what a beautiful moment.
(Sony A7R3 24-240mm at 230mm, ISO 16000, f/8, 1/100 sec)
It got darker and darker. We lived another beautiful sunset and packed our camera, as it was too dark for any photography.
For a little while we continued to follow the lions, but then we had to give up. They moved into the bushes, impossible for us to follow, so we headed back to the camp.
(Sony RX1R 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/640 sec)
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