Big Birds and a Bigger Cat

At the beginning of May I spent a few days in the Etosha Pans, 100km from Home:


There was not much game to be seen at this time of the year because, following a good Rain season, there was still ample water and grazing in the bush.

Often tourists are disappointed because they fly in for a few hours expecting to see every kind of animal.

For me, the magic is in just sitting quietly at a Water Hole in the knowledge that the scene unfolding is thousands, perhaps millions, of years old.


This Elephant was drinking at the waterhole when it suddenly took fright and stomped off in a huff.

I could see no other animals around which might have alarmed it - maybe Elephants just don't like me.


King Of The Road.

I was forced to spend 15 minutes staring at this fellow's butt as he ambled along the road.

He eventually moving off into the bush when another car appeared from the front.


For the first time I got quite close to Marabou Storks - a gang of about thirty hanging-out at a shallow pool of water.

They're scavengers and I'd seen them before in the distance, once waiting hopefully near a Lion kill.


It's difficult to decide which are uglier, Vultures or Marabous.

According to Wiki 'Marabous eating human garbage have been seen to devour virtually anything that they can swallow, including shoes and pieces of metal.'


I don't know what was going on in this Warthog boar's head.

He was feeding peacefully with his mate and two offspring when he suddenly started chasing after them making grunting a squealing noises - this went on for about ten minutes, with them all running around in circles.


There were a quite few Zebra around - but not the large herds seen in Spring when water and grazing is scarce.


Who are You? - Giraffe and the Moon.


The highlight of my visit occurred shortly after entering Etosha - the first thing I saw was the distinctive tail in the grass - the first time I've been close to a Leopard.


The sighting was over in a flash as she disappeared into a culvert underneath the road.

She glanced up once but totally ignored me - in that moment I felt completely exposed - I knew that she could reach me in one bound ...


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