In Part 1 I mentioned our camp breakfasts, but one day I was able to surprise my friends with a breakfast in the bush, which the staff at Pungwe had laid on for us. (Thank you Michel for organising this) It was a real treat to enjoy breakfast under the trees and was a good opportunity to take a photo of all of us.
Whilst I didn’t take any photos of the giraffes that wandered through our camp, we weren’t short of other good sightings, and one of the things I love about a safari is being on a drive and not knowing what might be round the corner. Two beauties sedately walking along the track in front of us was one of those special moments.
On another occasion our guide went to a waterhole to check for any animals that might be there and we were rewarded with more giraffes and some great reflection images.
Some people on safari are only interested in ticking off ‘The Big Five’ but there is plenty of other interest too. (The term ‘Big Five’ are the animals that are considered the most dangerous and difficult to hunt on foot, because they are unpredictable, intelligent, and capable of fighting back or killing a hunter when cornered. Successfully tracking and killing all five became the ultimate prestige achievement for trophy hunters. 😡 The size of the animal doesn’t dictate its inclusion as giraffes for example are not included. Instead the group consists of Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino & Cape Buffalo) Happily, most people prefer to shoot with cameras instead of guns, and almost everything is of interest to photographers. Here’s a selection of birds.
One big animal below that’s not part of the Big Five. Despite hippos being one of the most dangerous animals in Africa, maybe shooting a stationary animal in the water isn’t enough of a challenge or thrill for hunters 😡
This beautiful creature however is included. I spent many weeks in various African countries before I was lucky enough to see a leopard as they are rather elusive, but have now seen several and always get a thrill from seeing them. We spent some time with this one and the light kept getting better and better.
Next in the Big Five we have the rhino. Now poached for their horns because it’s believed by some in Asia that their horns have medicinal properties, when in fact they are made from keratin – exactly the same as our fingernails.
And finally, the Cape Buffalo. Very unpredictable and known to charge with no body language warning signs. Below that is the Wildebeest, AKA the Gnu, part of The Ugly Five. Renowned for being stupid and once described to me as being made from the leftover body parts of other animals 😂
I was glad that baboons didn’t come into camp as I really don’t like them, having been bitten on the arm once by one when I was volunteering in Namibia!
On our last morning we woke to thick fog which made for a very damp drive. We didn’t see much but I managed a couple of elephant shots that I liked.
An arty image to finish off with. I could lie and say that it was one of my intentional motion blur images, but it was grabbed while we were driving and I didn’t have the correct settings on my camera. However it turned out to be a photo that I really like !! Technically it’s really really bad, but for me it’s a case of ‘it’s so bad it’s good again’ 😂
Typically just as we were returning to camp the mist dissipated and the sun came out. Sadly it was time to leave after breakfast, head back to civilisation, and say our goodbyes to each other. Until the next trip, thank you Doug, Angela, Richard & Nian Huei for great company, and thank you to our guide (called) Never and the fantastic staff at Pungwe Safari Camp.
