The so-called safari big five is made up of the lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. These are the animals that most travellers want to see when on their safari. It is actually a throw-back to the days of Big Game hunting and the five most dangerous species to hunt.
One of our directors Robert selects his own big five, choosing the photos he’s taken on his trips to Africa that he likes the most for varying reasons.
Rhino
This was taken several years ago at Lake Nakuru in Kenya. Nakuru is a great place to spot rhino as its home to both the black and white species, the white rhinos emerge in the morning to graze the grass on the shores of the lake.
I was with Sammy, one of our most experienced guides, and we’d only just arrived when we saw these two rhino feeding. It has that warm morning light and the flamingos in the background give it a great fringe of colour.
Leopard
Photographing leopards is tricky. They are shy creatures, keeping themselves hidden in the undergrowth, and are often only seen in fleeting glimpses that doesn’t give much time for getting the camera out and focused. They do like sleeping in trees, but are usually facing the wrong way or in deep shadow.
I like this photo as the leopard is so alert and elegantly moving, framed by the tall grasses that surround it. I was with Lorna, a guide from the Karen Blixen Camp in the Mara North Conservancy, and the leopard had a kill in a nearby tree and was watching some approaching hyenas.
Lion
I chose this picture as its sums up lions! The face of this lioness shows what a tough life she’s had. Lionesses do must of the hunting, and the prey they stalk all has horns and hooves that can do a lot of damage. Add to this the need to maintain her position in the pride and defend her young, you can see that she’s been through a few fights in her time.
It’s taken in the Mara in Kenya, and we’d been watching her for a couple of minutes. A few seconds after I took this photo she stood up and walked towards us, her eyes fixed on my daughter who was sitting in the seat before mine. She stopped a few metres from our vehicle and sniffed the air, before casually walking behind us and joining three younger lionesses who were preparing to hunt.
Buffalo
The largest herd of buffalo’s I’ve ever seen was a couple of years ago in Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. It was during the dry season and they were dropping down towards the river bed to drink from one of the large pools that remained in the otherwise dry river bed. There was well over 100 of them.
We stopped to let them cross the rack in front of us, and they stopped to check us out by watching and sniffing the air. This huge bull was at the front and stood watching us for several minutes before leading the herd on. Just by looking at him you can see how solid and strong he is.
Elephant
I’ve plenty of photos of elephants, from small calves to solitary bulls. I’ve got them bathing, eating, drinking and even cleaning beneath their toe-nails with a stick! This is my favourite however. It’s taken at the Sheldrick Trust in Nairobi, just after the baby elephants have finished their milk bottle feed in front of the daily visitors and are on their way out to spend the rest of the day browsing through the vegetation in Nairobi National Park.
As a supporter we were allowed to walk with them for 30 minutes. They were fascinated by our children, sniffing them with their trunks and gently prodding them as if daring them to come and play (something the kids were happy to do if not held back by boring parents.) They then started playing with each other, rolling each other in the dust and chasing each other around. After all these orphans have been through it was a wonderful sight and a memorable experience.
