EmotionsofAfrica

The video shows the incredible close moments I was able to capture of a male leopard that decided that the deck of our room in a safari camp was the best place to get comfortable during the day. During a recent long weekend, I decided to treat myself and my wife to some time away in a luxury safari camp in the Great Kruger National Park. We got a whole lot more than just treating ourselves to a relaxing weekend. It was mid-morning when we arrived back at the safari camp from our three-hour safari out in the bush. We decided to grab a late breakfast before heading back to our room for a midday rest during the heat of the day. We were about to finish our breakfast when an employee of the safari camp notified us that a male leopard was just spotted moving around close by our room. We have been searching for big cats the whole morning. We couldn’t find any. The news brought excitement but confusion and a little worry all at the same time. It’s great that there is a chance that we can see a leopard but not so great that it is roaming around the camp and near our room. After breakfast we were escorted slowly and carefully back to our room, everybody scanning their surroundings. I was filming the whole way to the room, just in case we catch a glimpse of the big cat. I was behind the camp employee when we entered our room and within a few meters of entering he suddenly stopped and said, “there he is”. And there he was indeed. A big male leopard casually lying on the deck of our room. Outside the closed glass door luckily. I decided to keep filming and realised that the leopard didn’t see us yet. The reflection in the window from outside most likely stopped the male leopard from seeing into the room. My heart was beating fast with such an incredible beast a mere few meters away from me with just a glass plate separating us. I started feeling like the caged-in animal on the inside when the leopard did suddenly notice some movement through the window. The leopard’s whole behaviour changed from totally chilled to alert and focussed. That made my heart race even faster as I could see this big cat knows we are in there and he looked curious. After sitting still for a short while longer the leopard decided it was better to move on. I followed and opened the door to see where he went. The leopard stopped at the plunge pool, turned around, gave me one last stare, and disappeared over the rocks onto the next room which was luckily empty. Never in my life could I imagine getting so close to a wild leopard in Africa, and that right at my room in a safari camp.

The video shows an adorable baby elephant’s hilarious attempt to chase away a small bird with its cute sounding trumpeting noises. Elephants are the largest and most powerful land mammals on this planet. On many occasions they know it, and they show it. One of the common trades of elephants are to intimidate or chase away any animal that is smaller than them. This is true especially when elephants are near water. Elephants do not like to share the water with other animals, and they make sure they clear the coast before taking over the water. Of course, if adult elephants have that attitude, you can be sure that their young will adopt and apply the same attitude from a young age. The big difference is that a baby elephant chasing something away is a lot more funny and less scary than when the adults get going. Baby elephants must choose something smaller to pick on than the adults would. On this occasion I managed to film this cute baby elephant going after a small bird called a lapwing. While watching a herd of elephants around a watering hole, I noticed this baby elephant wandering off by itself, looking like its attention was absorbed by something of interest. While filming I realised it was this lapwing bird. The baby elephant tried to scare off the small bird with its intimidating behaviour and cute little trumpeting noises. Every time the baby elephant would do its best to look and sound scary, just like mommy. The bird would just move off a little every time, not looking like it was really frightened or scared by all the attempts of the baby elephant to chase it off. In the end the baby elephant realised that the little bird was not too bothered by its behaviour. Hilariously, the baby elephant turned around and ran straight back to its mother. One of the funniest baby elephant interactions I have seen in a while.

The video shows a bird picking at the ear of a rhinoceros before disappearing with its whole body inside the rhino’s ear. The African wild hosts an incredible variety of wild animals. While each animal in the wild is unique on its own, it is incredible to see how different types of animals interact and associate with each other. One example of such an interesting relationship is that of the oxpecker bird who lives in association with medium to large mammalian herbivores in the African wild. The hosts that oxpecker birds use range from impala, warthog, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, rhino, and hippo. These birds spend their daylight hours picking and consuming ticks and parasites out of the pelage of their hosts in a win-win relationship known as mutualistic symbiosis. Both species involved benefit from the relationship. The birds get a daily guaranteed meal, while their hosts receive a grooming, keeping their skin and hair free from itchy ticks and parasites that can cause disease. Watching these birds in action is always a fascinating experience while on safari. During a safari in the Kruger National Park, we came across a herd of rhino. Almost every rhino had a bird or two on it. I started filming one oxpecker bird on a rhino’s head. It was bouncing around on the rhino’s forehead before targeting one of the rhino’s ears. The bird was hanging onto the rhino’s ear like it would onto a branch in a tree. The bird started picking at the ticks and parasites that end up in the rhino’s ear while it is grazing head-down through the long grass. The bird had its head inside the ear of the rhino, looking for some juicy pickings. The next moment the bird decided it was going to have a look a little deeper down the rhino’s ear. To our amazement, the bird went into the rhino’s ear with its whole body and disappeared. It looked so bizarre to see this bird just disappearing into the rhino’s ear. The best of it all was that the rhino tolerated the bird inside its ear and never got agitated. Even more incredible was that the bird remained in there for almost a minute in which time my camera battery ran out, just missing the bird exiting the rhino’s ear again. Staying inside the rhino’s ear for that long must have been worth the while. The rhino looked happy with its clean ears and the bird surely got a fat meal out of the deal. Incredible Mother Nature at her best.

The video shows the adorable moments of a new-born baby elephant still learning to stand on its wobbly legs, ending with a tumble over backwards down to the ground. The arrival of any new-born human baby on this planet is always a special occasion. It is no different in the animal world and to see any new-born animal baby in the wild brings about that same warm feeling. The only difference is that us humans are mostly born in a safe and protected environment, while animals in the African wild are born into a dangerous and totally exposed environment. With our protected environments which we as humans have created for ourselves, we don’t have to run from predators anymore. Human babies instinctively only start standing up and walking in about a years’ time. When you are a new-born wild animal in the African wild, standing up, walking, and even running is the first thing to learn and get right before anything else. Some prey animal species such as antelopes can usually stand, walk, and run within minutes. When these animals are born, they are incredibly vulnerable to predators. New -born elephants, such as the one in the video, take about twenty minutes to half an hour to be standing and walking. Being exposed to the elements and lurking predators, new-born wild animals need to get moving quickly as there is no time for hanging around. We were fortunate enough to come across a mother elephant and her new-born baby. We could still see the wet blood on the inside of the mother elephant’s hind legs and this elephant calf was not older than fifteen minutes. We just missed the birth occasion but was blessed with some of the most adorable moments when the elephant baby had to make use of its wobbly legs, learning to stand up and walk. The baby elephant would fall more than stand and every time the mother elephant would be there with a helping trunk. The baby elephant would wobble again while standing up. I managed to capture this adorable moment when the baby elephant looked like it was standing up all fine before it suddenly lost its balance, and slowly toppled over backwards, down to the ground. The mother elephant was there in a flash with her trunk, supporting her baby back onto its feet. It didn’t take long before the baby was all confident on its feet and ready to move on with the rest of the herd. What a fantastic moment in nature, witnessing a new-born elephant learning how to stand and walk for the first time.

The video shows a roaring male lion that was so full bellied and lazy, that he eventually rolled over onto his side to complete his roaring performance, lying down flat on the ground. The roar of a lion is one of Africa’s most iconic sounds. Few sounds in the animal kingdom are as powerful and awe inspiring as the sound of a roaring lion. The roar of a lion can be heard from as far as seven kilometres away through the African bush at night. Lions roar to signal territoriality and to locate distant members of the pride. Both male and female lions demonstrate ownership of territories via roaring. Hearing the roar of a lion at night is one of the great highlights while on an African safari trip. Getting to see these beasts perform their powerful roar is priceless and not something you get to see a lot. We were lucky enough to have found a big lone male lion while out on a night safari. It was late at night and this lion was still very lazy and sleepy and didn’t look like he was going anywhere anytime soon. I could see his belly was full and he has eaten well. After gorging themselves, lions literally become very lazy and pretty useless. All they want to do is sleep, whether it’s night or day. While sitting quietly watching this male lion lazing away, we could hear lions roaring in the far distance. The distant roars also got this male’s attention. The male lion went from lying down flat on his side, to crouching down on all fours, attentively listening in the direction of the other roars. The next moment the male lion in front of us let loose his almighty deep roar. The deep sound was trembling through my body, causing an adrenaline rush. Then something happened I have never seen before. Normally lions remain in a fierce and focused position while performing their powerful roar. This lion on the other hand had such a full belly, was so lazy and tired, that he couldn’t even remain sitting up properly anymore to complete his roaring. The male lion’s stomach was clearly in the way and uncomfortable, so he decided to casually roll over onto his side and finished the last verses of his roaring compilation while lying down, looking way more comfortable. It was so funny but understandable to see the lion behaving like this. The usual image of a lion standing fiercely, performing his powerful roar over the African plains was replaced by this old boy just lying down, chilling, while completing his roaring performance.

The video shows a baby elephant working hard to walk through a deep muddy river crossing and keeping up with its family in the African wild. A great example of determination and great will power to keep going. Baby elephants are just so cute and to see the largest land mammal on this planet in baby form is always a memorable experience. On the other hand, being a baby elephant in the African wild is probably not that cute all the time. Starting life as a new-born for any animal in the African wild is a great challenge. A legion of obstacles and dangers are around you every day and it is all about paying attention to the adults and do what is needed to survive. Elephants are constant feeders, and they are also constantly on the move after greener pastures. These giants travel huge distances and as a baby elephant, with way shorter legs than the adults, you must keep up on the journeys. These journeys through the African wild are loaded with obstacles and challenges such as land predators, dangerous deep river crossings filled with crocodiles and navigating tough terrain through mountains and valleys. As a baby elephant, you must keep up, no matter the situation. This video shows one of the many obstacles baby elephants must face. I was on safari in the Kruger National Park when we saw a herd of elephants in a hurry to cross a river. The river crossing was literally just thick mud with some water on the top. In the herd there was this tiny, adorable baby elephant. The elephants marched on through the mud and so did the baby elephant. While the adults looked like they managed it easy, the baby elephants had to really work hard to get rough the thick mud and keep up with its family. The baby elephant showed no sign of giving up even though it had a few bumpy moments during the crossing. What an adorable sight of a baby elephant showing that no matter what, we must keep going. The baby elephant eventually managed all the way through the crossing, and we were pleased to see the little one getting to the other side all by itself. Of course, if the baby elephant would have gotten stuck, there would have been immediate assistance form the adults.

Many people might wonder how a five-ton elephant sleeps. While lying down is not an option, this video shows the awkward way in which a bull elephant actually managed to fall asleep while standing upright and resting his head against a tree trunk. The African elephant is the largest land mammal roaming this planet, with mature bull elephants reaching weights of over five tons. Being such a big animal, the elephant needs to feed on a constant basis, right through the day and night. It is estimated that elephants feed for about twenty hours per day and if elephants are not feeding, they are near and around water drinking and cooling down during warm days. This begs the question of when do these massive animals actually rest or sleep? Incredibly enough, elephants do not enjoy a six to eight hour sleep every night like most humans do. Due to their constant need to feed, elephants take short rest pauses as they need it. Baby elephants and sub adults do lie down for a short while to sleep while the adults stand around on guard. Lying down and going into a long deep sleep is not an option and also too dangerous for most animals, unless you are a lion or a leopard. Larger elephants sometimes lean against a tree or embankment and take their short naps in an upright position. When you a lone bull elephant weighing over five tons, like the big boy in this video, your options for getting comfortable for a quick power nap are limited. I found this lone bull while out on a safari in the Kruger National Park and his behaviour fascinated me, so I decided to film an occasion that people normally don’t get to see. The large bull elephant just finished drinking water when he slowly approached a nearby tree. The bull elephant looked very tired and everything he did was in slow motion. The elephant bull then slowly went to rest his head against the tree trunk and amazingly he started to fall asleep while standing upright. A complete head of an elephant, including tusks, trunk, and ears, can weigh over four hundred kilograms. With that in mind, it made sense for the old boy to rest that weight on a tree trunk while taking his nap. I was in awe watching the elephant bull standing in such an awkward position while being so comfortable at the same time standing sleeping. I actually felt happy for the big old elephant getting a well-deserved short nap as I can only imagine how much he has to go through on a daily basis to survive in the African wild.

The video shows the daring attempt of an elephant herd rescuing their baby elephant that fell behind during a deep and dangerous river crossing. It was during a recent trip to the Kruger National Park that I managed to film this dramatic moment. After our self-drive morning safari, we decided to stop for breakfast at one of the main rest camps. It was busy on the day with a lot of people at the specific rest camp. While sitting in the restaurant overlooking a huge river in the front of the camp, I noticed a herd of elephants in the distance that was getting into the river. At first, I thought the elephants were there for a swim but soon realised that the whole herd formed a single file and was busy crossing the deep and dangerous river. All large water bodies in this part of the world are crocodile and hippo infested. The river was so deep that the elephants disappeared under the water while bouncing back up the whole time as they make their way forward while crossing the river. It was a stunning sight right from my breakfast table on the deck overlooking the river. The elephant herd slowly crossed the deep river to the other side. Suddenly I saw two adult elephants hastily making a u turn and started swimming back. I was a little confused by this but quickly realised what was going on. I saw right in the middle of the deep river a tiny grey spot, which accidently got left behind during the daring crossing. Amazingly in such a big herd, the elephants quickly realised one was missing. The baby elephant was disappearing under the water before coming up for air again the whole time, trying to swim back to opposite side the herd went. A struggling baby elephant alone like that can easily become the target of a big crocodile lurking in the depths of the river. It was incredible to watch how the adult elephants motored their way towards the baby elephant. Finally, the elephants made it to the struggling baby elephant, and it was a mad scramble for the adults. I could see the way baby elephants do cross such big river was to somehow stand or hold onto the backs of an adult. The one adult elephant managed to get the struggling baby elephant onto its back and started to make its way to the rest of the herd. On several occasions the baby elephant would fall of the back of the elephant along the way, and they would turn around and try again. During the last bit of the crossing, it seemed the baby elephant couldn’t stay on the back of the adult elephant, and they pushed it forward under the water right towards the shallows. The elephants stopped in the shallow water, looking around as if they again can’t find the baby elephant. I thought that was it, that last stretch under the water was just too much for the poor little elephant. To the great relief of everyone in the restaurant that eventually gathered to watch the whole drama, the baby elephant popped out and showed its head and trunk before it got moved out to the river bank by the adult elephants. Incredible how the baby elephant survived the whole ordeal by not drowning or getting eaten by one of the many crocodiles in the river. Incredible wildlife moment indeed.

The video shows how I helplessly had to sit tight on my safari vehicle while filming and begging a bull elephant not to destroy my filming equipment. Living and working in the African wilderness is a great privilege. With filming and photography as my main hobbies, I get the opportunity to go and see remote wilderness areas that most humans have never been to. This gives me the opportunity in my off time to explore, film and photograph the beautiful nature that surrounds us. While one is out there, free and alone, you still have to be aware and hundred percent tuned into your surroundings as every kind of dangerous animal, reptile or insect in the African wild is to be found around you. Doing these trips alone is also not advisable. My wife and I was out exploring a wilderness area one late afternoon. It was just before sunset, and I found a beautiful, elevated spot from where to film a great sunset. I set up my tripod with my camera and had a little chair to sit on while filming. When you are filming and concentrating on what you are busy with, you do lose focus on what is going on around you. That’s why you never do this alone. My wife remained on the vehicle, watching the surroundings while I got going filming the sunset. I was just getting into my filming when my wife suddenly and very calmly told me that an elephant bull appeared and is standing behind the vehicle and is just staring at us. It was unbelievable how quiet a five-ton animal can just suddenly appear and us not hear him approaching. Elephants in general has an incredible ability to walk very soft, contrary to the believe that a big animal will make a big noise when walking. I looked back and there this bull elephant was staring at me rather curiously. My heart almost stopped and realised I was just as far from the vehicle on the one side as the elephant was from the other side. I knew I could not remain where I was. Instinctively I left all my stuff right there and dashed to the vehicle and jumped onto it. The elephant bull got a little agitated with my sudden movements and then calmed down again. I was relieved to have made the vehicle, but a new level of concern and worry came over me. I knew this elephant was going to be curious to see what my camera, tripod and chair set up was all about. After just standing there and staring at us for another minute, the elephant turned his focus onto my equipment. I just knew this was going to happen. I had an old second hand camera on the vehicle and started filming. Why I wanted to film an elephant potentially smashing my gear I do not know myself. The elephant bull slowly made his way towards my setup. My heart was racing and me and my wife even begged the elephant not to damage or trample my equipment, as if that was going to help anything. The elephant bull walked up to my camera on the tripod, gave the tripod a few sniffs and then decided this funny looking black thing needs to go down. The elephant walked closer and knocked over my tripod and camera with his one tusk. I thought that was only the beginning and next he was going to trample it as the elephant remained there smelling the area where I was filming from. I really thought that was it for my camera but to my great relief and surprise, the elephant bull suddenly lost interest, turned around, and slowly walked off into the sunset. Luckily my camera still works and only had a few scratches on it and some dirt went into a few places on the camera. When an elephant bull suddenly interrupts your filming session, it is something to remember for life while I’m thankful to have had my wife with me on that day, awake and alert, saving me from a potential worse situation.

The video shows a male baby elephant, hilariously believing he is strong and big enough to scare off three large buffalo bulls with his ‘intimidating’ behaviour. Being the largest land mammal on this planet, elephants rule and dominate the landscape in Africa. With their sheer size they do not really have to fear any predator and they can break and shape the landscape just how they like. Elephants also eat the most food and drink the most water of all animals in the African wild. When it comes to water, which they need to drink daily, elephants also love to throw their weight around. For some reason elephants do not like sharing water with other animals and on many occasions will not hesitate to chase other animal species away from the water. This is one of the trademarks of elephants and are learned from a young age. The video shows a male baby elephant that has clearly paid attention to the adults during his first years and decided it was time to put his skills to the test. We were watching a herd of elephants when this male baby elephant caught my eye. The baby elephant for some reason moved away from the herd. I noticed three large buffalo bulls lying in a mud wallow just below the watering hole where the elephants were. The baby elephant was walking towards the buffalo bulls with a cheeky filled attitude. It was hilarious to watch how the baby elephant believed he could chase the buffalo bulls off with his cute little trumpeting noise and his ‘not so scary’ mock charges. The funniest part of it all for me was while the baby elephant was doing his best to get some reaction from of the buffalo bulls, he got absolutely none. Two of the buffaloes didn’t even look at the baby elephant once, while one of the buffalo eventually just glanced at the baby elephant, probably thinking “what the hell are you trying to do boy?” The very self-confident baby elephant soon realised that his intimidating tactics are not working, and it was as if he suddenly lost all that self confidence and ran away. Just so funny to watch.

The video shows a couple on safari going through some panicky and hilarious moments when a cheetah decides to jump on top of their safari vehicle. A cousin of mine and her boyfriend recently travelled to visit several National Parks in Tanzania. They came home with one of the most memorable safari holidays they could have dreamed of, with experiences that they will remember for a lifetime. One such experience was during a full day safari in the Serengeti National Park. While travelling long distances over the open plains in search of animals, they came across three cheetah brothers sitting in the open in the distance. Cheetah are one of the most common predators in the park, finding its open plains ideal for its high-speed hunting abilities and skills. Marian and her boyfriend were the only two safari guests in the vehicle which was closed and had an open roof for viewing purposes. Both were sitting in the back with the safari guide in the front. The next moment no one could believe what they saw. The one male cheetah got up and slowly started approaching the vehicle. Safari goers at this stage thought the cheetah is so kind to come a little closer to give them better photo opportunities. Little did they know this cheetah had different ideas. Next thing, the cheetah jumps onto the bonnet of the vehicle and their it stood, staring around and at those inside the vehicle. Marian immediately found the cheetah too close for comfort. She became panicky and somehow believed that climbing over to the front, she might somehow be closer to the safari guide and be more protected than her boyfriend. The safari guide in the video is still trying to explain to them that there is nothing to worry about when the cheetah jumped onto the roof and came right to the sunroof opening which had a small canopy for shade. With the cheetah peeping through the sunroof, Marian’s boyfriend clearly also went into panic mode. The noise and commotion inside caused by panicky safari tourists looked to be just too much for the cheetah and the big cat decided it was time to move off again after his brief visit. Marian and her boyfriend were in pieces laughing about the tense but hilarious moment they just experienced with this cheetah. There was a huge sigh of relief that came over them and the laughter continued. Looking at the video closer, one can also see that the other cheetahs attempted to get onto the vehicle in front of them as well. Were the cheetahs keen to get into the vehicles and eat all the tourists? Most likely not. On the open plains of Tanzania’s National Parks, there are not many large trees that provide shade for animals such as the cheetah during the heat of a scorching summer day. Over time, these cheetahs have come to learn that the vehicles and people in them will do nothing to them and started jumping onto the vehicles to get into the shade of the little canopies on top of the safari vehicle’s sunroof. A safari experience no one will really forget.

The video shows an incredible rare moment filmed in the African wild of a pink baby elephant swimming with its family in a river. Baby elephants are just adorable creatures and when you find a baby elephant that is pink, it puts cuteness to whole new level. It was during a scorcher of a day in the Kruger National Park when I managed to capture this rare and unique moment in the wild. It was during the middle of the day when everybody was back at camp, relaxing after their morning safari. The camp has a beautiful view over a river in front of it and guests can laze around on the decks of the camp while watching animals come and go. On this specific day a huge herd of elephants came to the front of the camp into the river for a swim. It was incredibly hot and humid, and the elephants decided to spend some time in the river and enjoy a cool down swim in the river to everybody’s amazement. Suddenly someone noticed something strange amongst all the elephants and called me over to come and have a look. I immediately saw what the person pointed out to me. It stood out like a shiny pink gleam of light. There it was in front of us, a pink baby elephant swimming with the rest of its family. We couldn’t believe what we saw. I immediately grabbed my camera and started filming this incredible sight. The pink baby elephant was having the time of its life swimming and playing with its family in the river. I realized we were looking at a true albino baby elephant, with an unpigmented skin with no melanin, unpigmented eyes and not so white but pink skin. Only a small number of sightings have ever been reported of pink elephants in the African wild. Unfortunately, the chances for this baby elephant to make it to adulthood are slim. The ruthless African sun makes survival a daily struggle for non-pigmented animals such as this cute baby elephant. The sun can also cause blindness in their unpigmented eyes. Besides all these factors, albino animals also stand out, are less camouflaged, which make them much more vulnerable to predators. Luckily this pink baby elephant has a massive herd protecting it. It would really take a lot for any predator to even attempt hunting the pink baby elephant with so many big elephants around to protect it, which they will. Everybody was blown away by what we have seen in front of the camp in the middle of the day, leaving us entertained and with a lifetime memory.

The Blue Wildebeest bull in this video shows how much fun and joy there can be in a good face-rubbing session in the mud. Blue Wildebeest are one of the most common plains game species found in Southern Africa. They are well known for their migratory habits in massive herds and are a significant food source for the large carnivores in Africa such as lion, hyena, and crocodile. The Wildebeest has also been voted over the years into the rankings of the top five ‘ugliest animals in Africa’ , right through to a place in the top five ‘least intelligent animals in Africa’ category. Majority of the time when you see these animals, they are either feeding, walking, or drinking water. With this general perception, it does not put the Wildebeest at the top of the list as the most wanted or excited animals to see in the African wild while on safari. But you can imagine the total excitement when you do find a wildebeest doing something totally different and unexpected. During a safari in the Kruger National Park, we came across a small group of male wildebeest stand around a nearly dried up pan. We thought the wildebeest were there for their daily drink but we were totally surprised by their fascinating behaviour that most people never get to see. These wildebeest males were not around this muddy wallow for a drink, but instead were there to enjoy a good old face rubbing in the mud. It was really entertaining to watch how the leader of the herd was having the time of his life while shoving his face in the mud. The wildebeest looked he was going crazy, first digging up the mud before repeatedly shoving and rubbing his face in the mud. This was fascinating to watch and probably the longest time I have ever spend watching these animals. While this behaviour seems very amusing, there is also a great explanation for why this bull was so adamantly rubbing his face in the mud. Wildebeest are territorial and a typical territory is usually positioned in an open area and nearby water. Wildebeest have pedal glands, glands between their hooves, and they rake the soil with their feet to release the scent into the soil or mud. They also release this smell when they walk. Dominant bulls such as the one seen in this video, will engage in this type of face rubbing to transmit glandular secretions from below their eyes. It was incredible to realize that all this amusing face rubbing in the mud was part of marking his territory. What a fascinating manner to mark your territory indeed coming from an animal many do not find so fascinating on an ordinary day in the African wild.

The close-up video shows two male lions, delivering a loud and powerful roaring performance close to a group of safari tourists. A safari experience that left everyone in awe and stunned. The African lion, also known as the king of the beasts, is the continents biggest cat and rules the African landscape as the top predator. The lion is on top of the Big five animal list and by far one of the most popular animals to try and find during a safari in the African wild. Should you be lucky enough to find a lion in the wild, it will always be an experience to remember. Occasionally, a lucky few safari goers might get the rare opportunity to witness lions performing their loud and powerful roar, mostly at night. The roar of a lion is one of the most iconic sounds in Africa. This video shows the incredible occasion of two beautiful male lions roaring like there was no tomorrow, in broad daylight, which is very uncommon. After finding these two male lions just relaxing not too far from the road, they suddenly started their roaring. Lions roar to signal territoriality and to locate distant pride members. The roar of a lion can be heard as far as eight kilometres away at night. With a vehicle full of safari guests, we were parked away a mere twenty meters from the two roaring lions. We could literally feel the powerful vibrations going through our bodies as these two male lions roared. With the deep base rumbling right through your stomach, the powerful roaring sounds leave you with fear, fascination, and absolute total respect. When the king speaks, everybody listens. I had to take my camera and film the expressions of those safari guests on my vehicle. For some it was their very first safari. It was priceless to see how much in awe everyone was, fortunate enough to have experienced such a rare and incredible occasion in the African wild. To see the king of the African bush, performing one of the continent’s most iconic wildlife sounds is a safari experience that will be very hard to beat.

This video shows a frog’s smart tactic of grabbing onto the face of a predatory bird, determined not be swallowed. The video also resembles two life situations many of us can relate to. Sometimes our eyes can be too big for our stomachs and secondly, never give up when you are fighting for something, especially your own life. When going on safari, the focus is mostly on finding the big mammals roaming the African bush. While the larger and more popular animal species attract more attention, the African wild of course is filled with so many other smaller animals such as birds, reptiles, and insects. When you spend a little more time looking closer, you will discover a whole new world. While leading a safari I could never have imagined that we will be so fascinated by a frog and a bird. We arrived at a small watering hole during our early morning safari. There were no animals around to be seen. After scanning the area thoroughly, I suddenly noticed some erratic movement at the edge of the water. It was a predatory bird called a hammerhead stork. Their diet consists primarily of frogs, tadpoles, small fish, crustaceans, worms, and insects and are almost always found near water. This particular bird had a huge frog in its mouth. After slapping the frog around a few times, the bird decided it was time to swallow. I thought to myself, ‘gosh that is one big meal to swallow for breakfast’. A whole frog like that would last the bird for more than a day. But to everybody’s total surprise, the frog had different plans with a true ‘never say die’ attitude. As the bird attempted to swallow the frog, the frog would react by grabbing and then holding onto the beak and face of the bird. This tactic made it impossible for the bird to swallow the frog. This was fascinating and hilarious at the same time to watch. These hammerhead storks normally make a quick deal out of their meal but not this time round. For a second time the bird attempted to swallow the frog. Once again, the frog refused to be swallowed, grabbing the bird’s face, holding on for dear life. That frog decided that it was not going down on that day and amazingly the bird eventually dropped the frog and moved on, realising its eyes on this occasion was way bigger than its stomach.

The video shows the hilarious sighting of a grumpy elephant bull chasing away a lone wildebeest from a watering hole with its trumpeting noises and water throwing skills, using his trunk like a hosepipe. The African elephant is the largest land mammal on this planet and they rule the African landscape with their sheer size. Elephants also consume the most food and drink the most water on a daily basis of all animals in the African wild. During the dry season, water resources become very limited, and this seems to get elephants on edge when it comes to sharing any water resource with other animals. While on safari in the Kruger National Park, we came across a classic example where an elephant bull behaved in a manner that showed he was clearly not prepared to share a small watering hole with a lone and very thirsty wildebeest. It was a scorcher of a day at thirty-eight degrees Celsius and the animals were thirsty. While this lone elephant bull was drinking water, the lone wildebeest appeared and casually went to the opposite side of the water to have his drink, not even looking or acknowledging the elephant bull. The elephant bull stopped drinking and stared at the wildebeest that just pulled in for a drink. This was where the real funny bit started. The elephant bull gave the wildebeest bull one more look and to our surprise, the elephant bull sucked up some water in his trunk and sprayed it in the direction of the wildebeest while uttering a loud trumpeting noise. The wildebeest got a fright and moved off a little. The elephant bull clearly wanted the wildebeest further away from the water and repeatedly used his trunk like a hosepipe to throw water at the poor wildebeest, while making his intimidating trumpeting noises. The wildebeest decided it was better to get away from this old grumpy bull elephant. While this was so unexpected and funny to watch, one question remained with us: “why did the elephant bull chase off the wildebeest, who politely went to the opposite side, away from the elephant to drink in peace?” While there might not be one clear answer for that question, our summary to why the elephant did this was purely because he can.

This heartwarming video shows the incredible efforts of an elephant mother desperately attempting to rescue her calf struggling to get out of a mud wallow. Not only are elephants the largest land mammals on this planet, they are also some of the most intelligent and fascinating mammals found in the animal kingdom. This video shows one of the many incredible moments of interaction that can exist among elephants who have a strong family bond. While leading a safari in the Kruger National Park, we came across a herd of elephants, enjoying a brief stop at a large mud wallow. It was hot and the elephants needed to cool themselves down by getting into the rather deep wallow and splash themselves with mud. When majority of the elephant herd got out the wallow and was ready to move on, my eye caught one baby elephant that was having a hard time getting out of the wallow. The mud wallow was just too deep for the little one to get out and it was a huge struggle. With the elephant herd moving on, the elephant mother and a younger sister became extremely concerned by the male baby elephant’s inability to get out of the wallow. The mother elephant immediately rushed to the rescue and by using her trunk, she made many unsuccessful attempts at first to get her baby out the deep and slippery wallow. It was quite intense watching the efforts of the mother elephant and everyone on the safari was very worried that the baby would not be able to get out. The incredible efforts of the elephant mother had us in awe. At one stage it looked like grabbing her calf by the tail became the best option. There were trumpeting, screaming and rumbling noises coming from the elephants, clearly signaling that they were in distress. Finally, to everybody’s relief, the mother elephant managed to get a good grip on her baby with her trunk and hoisted her calf to safety. Everybody on the safari felt a great sense of relief and applauded the heroic efforts of the mother. What an astonishing moment out in the African wild.

This video shows a group of fishermen hastily loading freshly caught fish onto the backseats of a sedan vehicle. Something I have never imagined seeing in my life and surely something that will make most people cringe. During a recent visit to the Western Cape in South Africa, we wandered down the docks of a large harbour, interested to see what all the boats brought in after a good morning’s catch. We also use this opportunity to buy fresh fish directly from the local fishermen at a good price. The daily catching and selling of fish is the only source of income for most people in this particular area in the Western Cape. While wandering along the harbour, looking for the freshest catch of the day, I noticed in the distance something I thought at first cannot be. I walked a little closer and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A group of fishermen busy loading the backseat of their sedan vehicle full of fish that is called snoek. The fishermen was not wasting any time and hastily loaded an incredible amount of snoek fish into the back of the vehicle, throwing the fish one by one through the back window. It looked like it was not the first time this vehicle has transported fish in this manner. I was totally blown away by the total lack of care for the interior of the vehicle. The fishermen clearly worked with a plan and was on a mission. I obviously had to ask the fishermen why do they use the inside of a sedan vehicle to load their fish in? Their short explanation to me quickly cleared up my confusion. That vehicle is their only way to get their freshly caught fish from the docks straight onto the cold rooms and then onto buyers. They do not have money for refrigerated transport or a loading truck. The fishermen decided out of desperation to offer up one of their own vehicles for this purpose daily, just to make a living. While the sight of fish in the back of a vehicle will have most people cringe, I take my hat off to the “do whatever it takes” attitude of these fishermen.

The video shows a pair of mating lions, causing a spectacle in the middle of a main road in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The world-renowned Kruger National Park in South Africa is one of the largest game reserves in Africa, covering a prime wilderness area of just under 20 000 square kilometres or 2 million hectares. It is about the size of Israel and slightly smaller than Belgium. The park boasts an incredible diversity of fauna and flora with 2 000 plant species, 147 species of mammals, 114 reptile species and 510 species of birds. The world famous Big Five animals which include lion, buffalo, leopard, elephant and rhino are mostly at the top of the list of things to see for most tourists visiting the park. With this picture in mind, it is clear that this place is a true nature lovers paradise. Following a network of tarred and gravel roads, tourists can self-drive through the park and enjoy the wilderness at their own time. There are a total of 3000 kilometres of road for tourists to access of which 850 kilometres are eco-friendly tarred roads and the rest are all dirt roads. Still, tourists only have access to roughly 20% of the total park, with the rest of the park’s wilderness area never seen or visited by anyone, leaving remote areas untouched. With this background information on this special wilderness area in mind, one can imagine that driving around in the park for a few days, your chances of seeing amazing sightings or be surprised by something you have never seen are very good. Even if you go there over and over, everyday and every drive delivers something new and interesting. This video shows just one of the many surprises that can await you while driving along one of the main roads in the park. My wife and I were on a self-drive holiday for a few days in the park. On this particular morning we were heading north, following one of the main tarred roads in the park. In the distance we saw several vehicles standing still together in one place. When tourist vehicles all stop around the same spot on the road, you can be sure there is something of real interest. We slowly approached all the vehicles to see what was going on. We quickly realized what made everyone stop. A big male lion and a female, lying in the middle of the road. Seeing lions crossing the roads of the park are not uncommon but these lions were literally lying in the middle of the road. What followed next took us by surprise and it all made sense why this male and female were lying together so close to each other. These big cats were a pair of mating lions, casually going about their mating business, with not a care in the world about who and what was around them. Seeing lions in the wild is a great privilege but to see a pair of lions mating in the wild is a rare occasion and priceless. Seeing such a rare sighting, right in the middle of a tarred road, out in plain sight, was like nothing we could ever imagine seeing. Vehicles started piling up from both directions as travelling tourists started to arrive at the sighting. The lions blocked one of the busiest main roads of the park and no one was really prepared to disturb the mating lion pair. The whole sighting was extremely mind boggling for us at the same time. We asked ourselves the question “why here”? With almost two million hectares of bush and all the privacy in the world, why did these lions decide to mate in the middle of one of the busiest roads in the park, right in front of a crowd of onlookers? The answer to this one can be anyone’s guess. These lions clearly did not have the care in the world about all the onlookers or that they are blocking a main road causing a traffic jam. The pair usually mates for less than a minute, but it does so about every 15 to 30 minutes over a period of four to five days. After sitting watching this mating pair for close to an hour, they eventually decided to lie down on the side of the road, finally giving a long string of vehicles the opportunity to pass. Never did I think we will witness such a show right in the middle of a tarred road. The question still remains with me today, “why there”?

This video shows the adorable moments of three very cute baby hyenas, grooming their mother with lots of enthusiasm and love. While hyenas in general will not make it to the podium at a beauty pageant, their babies on the other hand will take all prizes for the cutest and most adorable looking baby animals in the African wild. Hyenas have a fearsome reputation in general but when you get to spend more time with these magnificent creatures, you come to realise that these unique animals have a fascinating social structure. Hyenas live in clans of up to forty individuals and strong family bonds are kept and maintained in various interesting ways and manners. Females rule the world of hyenas; clans are led by matriarchs and males remain subordinate for life. Female hyenas are also bigger and stronger in build than males. What I saw on this day while sitting at a hyena den in the African wild made me realise once again how much love exists among animal parents and their babies, scary looking or not. The big mother hyena was lying outside her den. Hyenas normally use old burrows in termite mounds as a den where their babies will remain in and close by for several months after birth. The mother hyena was guarding the den with her three cubs on the inside. Hyena babies are called cubs and contrary to their dog like looks, hyenas are more feline related than canine. The mother hyena was enjoying an early morning nap when her three adorable cubs came out the den all curious. At first only one hyena cub started but soon all three jumped in, eagerly nibbling, and licking at their mother’s head. These cute hyena babies decided it was time to give their mother some love and care, simultaneously treating mommy to a proper grooming session with lots of love. The mother hyena looked like she had a smile on her face the whole time and seemed super relaxed. The large female hyena slowly opened her mouth for a big yawn, creating a scary looking image for a quick moment, momentarily interrupting the ongoing cuteness. After a few minutes of grooming their mother, the cubs lost interest and wondered off to explore the area around their den.

This video shows the nerve-wrecking moment when a lioness gets too close for comfort during a safari in the African wild. Going on a safari, especially on an open vehicle, the experiences can vary and be anything from ‘not much happening’ to ‘exciting and adventurous’ to ‘hair-raising in a second’ like shown in this video. Unlike in East Africa where safaris are done in closed vehicles, in Southern Africa most safari operators operate their safaris in open vehicles. These vehicles are specially equipped and designed for safaris out in the African wild. A safari is normally lead by two people. The nature guide will be driving the vehicle and interact with the safari guests. On the front left of these safari vehicles, a seat is mounted. This seat belongs to some of the bravest people in the African wild, the tracker guides. The tracker guides sit out there in the front, focusing on the road and surroundings in search of any animal tracks or signs. These guys are incredibly observant and are master animal trackers. Together with the nature guide they make a formidable team to try and find the best possible sighting for their guests out in a vast wilderness area where animals roam free. During this safari shown in the video the guiding team managed to find a great lion sighting for their guests. It was an incredible sighting indeed. A total of seven lionesses lying next to the road in the open. There were great photographic and video opportunities. The lionesses were all just lying around and not even really paying attention to the safari vehicle. Well that was until one lioness casually walked across the road and suddenly came to a standstill right in front of the tracking guide on his seat. This lioness had her eyes fixed right onto the tracker. With her ears pointed, eyes staring straight into the eyes of the tracker and her tail wiggling from side to side, the danger signs were there. This lioness was suddenly very interested in the person in front of her and way too close for comfort. Through all of this, the tracker did not even flinch or move, looking very calm, like he was chilling on a couch. Luckily the guide in the driving seat read all the danger signs and decided to start the vehicle and get some distance between them and the lions. Everyone on the vehicle was stunned by the incredibly close lion encounter they just witnessed. Salute to the tracker guide for keeping his cool and not moving or triggering anything further while face to face with a wild lion out in the open.

The video shows a three-legged elephant that was first seen a year and a half ago, amazingly still surviving in the African wild and doing fine. During a safari in the month of April 2021, we came across the unusual site of an adult elephant walking on only three legs. https://rumble.com/vfmzn7-watch-how-male-elephant-amazingly-manages-to-walk-with-only-three-legs.html. Not only were we stunned to see that the elephant managed to be mobile on three legs, but also by the fact that the elephant managed to survive for that long out in the African wild. One major factor I could tie to his success of survival is that this male elephant on three legs was part of a massive herd even though he straggle behind most of the time. During early November 2022, I was leading a safari in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The Park boasts a healthy population of over thirty thousand elephants, and you get to see many big herds and individuals during a safari. During this specific safari we came across several big herds of elephants. Watching these incredibly intelligent giants going about their business is always a great experience. We decided to stop at a watering hole to observe another large herd of elephants busy drinking during the heat of the day. Suddenly I saw one elephant walking funny in the distance and I couldn’t believe my eyes. There he was! The same three-legged elephant without his tail, still with his protective herd. In a nineteen thousand square kilometre wilderness area, among thirty thousand plus elephants, there was the same elephant from one and half years ago. What are the chances. I told my group of tourists the story and everyone was happy to know that the elephant was still doing great and carrying on with life in his herd as normal. The elephant is suspected to have lost his leg in a snare many years ago. Amazingly he has lived past fifteen years of age. With his determination to survive and with the support and protection of his family, this brave elephant bull will hopefully live many more years to come. I hope to see him out there again one day. Respect.

The video shows a rare sighting of a pink male baby elephant swimming with his family in a river in the African wilderness. A while ago I was leading a safari that produced one of the rarest and most adorable sights I have ever seen out in the African wild. It was a sweltering hot afternoon and we decided to drive along a river bank, in the hope to maybe find animals near the water. It was not long before we came across a big herd of elephants in the river. The elephants made use of the opportunity to enjoy a cool down session of swimming in the water. Suddenly one of my guests yelled from the back,” what the hell is that swimming among the elephants!? “. I quickly grabbed my binoculars and couldn’t believe what I saw. It was definitely an elephant but it was pink!! Everybody including myself sat there totally dumbstruck, watching a bright pink baby elephant swimming among the rest of the elephants right in front of us. I realized that we found a true albino baby elephant, with no protective skin pigment, melanin, with unpigmented eyes and not so white but pink skin. Only a handful of sightings have ever been reported on pink elephants in the African wild. Finding albino elephants among the Asian species is more common. For a true albino baby elephant to make it to adulthood in Africa is very rare. The harsh African sun makes survival a struggle for non-pigmented animals. Over time the sun can also cause blindness in their unpigmented eyes. Over and above all these factors, albino animals also stand out, are less camouflaged, which makes them much more vulnerable to predators. Luckily this pink baby elephant has a massive herd protecting him. It looked like the pink baby elephant had the time of his life swimming with his family during the heat of the day. When it was time to get out, like with any other baby elephant, it was an adorable struggle to get up the slippery riverbank. The baby elephant made one attempt only to slide back into the river. With a little courage and help form his mother, the pink male baby elephant managed to get out and disappear into the bush with his family. Everybody was in awe, and we left the area feeling totally stunned by what we saw out in the African wild.

The video shows a group of safari tourists, totally surprised on arrival by two hyenas casually lazing around their accommodation. Going on a safari holiday in Africa is an adventure and a trip of a lifetime. If you love unspoiled wilderness nature, the African wild is the place to be. Working and living in such a wilderness area gives me the opportunity to see daily how tourists react to various experiences while on their safari holiday. Doing two safaris per day is one of the major highlights, while the food and accommodation plays an equally important role. Most safari camps are unfenced, so wild animals can roam through most camps at any given time. This concept gives everyone an authentic wilderness experience, up close and personal. Tourists are always accompanied by a field guide when outside their accommodation and if everyone follows a few simple instructions, there is not much to worry about. This video shows one of those random unexpected encounters with wildlife inside a safari camp. I was driving a group of guests to their remote lone standing hut when I noticed something lying on the one side of the building. I stopped the vehicle and quickly realised it was an old female hyena taking a nap in the shade that the tourist’s accommodation provided. It was after all just past two in the afternoon which is check in time and it was sweltering hot. There are not much shade around the safari hut, so the hyena female discovered that a thatched roof provides excellent shade and cooler temperatures on the cement around the building. I drove around the building only to find another female hyena also casually lying against the building, enjoying the shady spot during the heat of the day. Everyone was totally surprised and even amazed by the fact that these two hyenas were blocking their checking in process. This is the African wild for you and you can always expect the unexpected. What do you do now with your guests in such a situation? I decided to rather head back to the main lodge, where everyone can enjoy an awaiting lunch and drinks and leave the checking in for a little later. Of course everyone was just too happy with the solution, giving the hyenas time to move off once it became a little cooler that afternoon. This was another great safari experience to remember.

The video shows a beautiful silhouette moment of a male lion and his cubs that I managed to capture just after sunset in the African wild. I was lucky enough to find myself in the right place at the right time, feeling like I was living in a scene from the Lion King movie. Living and working in the African wild is a great privilege and the opportunities for filming and photographing true wilderness nature are endless. While living in the bush every day brings about constant new filming opportunities, the ultimate shots and moments come around at random times and one can go for days or even weeks without filming anything major. Like with anything else in life, it is important to keep going and eventually things will turn your direction. It was a late summer afternoon when I followed up on a nearby pride of lions that was spotted earlier in the day. It was just before sunset and tracking a pride of lions at that time of the day becomes more difficult and dangerous. The sun was busy setting behind the horizon when me and my wife decided to call it a day. Just as we thought the search was over, we came around a corner and there they were. A pride of lions lying scattered around, elevated on top of a hill. The most prominent features were a big male lion and his cubs during this time. The sun just dropped below the horizon. The elevated lions, together with the golden orange shine at dusk glowing behind them, made for a magical silhouette moment. I couldn’t believe my luck and how much we were in the right place at the right time. It felt like I was filming a scene from the Lion King while the early evening sounds of the African bush added to the magical atmosphere. The big male lion and his two cubs were on the hill and in perfect position to create these stunning silhouette visuals. In that moment it felt surreal and as if I was in a fantasy world, created by nature right in front of me. How beautiful nature can be in so many different ways. I am glad I am able to share this special moment from the African wild with everyone else.