EmotionsofAfrica

The video shows one of the biggest lion prides ever seen, walking down the road in the Kruger National Park, causing traffic to come to a standstill. The lion is the largest predator in the African wild, living at the top of the food chain. Lions are also the only social cats on earth, living together in family prides that usually averages between five and ten lions per pride. There are rare instances when lions do form what is called mega prides, consisting of twenty plus lions. The pride of lions shown in the video was twenty-six members strong and really a sight to behold. This mega pride of lions was found one morning early, casually strolling down the main tar road of the National Park. Animals that walk long distances sometimes prefer walking on the roads of the park as it is the way of least resistance and obstacles. On this day, all twenty-six lions were walking along the tar road, making for an incredible sighting. There was no way of passing through these lions and quickly the ques of tourist traffic were just building and building, with long lines of vehicles having to wait a long time before moving again. It was not like anyone was in a hurry because seeing so many lions together is not a common sight. The lion roadblock continued for even longer, when pretty much the whole pride eventually decided it was a good time to lie down and rest in the middle of the road. The mega pride of lions blocked the road for a good hour before they moved off and disappeared back into the bush.

The video shows a baby elephant, in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting knocked over by his brothers when caught in the middle of their fight. The saying ‘boys will be boys’ is even applicable to elephants out in the African wild. While on safari we came across a small herd of elephants standing in the road. I saw one baby elephant on its own playing around with two larger elephants nearby. The two larger elephants looked like two brothers, locked in a pushing and shoving contest. It is hard to tell how it happened but before we knew it, the baby elephant found himself in the middle of the tussle between his two older brothers. The two larger elephants couldn’t care less about the baby elephant in their way and knocked the baby elephant off his feet while they continued with their scuffle. The one older elephant even showed its annoyance with the baby elephant by pushing it back down to the ground again. Out of nowhere, the big mother elephant appeared to stop the nonsense and the younger elephants immediately froze and stopped with their fooling around. It was incredible to see how immediate the youngsters reacted and stopped when mommy appeared. A true reflection of great discipline kept in elephant families.

While on a safari holiday in the Kruger National Park we stayed with a group of tourists in a remote wilderness camp. These wilderness camps provide a true wilderness experience, situated far away from civilization and not fenced. Wildlife are free to move through the camp. This means staying in one of these camps can be adventurous and you have to be aware and vigilant at all times. While relaxing in camp one afternoon, we suddenly noticed a young bull elephant casually walking into the camp garden onto the lawn. There was a large sprinkler busy irrigating the lawn and the elephant walked straight to that sprinkler. To our amazement the elephant pulled the garden hose from the sprinkler and shoved it into his mouth. We couldn’t believe we were watching an elephant in the garden of our camp, drinking water from a hose pipe. I grabbed my camera and started filming this unusual sight. The elephant was so relaxed he even lifted his front left foot and rested it on top of the sprinkler. This made for a hilarious pose. The elephant dropped the hose and effortlessly picked it up again and easily put it back into his mouth. Once the elephant had enough to drink, he threw down the garden hose. The elephant then started pulling the hose pipe, looking like he wanted to roll up the hose and put it away. We quickly realized he actually wanted to pull the hose pipe from the tap to see where the source of the water was. It was not long before the young bull became annoyed with trying to reel in the long hose pipe. Luckily the elephant lost interest eventually and no taps were pulled out of the ground or garden hoses snapped. This was definitely one of the most unusual and funny sightings we’ve seen in the African wild. Elephants not only love water in general but they also love their water to be clean. When they have a choice, elephants are picky about their water and they will much rather prefer to drink clean and clear water instead of brown murky water. This elephant clearly knew that the water used for irrigation at the camp was much tastier and cleaner than the water in the nearby river.

The video shows an elephant bull, aggressively chasing a hippo out of its watering hole. Elephants and hippos are two of the biggest and most dangerous mammals found in the African wild. A large elephant bull can weigh up to five tons while an adult male hippo can reach almost three tons in weight. Elephants can be very temperamental and are known sometimes for pushing over safari vehicles when angry, making them very dangerous. Hippos on the other hand kill more people in Africa than any other animal while living in the waterways and rivers across the continent that are shared by humans as well. While both species are known for their dangerous behavior towards humans, seeing the two species coming face to face in an altercation is a rarity. The video shows how an elephant bull, standing inside a watering hole became aware of the presence of a hippo. The elephant did not look happy. Elephants are known for not liking to share any water with any other animals while drinking and swimming. On the other hand, the hippo lives in the water and was there long before the elephant bull. The elephant bull clearly did not care if the hippo lived in the water, he wanted it all for himself and the hippo had to go. The elephant bull charged towards the unsuspecting hippo a few times, splashing the water with his trunk, and letting out a scream with deep rumbling noises. The angry elephant even threw his trunk onto the back of the hippo as if he was helping it along to get out the water quicker. Such interaction between the two species, with the elephant even touching the hippo, is incredibly rare to see. Finally, the hippo who is the one that lives in the water decided to rather be safe and get out and move into the bush until the elephants eventually leave. Incredible to see such a rare altercation between two of Africa’s largest and most dangerous animals.

Watching a herd of elephants while on safari is mostly a memorable and very entertaining experience. In and among the herd there is always something happening, especially when it comes to the playful young elephants in such a herd. These breeding herds consists of mainly females and their offspring and all the related females will stay together for life. Young males eventually gets kicked out at around age thirteen. While those young males remain in the breeding herd, they are extremely playful and very entertaining to watch. This video was recorded in the Kruger National Park, South Africa and shows a male baby elephant very adamantly attempting to wake up his sleepy brother. To see elephants lie down flat on their sides is a rare sight and mostly it will be the youngsters that do enjoy a rest on their sides. Elephants do not have too much time to relax and sleep as they need to feed at least twenty out of twenty four hours of a day. The playful baby elephant was not going to let his bigger brother enjoy his morning nap in the sun. He wanted to play and he wanted his sleepy brother to get up. The little elephant proceeds to climb on top of his brother with his front legs. The sleepy brother still does not get up and looks a little annoyed with his younger brother bothering him. The little elephant then starts pushing and shoving his brother more impatiently hoping he will get up. Suddenly the sleepy brother decides that this is enough and quickly jumps up, looking all confused with the situation. The baby elephant then left his brother to go and annoy other members of the herd. This funny behavior had everyone in laughter and made for great entertainment on the safari.

This video was filmed by two individual tourists, at the same time, while on Safari in a wilderness area of the Greater Kruger Park, South Africa. They stopped at a herd of elephants for a while. One individual specifically caught everyone's attention. Not something you see everyday, this Elephant was digging in the sand for water. Elephants have a very acute sense of smell and rather prefer clean water below the sand than muddy water at the watering holes. With a few kicks in the sand to about a meter deep, fresh water starts cyphering through the sand. The sand acts as a filter delivering fresh water from the below laying water table in the dry river bed. While this guy was sucking up some of his newly found fresh water, he decided without warning, to splash a whole trunk full of water mixed with a lot of sand all over the vehicle and tourists. Listening to the amount of sand hitting the vehicle, it clearly indicates that specific slurp full was not pleasant enough for him and gave it to the people. Was it by accident or intentional? It can be debated. From past experience and understanding how intelligent these creatures are, Elephants very seldom do things just by accident!

Dominance is largely a matter of seniority in the world of a male elephant. They learn their relative strength and status, within and between age classes, as they grow up, through frequent play fights. Dominance is usually determined and acknowledged the moment two bulls meet, simply on the basis of which stands taller. This video shows a feisty baby elephant who does not believe that size matters. The tough little guy takes on his bigger brother in a fearless manner during a play fight ritual. He shows real tenacity and determination, clearly not prepared to back off or surrender. He starts off with a courageous head-butt and confidently continues to wrestle his bigger brother. Young bulls spend time practicing head-butting to establish rank between themselves and to develop skills that they will use to win dominance later in life. The smaller baby elephant is ready for action and he does not look intimidated by his taller brother at all. He delivers the first head-butt with real confidence. He does not stop there and adamantly continues to charge his brother head first. He struggles to push his heavier brother backwards. The bigger male patiently stood there and entertained his baby brother's attempts. After every head-butt attempt he would just slightly push him back and allow him to try again. Suddenly the play fighting stops when mommy comes around and separates the two elephants. She slightly grabs the older one by his trunk and give him a little push so he can move away. While his bigger brother takes the brunt, the little male slowly moves on as if he had nothing to do with it. These encounters will continue throughout their lives until they are 40 years old. At this age males have established their individual ranks and there is no more need for fighting. This prevents older males risking injury or death.

The video shows the incredible moment when a hyena is saved from death by its clan members after being caught by a big male lion. Lions and hyenas are the two largest and strongest predators roaming the African bush. The two predator species are at the top of the food chain, competing for same food sources, making them eternal enemies. Lions and hyenas don’t see face to face and will literally kill each other to eliminate the competition. The video shows a male lion leaving his kill behind to chase after a hyena that was trying to steal his food. The male lion managed to catch the hyena, creating absolute chaos. The rest of the nearby hyena clan decided that all of them together can take on the big male in attempt to save their clan member. The sounds were something from a horror movie with so much biting, growling, and snarling going on. The lion had the hyena behind the neck, and it was going to kill it for sure. Luckily for the hyena, the rest of the clan came in ruthless and started biting at the lion. The hyenas persisted with their attack until eventually the lion let go. The hyenas quickly moved off and the lion returned to his meal. Incredible moment in the African wild, showing how fierce the two top competitive predators can be.

The Hippopotamus is rated as the animal that kills the most humans every year in Africa. These unique aquatic creatures can weigh up to three tons and are the third largest land mammals in the African bush. The hippo is notorious for its aggressive behavior. Male hippos are very territorial and especially grumpy. Male hippos do not tolerate one another and usually stay away from each other. Only the most serious opponents will engage in combat as this can lead to death. The lower canines of a hippo are modified into huge tusks that grow continuously and may reach thirty to fifty centimetres long in males. These tusks are formidable instruments of defence and not for feeding. I was driving alone in a wilderness area of the Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa. It was late afternoon when I decided to stop at a large natural water body and take a break while watching the sunset. While getting my camera ready to film a magical sunset, I suddenly noticed the two heads of a male and female hippo appearing slowly from below the water. With only the top part of the heads above water, the two hippos watched my every move attentively. Knowing and understanding the danger of these creatures, I kept a good distance and remained silent. After sunset, the water became glazed by the colors of dusk while the surrounding nature sounds added to a stunning and very peaceful ambiance. I decided to focus my camera on the two hippos that were still staring at me from a distance. Due to their aggressive territorial behavior, male hippos have various ways of displaying their dominant status. When these warning signs are ignored repeatedly, the situation will usually turn fatal for the intruder. One way for a male hippo to instantly show you that he is in charge and very dangerous is through a wide-mouth yawn that exhibits his formidable tusks. I just started filming the beautiful scenery at dusk with the two hippos in it, when the male hippo decided it was time that he sends me a warning. The next moment the male hippo slowly opened his mouth wide open, lifting and shaking his head in the air, showing off his intimidatingly dangerous tusks. Straight after the male hippo slapped his mouth closed, he uttered a loud honking sound. That exact sound serves to advertise territory and ward off would-be intruders. I was totally stunned by the amazing footage I managed to get right on that moment. At the same time, I realized that this hippo bull now showed me how dangerous he can be as well as letting me know that this territory belonged to him. With that message being clear, I slowly packed up and continued with my journey. I left with a much greater appreciation and sense of respect for these dangerous animals of Africa. If you listen to their warnings and act in an appropriate manner, us humans and these dangerous creatures can all live peacefully together.

While on safari in the Kruger National Park, we found a small herd of elephants standing a riverbed. The sun was sitting high already and it was getting very hot. We saw some of the elephants took the opportunity to go lie down in the mud, cooling themselves down in the process. At the same time the elephants can get rid of any pesky insects and ticks sitting on their skin. Watching elephants enjoying themselves while having a mud bath is mostly a very entertaining experience. Unlike any other animal, elephants really do have fun in all sorts of ways when they are in the mud or water. We were watching two young male elephants lying in the mud when a third young male appeared. The young male wanted to join his two brothers for a cool down in the mud. When the elephant decided to go lie down in between his two brothers, the one brother was having none of that. He simply stretched out his one leg and pushed his brother away, making it clear that he cannot come closer to share the mud bath. At one stage the young elephant kept his brother away from him for quite some time using his stiff leg up in the air, pushing against his brother’s side. The middle elephant eventually realized that he was not going to get comfortable in the small space between his two brothers. He leaned against his brother for a short while before getting kicked again repeatedly. The young elephant got the message that he was not welcome and decided to move on and find his own mud bath. It was really funny to watch these two young males fooling around in the mud. As they say, ‘boys will be boys’ and these two elephants displayed the typical behavior of two brothers not preparing to share much at a young age.

This video contains graphic footage that might upset sensitive viewers. In saying that, this is something that regularly happens in the African wild. It is just very rarely witnessed by humans. Most of the time Lions hunt under the cover of darkness or at dusk or dawn. This lion hunt was on the other hand, something very different and rare to see. In the middle of the day in broad daylight. This whole encounter took place in a remote Wilderness area of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. It was around 11:30 am and we found a pride of eight lions, lying flat on the sand in a riverbed. Lions usually do absolutely nothing during the heat of the day. The one distinctive factor on this day was a strong wind blowing the whole day. Perfect hunting conditions for predators. The strong wind makes a huge noise blowing through the thick bush. Prey animals like buffalo can’t then really hear anything. Secondly, with the wind blasting in all directions, their sense of smell is all over the place. While watching this lazy pride of lions, one female suddenly lifted her head and stared into the distance. Out of nowhere, about two hundred metres down the dry riverbank, an old buffalo bull came walking down to graze. The one lioness got up, and started walking slowly and very persistent in that direction. With the blowing wind in her favour, she manages to stalk the buffalo and gets within metres. Still no sign of the other lions at this stage. Eventually the buffalo realizes something is not well and turns around. Immediately his instincts takes over and he charges the lioness. Buffalo are extremely dangerous mammals and have killed many lions before. They are much bigger and stronger than lions and those horns are deadly. The rest of the lion pride in the meantime strategically moved around and was on the opposite side, trying to circle around their prey. The buffalo charged in all directions and kept these lions guessing for a while. Then the number of lions just became too much for this lone bull and they manage to slow it down, biting it from behind and on the legs. There were also a few attempts from a lioness jumping on its back, trying to bite into the spine. Usually lions would go for the throat first, and suffocate their prey before they start feeding. This particular pride of lions were obviously experienced enough to understand the dangers of a buffalo’s horns but inexperienced enough to not be able to get around those horns and go for the throat. This ordeal lasted for over forty five minutes. Eventually the buffalo gave in and went down on the ground. At this stage one could hear the distinct distress call. He couldn’t fight back anymore. His adrenalin and energy was depleted and the lions started eating it alive from behind. After watching this for almost an hour, we had to go back to camp for work. It was still alive when we left. News came in later that the old bull eventually died not long after we left. This pride of lions were on the carcass feeding for another three days thereafter. Witnessing nature in action at such a level is definitely a once in lifetime experience and not something we will forget in a long time.

During a recent stay in the Kruger National Park we decided to go for an early morning walk through the rest camp we were staying at. While we were spending time watching birds, my wife suddenly noticed a snake moving across the pathway no too far ahead of us. We decided to go closer and see what type of snake it was. It was a hot summers day which usually leads to high snake activity in the African bush. It was a long thin green snake and we easily identified as a spotted bush snake. The spotted bush snake is an alert, day-active snake that climbs well and is often found between the walls and ceilings of outbuildings, where it hunts for geckos and frogs. Their favorite prey is geckos. This fetish for geckos brings these little snakes into direct conflict with humans daily. They will go wherever their food can be found and more often than not, it’s into human habitats. When disturbed, these snakes move very quickly in the opposite direction and can vanish into the smallest spaces. They are harmless to humans. The spotted bush snake is also very common in the Kruger National Park. Knowing all of these common facts about them, we noticed that this specific bush snake displayed no common behavior at all. It was behaving in the most bizarre manner. It started with some outrageous dance-like body movements. The snake was throwing around the top half of its body all over the place while hanging down from a small bridge on the pathway. It suddenly stopped acting weird. The snake was just hanging there for a short while. After that, all was normal again and the snake comfortably slithered away like nothing happened and like we were not even there. We were totally confused by this behavior and have never seen anything like this before. Since our encounter with the strange behaving snake, we have asked various snake experts about this unusual behavior we managed to capture on film. The most popular theory for this behavior was the possibility of a parasite inside the snake that alters its behavior. It is the kind of behavior you get when certain parasites change their host’s behavior to make it more likely that the host will be eaten in order for the parasite to complete its life cycle inside another host. It was very interesting to learn that these behavioral changing parasites have been studied inside various animal species but no one is hundred percent sure if that was the case with this spotted bush snake. Many experts believe there could be various other causes for this behavior and in the end the behavior was described as abnormal and very seldom seen. In the end we like to see it as just one of the many wonderful mysteries Mother Nature keeps to herself.

The video shows the sight of a cute baby elephant getting rid of an itch on its back side in a hilarious manner. Baby elephants are by far one of the most popular animals to be seen when going on a safari. Just looking at a baby elephant will melt the hearts of most people. Having the opportunity to watch baby elephants go about their daily lives in the African wild is a heart-warming and many times an emotional experience. You can be assured to be entertained by their behaviour that ranges from incredibly cute to hilarious at times. One can’t help smiling while watching baby elephants, just like this one I managed to film during a safari in Zimbabwe, showing off some creative maneuvers to get rid of an itch on its back side. We came across a large herd of elephants surrounding a watering hole. The elephants were there to quench their thirsts but also to enjoy a mud bath in a nearby wallow to cool down and rid their bodies from itchy ticks and parasites. In such a large herd of elephants it takes a while to spot the real tiny babies. I managed to spot one and kept an eye on it. They are just so entertaining to watch, and this little elephant did not fail to deliver. While watching the baby elephant I noticed it looked a little uncomfortable, walking around in circles, not really knowing what to do with itself. As they do, the baby elephant just did what it wanted in the most hilarious manner. It obviously had a serious itch on its back side and the baby elephant initially didn’t know how to get rid of it. The next moment the baby elephant decided that a low concrete wall at the watering hole was going to do the job. The baby elephant turned around, rested its back side onto the wall and with the most hilarious looking movements of the hips going from left to right, the baby elephant finally managed to get rid of that annoying itch it just couldn’t scratch. Seeing this funny but cute creative manner the baby elephant used to get rid of an itch put a smile on my face and made my day.

The video shows the incredible moment of one fearless and angry buffalo bull protecting his herd from a hungry hunting lion. The cape buffalo is part of the Big five animal group in Africa, and so for good reason. Buffaloes are massive creatures, and they can become incredibly aggressive and dangerous when under threat or spooked. These large black bovines move mostly in big herds that can number up to a thousand individuals strong. Lions are also part of the big five animals of Africa and these cats need little introduction to the world. Lions do prefer to hunt bigger prey animals such as buffaloes. While an eight-hundred-kilogram buffalo is the perfect size meal for a pride of lions and a big reward, these big rewards come with great risk. Buffaloes can become very angry and fearless when being hunted and they can inflict serious injury or kill a lion. Lions have been trampled to death by big buffalo herds or killed with the lethal horns of a buffalo. The video shows how one lioness believes she has a chance of catching a buffalo out of a big herd. The lioness clearly overestimated her chances. The lioness spooked the whole buffalo herd, sending them turning and running. During this chaotic period, lions then single out and target one specific individual and then go for it with everything they have. What the lioness did not know, was that there was one large buffalo bull in the whole herd that had his fear turn into anger. This angry bull suddenly turned around and charged towards the lioness at full speed. The lioness got the surprise of her life, and she immediately knew she was in trouble. The lioness turned around in a flash and ran for her life. The massive buffalo chased after the lioness until he couldn’t see her anymore. Incredible to see how one individual out of so many buffalo had the guts to turn around, chase off the lioness and protecting the rest of the herd with his actions at the same time.

The video shows a baby elephant, very eager, struggling to get out of a river until mommy comes to the rescue. Few wild animals show love, care, and support for one another like elephants do. Baby elephants specifically are incredibly well looked after by their mothers and receive support without fail during their daily learning and struggling activities. After all, with a gestation period of twenty-two months, one can imagine that a baby elephant is seen as a huge investment by the mother. While on safari in the Kruger National Park, I managed to capture one of those events that just shows how well mother elephants look after their babies. I came across a large herd of elephants busy making their way through a long and muddy river crossing. The splashing noise of all the elephants crossing the river could be heard from far. Among the elephants crossing the river, I spotted a baby elephant, crossing the river with its mother, barely tall enough to keep its head above water. The baby elephant stumbled through with determination and when it became shallower, the baby elephant looked in a real hurry to get out of the river. The baby elephant sprinted ahead and reached the riverbank before its mother, heading straight for the same spot the rest of the herd was using to get out. With the same eagerness it had in the water, the baby elephant attempted to get up the slippery embankment itself. This seemed to be a real challenge as the baby elephant was slipping too much in the slippery mud to get up the riverbank. The mother elephant remained calm and slowly approached her baby, probably thinking ’hold on little one, not so fast’. The mother elephant then used her forehead and trunk to support her baby and pushed it up the slippery hill until it was back on dry land. I kept filming the rest of the herd crossing the river when I noticed one large adult elephant wanting to go out the same route the mother and her baby used. Unexpectedly, the big elephant could not get up the riverbank. This was so funny to watch. I then realised that while being too small can be a challenge for a baby elephant, being too big also puts limitations on adult elephants. One thing was for sure, the big elephant was not going to receive any support up the hill like the baby elephant did.

Filmed in Kruger National Park, South Africa. The video shows a little squirrel trying to make the most of this healthy and rare snack. This made for some comical viewing as the little one was running around like crazy, trying to get as many as quickly as possible. Most people will know squirrels to be herbivores. Generally they will feed on most plant foods around such as fruits and flowers, seeds, nuts, roots and bulbs. On rare occasions, after the first rains in this very dry African Wilderness area, these flying ants and termites emerge from their nests in their millions. Highly rich in protein, these insects are enough to turn any herbivore into a carnivore for a little while.

The video shows an angry hippo, suddenly bursting out of the water, chasing away a thirsty pride of lions from the river. Hippos and lions are two of Africa’s most dangerous animals. While the hippo is not part of the big five animals, these massive aquatic creatures are extremely dangerous and kill more people in Africa every year than any other animal. The lion on the other hand is at the top of the big five animals, ruling as the king of beasts across the African savannah. Hippos and lions do not associate with each other, but when they do meet on the rare occasion, you can be sure there will be hostility. Hippos instinctively know that lions are a threat, specially to younger hippos. Lions on the other hand know that they are no match for a fully grown adult hippo. The scenario in the video shows just that. While a thirsty pride of lions settled down next to a river to drink, a male hippo quickly took notice and was clearly not happy with the presence of the lions. Suddenly, the hippo bursts out of the water, charging towards the pride of lions. The lions immediately reacted by running away from the edge of the river. The hippo charged a second time while another hippo also came into the picture to show its annoyance with the lions. The hippos were honking, sending a clear threat message to the lions. The lions were clearly very careful of the hippos and in the end the lions decided to move onto another part of the river while the hippo claimed victory on this occasion.

The video shows a leopardess, very keen to get the attention of her lazy and grumpy male, who does not seem to be interested at all. The leopard is most likely the hardest animal to find when going on a safari. The leopard is part of Africa’s big five animals and very much one animal everybody would love to see when out on safari. These elusive big hunting cats do manage to evade many safari goers and seeing a leopard in the wild is an incredible experience. All you need is time in the bush spent and a bit of luck on your side. Leopards are solitary big cats and deadly hunters, using their beautifully camouflaged coat to disappear in the blink of an eye. Seeing two leopards together, like in this video, is a very rare and special occasion. Not many people get to see more than one leopard in a sighting, if they do see a leopard at all. On this day we had incredible luck on our side. We managed to find a pair of mating leopards. The female leopard, who is a lot smaller, started with her attempts to get the attention of her lazy male. This was hilarious to watch and see how this leopardess went about getting her male’s attention. The female leopard decided that repeatedly jumping on top of her male was going to do the trick. The female had to jump on the male numerous times, and we could see the lazy male was just getting more and more grumpy, with no interest shown at all. The female leopard stuck to her guns and finally got the attention she wanted, accompanied with loud snarling and growling noises coming from the male’s side. The female looked satisfied, and she was even looking for a quick cuddly afterwards. The male was having none of that and slowly moved away from the female. The grumpy male leopard went to lay down a good distance away, enjoying his peace and quiet. The female still looked like she remained in a trance, chilling on her back with her feet up in the air. A rare leopard interaction moment I will never forget in my life. We left the two leopards and moved on with our safari, feeling totally overwhelmed with satisfaction.

Hyenas are mostly perceived as scary, ugly looking creatures that are made for nightmares, but this video actually shows how incredibly cute they can be. The spotted hyena is arguably the most successful large carnivore in Africa. This formidable creature is both a proficient hunter and scavenger, exhibiting resourcefulness and stamina in its foraging pursuits. Throughout history and across cultures, the hyena has been condemned as a scary, evil and ugly villain with a demonic laugh. With such a bad reputation, the hyena is always seen as the bad guys in traditional folklore and even today in movies such as The Lion King. Once you get to know more about the hyena, you realize that these complex creatures are like none other on earth and that the stereotype reputation is far from the truth. Not only are hyenas extremely intelligent but they also fulfill the vital ecological function of eliminating sick and old animals from populations while their scavenging behavior keeps the African bush clean from rotten carcasses and the possible spread of disease. Many people will also claim that the hyena is not a very attractive animal to look at. While this might be the case, their offspring at a young age is a totally different story. Hyena cubs are some of the most adorable baby animals in the African bush. When going on safari, it is always one of the highlights to see cute hyena cubs in their natural environment, if you are lucky enough. One of the best ways to find hyena cubs is to find a hyena den during the winter months of the year. The focus of a hyena clan centers on a communal den where all the females keep their young. During a recent self-drive safari in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, I did just that. I decided to go to an old hyena den I got to know about over the past few years. Hyena dens are usually located in disused termite mounds, large sand structures that are easy to recognize. On my arrival at the den, I was happy to find the den active with two cubs and one female adult. Hyena cubs are in general very playful and make for entertaining viewing. On this occasion things turned out to be the total opposite. I noticed the two cubs lying against each other while basking in the early morning sun. They looked very tired and sleepy, struggling to keep their eyes open. Hyenas are creatures of the night and are mostly active during this time. It was clear that these two cubs had a long night out. Both cubs attempted to keep their heads up but it seemed to be a tough task. It was adorable to watch how the hyena cubs started nodding off while their heads would tilt to the one side as gravity took over. The hyena cubs would suddenly wake up, only for their eyes to close again and their heads falling over again. It was really funny to watch actually how tired these cubs were. Eventually the one cub found itself in a more comfortable position. The second cub finally fell over, fast asleep, with its head hitting the ground. The two cubs did not move again for quite some time. Even though the cubs were not their normal playful self, I was still totally amused by the cute behavior of these two sleepy hyena cubs. With a smile on my face I decided to leave them to sleep in peace and continued with my safari.

This video is one example of how male lions always dominate and rule every aspect of life in the world of lions, especially when it comes to food. The male lion, Africa’s largest and most dangerous big cat and the king of all beasts. Lions are the only social cats on earth, living majority of the time in prides, creating family bonds and care one another in many unique ways. There is also one rule that always stand in the family life of lions, and that is that male lions are in charge. While females will do majority of the hunting, male lions will always start feeding first on the kill made by the females. Depending on how many males there are in a pride, it happens often that two males will eat two thirds before letting five or six other females finally start eating. Many prides will also have youngsters like sub adults and cubs. All the younger lions eat at the very end whatever is left over. Should the male lions not have had their fill to their satisfaction, they will not tolerate any females or younger lions near their meal. Male lions are extremely aggressive when it comes to their food and feeding time as shown in the video. The pride in this video was made up off two massive male lions, five females and two younger males. The male lions already ate so much of the carcass but still they would not let any of the other hungry family members come near or close to their meal. With aggressive snarling, roaring, biting and pawing, the male lions would without hesitation attack any of the family members who dared coming into their feeding space. The male lions would get up and aggressively attack a female or a younger male, leading to chaos around the dinner table. The sounds of aggression were overwhelming and incredibly intense, leaving many safari tourists with witnessing something they will not quickly forget.

This video shows one of the weirdest and strangest wonders in the African wild. At first glance, this might look like a magic trick or even camera trickery. Tiny little seeds lying on the ground, bouncing and jumping around on its own. This is no magic trick at all and the real reason for this is a rather interesting story. It all starts with a very interesting tree called the Tamboti. A medium sized deciduous tree found in the warm regions of Southern Africa. Majority of these trees are found in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The Tamboti is notorious for its poisonous properties. It contains toxic latex that causes blistering, eye irritation and even death if ingested in quantity. Burning on campfires leads to diarrhoea and severe headaches, especially if meat is cooked on the coals. The fruit and seeds of the Tamboti is probably the most interesting part of this tree. The fruit looks like a three lobed capsule. In summer months when they ripen, these capsules bursts open with an audible clapping sound before dropping from the tree. Eventually the ground below the Tamboti will be covered by all the seeds bursting out of the fruits. By now the seeds are infested with the larvae of the knotthorn moth (Melanobasis). The movement of the larvae inside the seeds makes them jump, particularly when they lie in the sun. When you walk past these trees on a warm summer afternoon, one can clearly hear the soft snapping, crackling and popping sounds. Looking closer you will discover thousands of these seeds jumping around, hence the name ‘jumping beans’. The only other place in the world where one can see these jumping beans is in Mexico and better known as Mexican jumping beans. African jumping beans tend to move allot more erratic than their counterparts in Mexico.

The video shows the scary moments when a lioness unexpectedly took a keen interest in a vehicle with two tourists inside. Going on a self-drive safari to one of the many National Parks across Africa is always a great adventure and top of the list for most foreign tourists visiting the continent. While enjoying the freedom of exploring and searching for animals from the comfort of your own vehicle, tourists are always warned about being vigilant when it comes to wild animals. While the inside of your vehicle is the safest place to be, and getting out is forbidden, there might just be the rare occasion that something from the outside wants to get inside, like a lioness in the wild. Lions will almost always ignore vehicles, as they do not pose a threat and they don’t see it as food. The video shows one of those rare and unexpected moments when a lioness did not just ignore a tourist vehicle as they normally do. Scary enough, this lioness took a keen interest in the vehicle and its occupants. This behavior can be very dangerous as the lioness even tried to open the door with her paw and scratching at the window, seeing the people on the inside. Luckily the driver closed the window quick enough, as the lioness easily could have put her paw through the opening which could be devastating. The couple in the car kept calm while the lioness continued to curiously investigate their vehicle. After a few more sniffs, the lioness luckily lost interest and moved on, leaving two people with a close and very tense lion encounter in the African wild.

To witness the birth of life in nature is always such a fortunate and special experience. Getting the opportunity to watch the tallest land mammal on the planet give birth in the wild, right in front of us, was a real-life changing experience. It was during a recent safari in the Kruger National Park that we came across a small herd of giraffes. These tall giants are always on the list of safari goers ‘must see’ list and one of the most photographed wildlife species in Africa. The unique build and structure of the giraffe is what most people find very amusing as no other animal on earth can really be compared to a giraffe. While everyone was entertained by the beautiful creatures all around us, I suddenly noticed an adult female in the distance. She was standing some distance away from the herd on her own and she did not look very comfortable in the way she was standing. I decided to slowly drive a little closer. The female giraffe was standing with her legs much wider apart from each other than what they would normally do. When we came to the backside of the female giraffe, we were totally stunned by what we saw. The female was busy giving birth right there and the new born calf was already hanging out half body, with its neck and front legs already out. We couldn’t believe that we were actually watching the tallest land mammal on earth giving birth right in front of us in the wild. We could only imagine what the mother giraffe must have gone through giving birth to such a large calf. The mother giraffe stood strong while she continued to push, standing with a wider stance. Everyone was holding their breaths when the whole calf suddenly dropped down to the ground. Luckily the calf itself is already tall at birth so the tumble to the ground was not that far as some would believe it to be. This miracle moment was met by a great sigh of relief from everyone on the safari vehicle.

The video shows how a hippo manages to chase away close to a hundred buffalo with just a few shakes of the head. The African cape buffalo is one of the most dangerous big game animals that lives in the African wild. Buffalo are part of the well-known big five animal group, and they are also known as black death. Should you meet a buffalo on foot in the African wild, you most likely will have serious problems. While hippos do not make part of the big five group, they are known to kill more people in Africa than any other animal in the African wild, making them creatures not to be messed with. Big and dangerous species like buffalo and hippo usually leave each other alone and altercations between them are very rare. There are the rare instances, like shown in this video, where the two species meet by chance. On a hot summer day this big herd of buffalo decided it was a good idea to cool off in a waterhole. In the waterhole was a male hippo, amazingly tolerating all the visitors in his waterhole in which he spends most of his days. More and more buffalo started getting into the water, until the hippo was surrounded. It was like the buffalo didn’t even realize the hippo was in the water. The hippo remained very calm and tolerant of the buffalo herd entering his space, until one buffalo literally bumped into the hippo. That was just one too many for the hippo and suddenly the hippo’s head popped out. The hippo saw all the buffalo on top of him and he didn’t like it and looked angry. The hippo then lifted his head out the water and shook it about a few times, splashing the water aggressively. With that, the hippo got the attention of the buffalo. It was like a delayed fright kicking in and suddenly the whole buffalo herd stormed out of the water. It was incredible to see how quickly one hippo could get such a large herd moving. The hippo looked totally satisfied with his actions in the end.

The video shows a baby elephant loving its facial scrub in the mud. While we as humans go to a spa to treat and pamper our bodies and skins, wild animals in the African wild have developed their own ways of enjoying a spa, looking after their own bodies and skins. One animal that certainly enjoys a good African ‘bush spa’ is the elephant. Spending every day of their lives on the move through the African savanna, elephants attract all kinds of parasites and ticks, eventually leaving them with an itchy skin and body. As a remedy, elephants have learned that a good mud bath and a scratch against a hard surface afterwards help them to get rid of all those pesty ticks and parasites. During a safari we came across this baby elephant that clearly had to deal with a great itch on its face. While watching a herd of elephants enjoying splashing themselves with mud, I noticed one baby elephant standing with its back side up in the air. The baby elephant hilariously had its face in the mud, and it looked like it was really enjoying standing in such an awkward position with its face in the mud. The baby elephant looked like it was ploughing through the mud with its face and mouth. The baby elephant clearly had an itch it could not scratch as its was moving its face up and down through the mud. It looked so funny and there were even pieces of mud stuck on its trunk and face. It looked like the baby elephant was loving its facial scrub in the mud, creating its own ‘spa’ experience right there in the African wild. The baby elephant eventually got up, and with a face full of mud, ran off to join its mother. The baby elephant looked satisfied while we were treated to a very funny baby elephant encounter out in the wild.