Kate's End of Year Photo Hunt - My Own Choice

 This is our final photo hunt for 2020 - My Own Choice.  It has been a hard choice as nearly all my pictures this year have been of the various wild animals we see on Africam and the pictures are taken with my phone of the computer screen.    So inevitably my selection of favourites will be from them with one or two others thrown in for good measure.

Like everyone, I will be glad to see the back of this year, in fact as I type this we have just left the EU and it is almost midnight, so this mad, sad year is almost gone.  I have left it very late this time to prepare my post.

This silhouette was taken late one night of a heron reflected in the water at Tau, a game reserve in the far north of South Africa.  I just love the simplicity and stillness of it. 

   

My next choice is almost a biblical scene - as though the animals have just left Noah's Ark.  It is unusual to see such a large and varied group all together but it was at the end of the dry season and the water was very low, and scarce. There is the enormous elephant, as well as Waterbuck, Nyala, Impala and Kudu all drinking at the pan at Tembe Elephant  Sanctuary. 

This next picture is of a family of lions we see often at Tembe.  We have watched the female (standing with a radio collar) raise this family of 4 four youngsters successfully.  We first saw them as gorgeous cubs, playing together.  We watched them grow and saw their play change into more vigorous hunting techniques though we have often felt sorry for the mother as she had this large family to feed, especially as the two males did not seem interested in hunting.  She was also very injured a couple of months ago, not sure if she had been fighting or gored by an animal she had been hunting like a buffalo.  You can still see the scars. 

When I took my final animal picture recently  I immediatly thought of 'Nellie the Elephant packed her trunk......' when I took it.   We often see a large herds come to drink at the pan but only one herd has the habit of hooking their trunks over their tusks.  Not sure why but it always looks as though they are too heavy and are resting the load.  But I think it is just something they have learnt to do from one another as we do not see it in other herds.  I have wanted a picture of an elephant carrying its trunk for ages and this is the first time I have managed to get a decent shot. 

Finally, a completely different photograph.  Since the lockdown in March we have had our medication  from our pharmacy delivered by Barry, their friendly driver.  Just before Christmas, the doorbell rang and I went to open it as we were expecting him and there to my surprise was Father Christmas holding a bag of medication.  I was so astonished.  I called B to come and see him too.  Barry told us he was doing it to give a bit of Christmas cheer to all those he was delivering to, and it certainly did put a big smile on our faces.  I asked if he minded if I took his picture.  He is holding a box of biscuits we had bought for him as a small thank  you. 

Well that's it for this year.  A year we will all be glad to see the back of, and we will all hope that 2021 will be a better, healthier and happier one for us all.   Thank you Kate for organising this photo hunt for us.  HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.