March 2, 2011
Lilac-Breasted Roller in Kruger National Park, South Africa

On our first full day in Kruger National Park, South Africa, we had a very interesting encounter with some elephants near the Shingwedzi Rest Camp. We came upon a group of elephants near a side road with a really young infant and tried getting into position to photograph the little guy. The older elephants moved in to shield it from our view and then they moved down the road a bit and behind some brush. As I tried repositioning to get a better view, one of the adults charged out onto the road and started coming towards us. Jan was quite worried, and because I didn't want an elephant to stomp on our rental car, I started backing up. The elephant kept approaching, so I started going faster. While that's not the correct thing to do, I figured it was good to keep some distance between us and the charging elephant. After I had increased the distance between us, I quickly slowed down and turned perpendicular in the road to get ready to drive away in a forward gear. The elephant stopped coming towards us, so we just waited. After she returned to the group, and the group moved away from the road, we continued on our way. My favorite image of the day is of a lilac-breasted roller. It's one of the most colorful birds in Africa and a favorite subject for photographers.