February 21, 2015
Cheetah Cubs, African Wild Dog, Thomson's Gazelle, and Spotted Hyena, Serengeti, Tanzania

I've just returned from the bush at the conclusion of my Tanzania photo safari, and it was one of the best safaris ever! Highlights include two very good encounters with Black Rhino, Lions chasing a Cape Buffalo that got away, and some very playful Lion cubs in Ngorongoro Crater; a very small Hippo out of the water and a Leopard chasing down and killing a baby Wildebeest in the Central Serengeti; and four Cheetah chases and kills, four Cheetah cubs playing, a very cooperative Leopard, and a day with African Wild Dogs in the Southern Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The weather was also better than usual for photography with many days of solid, bright overcast so we could photograph all day long. While in the Central Serengeti, we went to Sametu Kopjes, and I was able to photograph the youngest Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) cubs I've ever seen. They were about a month old and were hiding from predators and the sun when we arrived. After some high thin clouds moved in, the cubs came out for a nice group picture.

We spent most of another day with a pack of African Wild Dog, African Hunting Dog, or Cape Hunting Dog (Lycaon pictus). It was the first time I've seen them in East Africa, and the bright overcast allowed us to photograph them for an extended period. I had several opportunities to photograph them running with motion blur.

I tried to photograph as many animals as possible with motion blur as they were running, and the long 1/20 second exposure and speed of this female Thomson's Gazelle (Gazella thomsonii) running along the grassland created a very nice effect.

While waiting for a Cheetah mother with four cubs to do something interesting in Hidden Valley, I spotted this Spotted Hyena or Spotted Hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) with a baby Thomson's Gazelle (Gazella thomsonii) running in the distance. We gave chase and photographed it for quite a while. In this image, it had just stood up from taking a short rest in a shallow pool.

I had a hard time selecting just four images for this blog post, so I'll be posting some more images soon.