February 15, 2011
Caracal in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

The tenth day of my safari in Tanzania, and the third in the southern Serengeti, was an absolutely spectacular day.

We went to Gol Kopjes again, and the day started out a bit slow due to the heavy cloud cover. Things started to pick up around mid-morning when we found a cooperative cheetah. Then we found the lioness and three cubs from the other day (they were at a different kopje this time) and nearby was another lioness with three slightly older cubs. Then we found two more cheetah. I spotted an African wild cat, but it dashed into some thick brush before we could photograph it. We photographed a cooperative golden jackal and then swung back by the lions to see what they were doing. A spotted eagle owl was on the other side of one of the kopjes with the lions, and it was in a great position and very cooperative. A dark storm cloud was approaching, so we left the lions earlier than we would have in order to head back to camp before the rain started.

We were driving quickly to get home and I was keeping an eye on the surroundings because I had seen a serval in one area on our way back on all of my previous trips to the Serengeti, and I wanted to extend the streak. Instead of a serval, I spotted a caracal! As I was yelling to have our guide stop, I spotted a second caracal near the first one. Totally unbelievable! Before this safari, I had never seen a caracal, and now I had seen three! Our guide finally realized what was going on and got us in position to photograph the closest caracal. I was really surprised that it just sat there and let us come closer and closer. Then we went over and photographed the second caracal (above) then returned to the first.

When we finally left the caracals after the light was really low and the rain had started, I declared that this was the "Ultra Premium Photo Tour." Not only had we seen a caracal and photographed it, we had photographed two caracal for about 15 minutes, and I ended up taking full-frame head shots with my 500 f4 without the 1.4x III that is usually permanently attached. My clients, who had never been to Africa before, surmised that our time with the caracals was extremely special because I had gotten so excited. It was like I had found, and photographed, the Holy Grail! I was wound up and excited for the rest of the evening.

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