March 20, 2011
African Wild Dog in Hluhuwe Game Reserve, South Africa

Our full day in Hluhluwe Game Reserve, South Africa, was great. It started off with a spectacular encounter with some African wild dog. We found one on the road and soon it was joined by three more. We photographed and followed them for a while, then they disappeared into the tall grass. We photographed some zebra while waiting for the African wild dogs to reappear, and soon there was a different group of six African wild dogs. We photographed them from a respectable distance for a while, then after another vehicle watching the dogs left, the dogs came right up to our vehicle and we could get head shots with our 70-200s! My favorite image is of one of the dogs from further away because more of its distinctive markings can be seen.

We ended the day photographing a baby white rhino, and we almost didn't have the opportunity. We stopped at a water hole to photograph a teenaged elephant that had drunk and was about to leave. We got some decent images, and before we left two white rhino were on their way to the same water hole. So, we stayed and photographed them and then a third white rhino came. After a while, a mother and baby white rhino came, and of course we photographed them too. If we hadn't stopped for the elephant that was just interesting enough, we wouldn't have seen the baby rhino.