Week in Pictures: All Creatures Great and Small

When it comes to wildlife photography, where can we draw the line? There is wild life in everything, from the trees, to the soil, to the birds and the bees. It’s buffaloes and beasts alike that draw our attention at first glance: the rosetted pelt of a leopard streaking through the bush, the flick of a lion’s tail, or the mud-caked surface of an elephant’s ear. Bigger always seems to be better, but upon closer look, we recognise the beauty in the scales of a snake, or the bark of a tree, and celebrate wildlife photography in all its forms. Nature is all around us, characterised by creatures, great and small.

This week in the bush, we’ve admired pre-summer sunrises, gazed into the eyes of leopard cubs and lions, listened to the wash of dirt over an elephant’s back, and felt the tension in the air as herbivores approach a quiet waterhole. The magnificence of our wild earth is represented in this selection of photographs captured at our camps in the Greater Kruger and Botswana. Enjoy the Week in Pictures!

nThambo Tree Camp, Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger Park

South Africa's most successful antelope, the impala, nervously approaches a waterhole to drink. Constant vigilance is what will keep them alive in this wild world

 

Watching us closely from his hiding place in a drainage line, one of Ross Dam's cubs lies low in the potentially dangerous wilderness he calls home

 

A buffalo finds an appropriate tree to relieve an itch, in the most picturesque time of day

 

The mesmerising stripe pattern of the zebra stands out from the crowd, but in a herd, these stripes act to dazzle any potential predator and throw them off their game

Tuskers Bush Camp, NG43 Concession, Botswana

A dust bath in action, capturing the soothing element of the Botswana dust embracing the elephant's leathery skin

The tentative profile of a steenbok out in the unpredictable wild

A spurwing goose caught in the action of drying its wings after a bathing session

A warming glow from the sunrise blankets the rough exterior of a buffalo bull, peering suspiciously through the thicket

 

Umkumbe Safari Lodge, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Greater Kruger Park

New life, in the light of a new day

White Dam entering the spotlight - something she has become accustomed to in her years on the traverse

The Toulon Pack pups rehydrate at a waterhole after preying on a bushbuck nearby

Hundreds of buffalo grazing on the plains of the Sabi Sand. Don't let their cattle-like appearance fool you, these animals are rated the most formidable member of the Big 5.

 

Africa on Foot, Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger

An impeccable display of the night skies being reflected in the silent water

The stern beauty of the young Mapoza male lion keeping an eye on his adoring fans

A family of double-banded sandgrouse making their way to safety as the light begins to fade in the Klaserie

Shy zebra absorbing the morning sunlight

Ezulwini Game Lodges, Balule Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger Park

Chavaluthu giving us zero effort, but still managing to impress his audience with his natural good looks!

A warm, hazy morning spent with hundreds of buffalo

Impalas meet their reflections in the surface of the water, making for a striking photographic opportunity

A setting sun paints the most breath-taking picture