Giraffe
Nature is gross... (and super interesting). This Red-billed Oxpecker, who also loves ear wax and keeping scabs from fully forming so it can feast on blood and tissue, seems particularly attuned to the digestive timing of giraffes. It flew down from the beast's neck within seconds of this process starting so it could have its pick of the ticks that inhabit this usually inaccessible region. Yup, gross... and interesting.
Bird Light Wind... keeping it real since 2008.
Scratch.
Snack.
A Giraffe in the Serengeti.
A Leopard Tortoise ambles along not far from the giraffe.
A baby Baboon looks up from the security of its mothers arms.
With any luck, that little baboon will transform into this someday.
This baby Zebra is so young its stripes are still wrinkled.
I thought someone had left a plastic toy tortoise in my parents backyard... until it started walking toward me.
A Blue Monkey in the canopy near Lake Manyara.
Cape Buffalo at the water's edge. Early morning at Lake Manyara.
A closer look at a Cape Buffalo.
A Cheetah waits out the rain in Ngorongoro Crater.
In the Serengeti, afternoon sunlight and a Cheetah at rest.
Our tiniest antelope, the Dik Dik. They are often seen in pairs near the roadside where good cover is plentiful.
Elephants are thrilling to encounter. Sometimes peaceful, sometimes dangerous, always astounding.
A Giraffe feeds in Mikumi National Park.
In Zanzibar glowing worms pulse and crawl across rocks as the Indian Ocean rumbles in the darkness.
Hyenas are the definition of tough. They have immense jaw strength and can snap bones like toothpicks.
Closing out the Tanzania series, a Hyrax (related to the elephant) seeks relief from the blazing sun under our car.
A Zebra on the Serengeti dines casually near the road.
A young Giraffe near Lake Manyara tries to blend in.
Wildebeest on the move in the Serengeti Plains.
A friend stretches near a crowd of hippos in Ngorongoro Crater.
Termite mounds make for good scratching posts. Another Elephant waits its turn.
Red Elephants abound in Manyara because of the rich volcanic dirt.
Maasai have lived in harmony with the land for generations.
A Leopard makes a rare appearance high above a rocky outcropping in the Serengeti.