Kenya & Tanzania trip, Oct 2008 - Part 3

More photos from the trip:

An annoyed hippo. They are actually quite noisy!

Vultures enjoying their meal

The illusive leopard didn't appear until our second last day. This was a sleepy leopard, and he spent most of the time laying down.


Here is one of him staring right at us.


We were also lucky enough to see the tree climbing lion

This cheetah put on a show for us....

... he pretended he was interested in a group of antelopes. Took a little chase and decided to stop and rest! He did that while there were a number of tourists watching! I wonder whether he gets commission from the tourism board.

Anyway, can you tell the difference between a leopard and a cheetah?

(Source: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/19145)

Leopards have more complex spotting pattern of clusters of black and brown spots which look like roses, called rosettes. This pattern simulates shifting plants and shadows, providing camouflage as the leopards stalk their prey from tall grass and underbrush. Leopards in eastern Africa have circular rosettes, while their southern African brethren have square rosettes. Leopards are also noticeably bulkier looking than cheetahs. They’re not built for speed, but surprise attacks. The extra strength helps leopards drag their prey up trees, where hide the kill to feed on at their leisure. Leopards walk using their legs in diagonal pairs (i.e. left front and right back leg, then right front and left back leg). Like the rest of the big cats, leopards can roar but can’t purr except while they’re exhaling.

Cheetahs have solid black spots and black “tear lines” that run from the corner of their eyes down the sides of their nose to their mouth. They’re also lankier than rest of the big cats and have smaller jaws and longer tails. They hunt during the day and rely on bursts of speed (short distances only). When walking and running, they pace, moving their two left legs and then their two right legs. Unlike leopards and other big cats, they can purr while they inhale, but can’t roar.

This little elephant was trying to be a grown-up and wanted to scare us away. It was a bit small to upset us. We did almost get chased by a much larger elephant at another time, but we didn't have any time to take photos!

:-P

I love this photo of a lion family. They walked right pass our vehicle (as in rubbing their body against the tyres!). It was simply an amazing experience!