Wildlife

Lonely Tree

Masai Mara, Kenya - July 2017 Going towards the lodge with the afternoon sky turning into dark grey, I asked the driver to stop the car to take one last photo of this beautiful lonely acacia on the horizon. Curiously, and as I framed the scene, a solitary cheetah appears from nowhere, marking its territory around the tree. After a short brief moment, she walks out of scene leaving behind the void that I had previously encountered. It is incredible how ephemeral are these moments in the wildlife making the challenge of capturing them an art. This one of my favourite photograph of this trip.   Males mark their territory by urinating on objects that stand out, such as trees, logs, or termite mounds for example.   Females on the other hand, and unlike males and other felines, do not establish territories, living in home ranges instead, alone or with their offspring. These home ranges can also overlap with others, often those of their daughters, mothers, or sisters.  The size of a home range depends entirely on the availability of prey. Females always hunt alone, although cubs will accompany their mothers to learn to hunt once they reach the age of five to six weeks.

Lonely Path

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania - July 2017 I found this beautiful young Elephant walking alone in the vast plains of Serengeti. From the moment I saw him walking towards me and disappearing into the horizon, it was, as it always is…an absolutely magical moment for me. I have always loved elephants, and because of that I always spend a lot of time observing them, their incredible social behavior and their constant demonstration of intelligence in the smallest acts. It is very difficult for me to understand the most cruel acts against these precious animals, for money purpose. Back home, with family and friends, many of my phrases and stories begin …”If you could just see an elephant in its natural habitat, in its purest freedom….you would do anything in your hands to protect wildlife.” My goal is to raise awareness and show how fantastic these animals are, in each story, each photograph that I take. I hope that together we can ensure that our future generations can see these wonderful animals at home, in their natural habitat, safe and free. Always remember...Elephants never forget…so will they ever forgive?!

King´s hair

Masai Mara, Kenya - July 2017 Not far from Mara river and despite all the dust in the air due to hard weather conditions that day, we were able to spot a Pride of lions sheltered under the small vegetation.   A few meters away ...we spoted the king!    This handsome animal was taking a nap, when suddenly he lifts his head, with his majestic mane blowing in the wind, looked around him and since everything seemed to be in order, he layed down again, making it obvious that the current tempestade did not bother him at all!   Male lions can spend 18 to 20 hours a day sleeping, while females from 15 to 18 hours . The lionesses spend more time hunting and taking care of cubs, which is why they get slightly less sleep. Another interesting fact it that when they eat a large meal, lions may sleep up to 24 hours! We can't blame him...who doesn't like to take a nap after a delicious meal?! 

I see you

Kruger National Park, South Africa - August 2016 Heading back to the gate after a long day shooting in the southern part of the park, we had hoped to spot some leopards in the road between lower Sabie and Crocodile Bridge as it is quite common in these areas at dusk. Instead of that, we spotted in the bush, a big male hippopotamus, quietly grazing, heading toward us. I visualized exactly the picture I wanted, and waited for the warm tone of the last rays of daylight to illuminate his face, giving him a special contrast and an almost demonic look. It is normal to see the hippopotamus out of water at night or at dusk, as they travel inland sometimes up to 10 km (6 mi), to graze 70 Kg (150 lb) on short grasses, for four to five ours each night. While hippopotamuses rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land. These are semi-aquatic animals, since they spend so much time in the water, as their skin is 6 cm (2 in) thick, so they to regularly moist their skin not to dry out, and maintain body temperature under the hot sun. The word "hippopotamus" comes from the Greek word for "water horse" or "river horse." These beautiful animals are the third largest mammals in the world (After elephants and whales), and they are considered to be one of the most aggressive animals.

Eyes closed

Kruger National Park, South Africa - January 2017 Look, look closely ... what do you see? I see a sword, or a figurine, or perhaps a jewel case. This is how many see this wonderful animal, as a way to demonstrate wealth in a room, on a shelf. This is the sad reality - the largest land mammals, still face being killed for their tusks! Demand for ivory, combined with habitat loss from human settlement, has led to a dramatic decline in elephant populations in the last few decades. Back in the early part of the 20th century, there may have been as many as 3-5 million African elephants. But there are now around 415,000 accords to WWF. Unfortunately many struggle for extinction, because in this way the ivory will be worth even more than it is today in the black market. Don´t Close your eyes, help stop Poaching.

Springbok

Namibia, 2022 A silhouette of a Springbok during sunset ate Sossusvlei National Park

Elephant Parade

Etosha National Park, Namibia - October 2016 I have always dreamed about this picture, with a clear scene and a perfect aligned parade of elephants. After 3 years, in the end of the day at Etosha National Park, I finally achieved it! Elephants are amazing and remarkable creatures, with incredible intelligence and very cultured, with strong bonds and norms. Regarding that, they travel together, walking in a single line, mainly to protect and watch out for each other. One of the advantages is that young elephants can cling to the tails of the older elephants, which is a good way to protect the young and an efficient way to travel and keep track of everyone. If there is any sign of danger, the entire herd will protect the young. The elephant herd is led by the elder female since mature males usually join the herd for breeding, and leader is followed by the rest of the females and their young. One of my favorite animal on earth!

Watch your back

Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania - July 2017 We followed these two animals for two consecutive days in Ngorongoro Conservation Area. It is incredible and fascinating their behavior and intercourse during this period. In addition to the typical perspective of the two mating, I found this perspective particularly interesting, having the lion looking over the lioness, conveying somehow a feeling of compromise between the two. The mating behavior of lions is a painful process for the female because as with other cat´s penises, the male lion's penis has spines that point backward. The pain is necessary for feline mating as it is the shock to her system that induces ovulation and permits fertilization. During the periods between copulation they may lie down next to each other or walk a short distance. Copulation initiate with the male gently stroking the female with his tongue on the shoulder, neck or back. During the actual act, the male lion mounts the female lion and grasps her neck with his powerful jaws and The is repeated over the approximately four days with each copulaton lasting around 20 seconds.

The Climber

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania - Jul 2017 After a few hours waiting for this sleepy leopard to get up from his comfortable bed in that tree, three Thomson´s Gazelles passed under the tree, and as the French expression says - opportunity makes a thief - so they caught his attention. Remember that the Thomson´s Gazelles is one of the leopard´s favorite food on the plains of Serengeti. I was blessed to watch, a so well-known and wonderful spectacle, of a majestic descent of a leopard, staying immobilized for a brief moment in this peculiar position, while watching them from above. Weighing 59 kg (on average), the leopard is the smallest of the four Big Cats, but is probably the most powerful Kg-for-Kg. It´s climbing ability distinguish them from the other big cats. Their body structure are built for tree climbing - The Back legs are very powerful and muscular giving great impulses and muscular backs also assist in climbing, allied to the lower centre of gravity that also helps with stability. Their amazing retractable claws dig easily into the bark, with a little of help of their relatively small body size and weight. To sum, Leopards are natural climbers and wonderful animals.

Impala Attack

Lake Nakuro National Park, Kenya - Jul 2017 Going towards the lake, I noticed that these two males were struggling vigorously. I stopped the car and waited for the right moment as there were other impalas and some vegetation interrupting the line of sight. For a brief moment, they stopped and looked at each other with a defiant look. I love the perspective that despite capturing a calm action, it suggests so much more. Dominance during mating season is established via fights that sometimes end up fatally. Males run toward each other, colliding with their horns. Impalas show their dominance walking in an erect posture, while displaying their neck, horns and the ears helded backhand. The performer usually faces his opponent, but often with head-turned-away. Moreover, strength and body size are more important than the size of the horns.

Color form dust

Etosha National Park, Namibia - Out 2016 What I like most about this picture is the contrast between the colorful giraffe and the dusty bush, resulting in this natural color isolation technique. It is very common to see bush areas entirely covered by this white dust.   Half the size of Switzerland, Etosha National Park is one of Africa’s largest nature reserves. It is located in the beautiful and desolate north-western reaches of Namibia in the Kunene region.    The Etosha Park occupies an area of 22 270km², 4 590km² of which is taken up by the Etosha pan. In fact if the Etosha Pan was full today it would be the third largest lake in the world. Today the pan rarely holds water, due to climatic changes.   Etosha is named for its ashen appearance – ‘Etosha’ means ‘Great White Place’ in the Oshindonga language.  It is also sometimes referred to as the ‘place of dry water’.   In my opinion, the Etosha Park is one of the best places to view almost all of Africa’s wildlife, since during the dry season, the available water sources attract animals and birds in their tens of thousands, making it easy to pinpoint their whereabouts.