I wanted to show you a few of the cameo sightings from our trip in April this year, with CNP Safaris, wandering along the Chobe river between Kasane and Serondela.

“Looking is not seeing. Engaging with the world as a photographer means we need to keep not only our eyes open, but also our mind and soul. Reality does not exist. Each of us makes our own reality. Perception, which might start with visual stimuli, is filtered by our mental templates, preconceptions, memories and experiences.”

~ Raphael Rojas

Dawn – sublime, quiet and infused with soft pastel coloured light.

Colours change as the sun rises.

Unique fishing technique of the Black Heron.

 

Those distinctive yellow feet of the Black Heron.

Male baboon pauses to listen while drinking from the river.

“Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.”
~ Anonymous

Young baboon playing with his new toy alongside the river.

Cute, naughty and smug.

There is so much behaviour we recognise!

 Steep banks lined with Jackalberry trees just down river from  Elephant Valley.

A female Giant Kingfisher, with her chestnut belly, bathed in afternoon light staring intently at the water for her next meal.

Emerald flying gems  – there one day and gone the next.

White-fronted Bee-eaters  fighting over nesting spots.

“Taking pictures is savouring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.”
~ Marc Riboud

Aerial combat Bee-eater style.

 

Undisputed avian ruler along the Chobe. 

White-crowned Lapwing stretching in preparation for flight.

Striding along this log declaring its territorial imperative.

  

Pied Kingfisher offering.

Too close – this White-breasted Cormorant needed more space.

Flooded grasslands along the Chobe in April.

“Photograph: a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art.”
~ Ambrose Bierce

Woodland Kingfisher’s perch hunting insects above the water.

Water lilies seem to make a tasty baboon salad.

Hang on where you can.

Interested but impossible

“You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.”

~Joan Miro

Reed Cormorant drying itself in the warm morning sun after a fishing expedition.

Hanging out to dry.

Old “dagga boy’s” grooming team at work.

Red-billed Oxpeckers undertake their daily grooming chores on this old warrior.

This sleek, elegant female Sable Antelope came down to the river on her own for an afternoon drink.

Youthful female with tinges of ochre still showing in her coat.

Successful Sable stable.

“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.”
~ Steve McCurry

Late afternoon look out.

Fish Eagle at full stretch as it takes off.

Massive powerful wings.

River dragon surfaces.

Lilac-breasted Roller in full diversionary attack.

Banking hard in full colourful display.

 

Beach monitor sunbathing.

Delicate and posed Malachite Kingfisher.

“We photographers do not photograph subjects, but rather the light reflected from them. This is why if we want to reach those subtle and magical moments which are happening all the time around us, we need to develop this sensitivity to be able to see them.” 

~ Raphael Rojas

Late afternoon sky ablaze with colour.

The sun setting beyond the horizon saturates the evening sky with glorious colours.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

“Photographing the world means making statements about it, and if we want our statements to be meaningful we need to fully absorb what is around us, understand the way it affects us and then explore ways to communicate that effectively through photography.”

~ Raphael Rojas

Have fun,

Mike