Out of the Jurisdiction: Pilanesburg National Park, South Africa

Here are the last pix from a month in southern Africa.  These photographs were taken in Pilanesburg National Park, a preserve two to three hours from Johannesburg.  Most of these will be 

close-ups, with a couple of others included.

An elephant came right up to the safari vehicle.

A pied kingfisher seen at a hide on a dam (the local term for a body of water).

There were some serious lenses aimed at the birds.  My 70 - 300 mm lens was enough.

It is always fun watching giraffes going into their drinking-water stance.

Warthogs don't look any better up close than they do at a distance.

A female giraffe feasts on acacia.

Zebra are good at standing still and posing.

Three zebra grazed together on plains that had suffered a fire.  Zebra often stay close.  

It is thought that the striped patterns blend together and mislead predators into thinking

that they are seeing a single much larger animal.

This isn't a close-up, but I wanted to illustrate how plentiful impalas are in the African bush.  

So many predators feast on impalas that they are known as the "McDonalds of Africa."

I arrived back in Florida yesterday.  Today will be spent doing laundry, sorting mail and paying bills.  With any luck, I will get out to find something for tomorrow's post.

Thanks for your visits while I was away and unable

to visit other blogs.