Silent paws, Leopard Cat, Kruger-National-Park, South-AfricaWe entered the park right after the gates opened at 6 a.m. to actually look for lions hunting in the morning light before the temperatures go up and the lions would disappear in the shadows of their resting places. Just by a lucky coincidence, we saw to our left a leopard coming out of the bushes and moving silently into the open grassland before disappearing again into the next bushes. It was an unforgettable sighting in the soft light of an early morning.

Morning nap, Young Hyena, Kruger-National-Park, South-AfricaAlready since a couple of days, we had tried to find hunting lions in the park. However, the only lions we had seen were the resting ones, lying in the shade of their bushes. At least, thanks to our searching, we were rewarded with beautiful sightings of other species, such as those young hyenas. This one was still sleeping deeply in its nice and cool place and did not realize us at all.

Awakening, Young Hyena, Kruger-National-Park, South-AfricaThis young hyena had finished the sleep already and seemed ready to start into any adventure, which a new day might offer.

Skin Care, African Elephant, Kruger-National-Park, South-AfricaEvening time in the park, we were on our way back from the lion search towards the exit gates, when we saw a group of impressive African Elephants. While most members of the group seemed busy eating, this one had started already with the evening cleaning and spa probably to prepare for the night...and he used several nose-full of mud.

Roadtrip, African Wild Dog, Kruger-National-Park, South-AfricaIt is a wonderful feeling entering the park again and looking forward, what sightings the new morning will bring. And it brought a special one: after a successful early morning hunt, a pack of wild dogs had just finished breakfast about 50m from the road and had apparently decided to take the paved road back home. This way, we got a prime look at the leader of the pack.

Long shadows, Zebras, Kruger-National-Park, South-AfricaAnother early morning tour in the park, still searching for the hunting lions. Still being on the park's main road, a group of Zebras is just crossing the road, casting long shadows into our direction.

Togetherness, Westafrikan Giraffes, Kruger-National-Park, South-AfricaLater during the day in a more remote area of the park, a group of male African Giraffes are swinging their heads (actually using the two horns) against each others body parts, apparently their unique style of fighting for hierarchy or females. Those three have seen enough and are moving away from those ugly scenes.

The-three-of-me, African Penguin, Boulders-Beach, South-AfricaNot far away from Cape Town is the location of Boulders Beach with its unique colony of unfortunately threatened African Penguins. The little ones used to own that stripe of land since ancient times, however, human settlements, weekend sunseakers and swimmers frequently ignore the necessary distance and required respect for the needs of the Penguins. Their breeding efforts are therefore rarely successful, which leads to a steady decline of their population. In addition, the increasing water temperatures reduce the variety of nutrition close to the beach and force them to spend more energy to swim/dive further away from the coast.