Have you ever visited a place and were blown away by its beauty? This happened to me when I went to Botswana for a conservation project focused on elephants. I lived and worked in the African bush for about six weeks, among zebras, elephants, and giraffes. It was one of the scariest and most challenging and at the same time happiest and most beneficial experiences of my life.
This region really fascinated me in many different ways. Some of these inspiring photos of the African bush may help you understand why that is. I hope I´ll be able to inspire you to travel to this part of the world, get to know the magical bush landscape and feel the African spirit yourself.
1. A Baobab Tree In The African Bush
Did you know that the Baobab Tree aka. Tree of Life can live up to 1000 years? Those trees store large volumes of water in their trunks, which is the reason why elephants like chewing the bark during dry seasons. As a result, the stability and health of a lot of Baobab Trees is endangered. During my time in the bush, we spent a few days outside repairing and stabilizing some of the nibbled off trunks.
2. The African Savanna
From up the kopjes, you have a great view over the savannah. Sometimes those hills are the only place where you may have a little bit of reception to send and receive text messages.
3. Herd Of Elephants
Seeing a herd of elephants passing by had always been an imprssive moment for all of us. With the conservation project being focused on thise gentle giants, we got to see them pretty often. But it still was special every time we did.
4. Elephant
Elephants are such majestic, highly social and intelligent creatures. You can’t help but watch their every move when they slowly walk by radiating a sense of calm and peace.
5. A Mother-Giraffe And Its Baby
One day, we left camp very early in the morning to go to another reserve. We met this mother-giraffe with its baby standing at the entrance of our game reserve, although giraffes don´t officially live there. It was a rare and very beautiful encounter with these graceful animals.
6. Giraffe
What I love most about giraffes is the fact that they all have a unique patterns – just like human beings.
7. Zebras
We got to see zebras on a daily basis. Did you know that the function of the black and white stripes is mostly to confuse predators? Also, each zebra has a unique stripes-pattern helping them to recognize each other.
8. Rhino Baby With Its Mother In The Background
We spotted this rhino baby with its mother on a walking safari through another game reserve. Some of the rangers discovered their spures in the sand, so we decided to carefully look for them. After a good 15-minute trek, we found them relaxing in the shade underneath a tree.
9. African Wild Dog
On one of my last days in Botswana, we were on the move in the game vehicle when we came across a pack of African wild dogs. At the time, none of us realized that we were just having the very rare opportunity of seeing this endangered species. Only 1400 fully-grown adult dogs are still alive.
10. Baboon
Baboons are some of the world’s largest monkeys. They can often be found on the ground rather than on trees, though they occasionally climb trees to sleep, eat or look out for potential danger. Baboons are opportunistic feeders and would sometimes even raid our kitchen and garbage at night.
11. African Wildlife
Most people come to Africa to see the wildlife. And it is truly fascinating to watch these animals grow, hunt and live in their true habitat.
12. African Landscape
When you travel to Africa, you get to see unspoiled nature with diverse landscapes. Even just visiting one country, you will notice how drastically landscapes may change from one moment to another.
13. Sunset Over Water
Africa never fails to offer an incredible sunset or sunrise.
14. Sunset Over Savanna
Sometimes we would just climb up a kopje to experience this magical moment when the sun sets and the sky becomes red like fire.
15. Sunrise In The Bush
This is still one of my favorite shots of all time. I took this photo at 5.30 am while on a sleep-out in the middle of the bush. I’ve never seen a more beautiful sunrise and every time I look at this picture, it reminds me of the Lion King.
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