Our second day in the Kruger National Park was indeed one full of adventures. It is incredible how many moments you can capture in 12 hours. Imagine if you spend a week? How much will you see in a week compared to only two short days?
As we settled down at our destination, ordering some food (as we were starving at that point) we heard some commotion. There was some splashing, the deep sound of the hippo calling out, and then the chaos of different cameras going off to capture the moment. As we walked to the watering hole, we saw a baby hippo taunting a rather big buffalo. Obviously, the buffalo was big compared to the small baby hippo, but as soon as we saw the mother, the buffalo looked small...
(Note: This photographs are going to follow sequentially and chronologically. It will almost play out like a "movie" in the format of photographs.)
It was a comical moment. The baby hippo was scared, you could see it in its hesitant movements. The buffalo wanted to be aggressive, but it knew the mother was nearby. It would not dare do something to the baby hippo... And the baby probably also knew this (even if only tentatively).
Here is a short video that we took with our phones to illustrate what just happened.
Part 1:
Part 2:
The above photograph really captures the moment: the buffalo is kind of irritated because it can do nothing about the situation. And the hippo's movements are so sly, shy, and hesitant. It tries sneak up behind the buffalo, but as soon as the buffalo looks around, it runs away, and then SPLASH, into the safety of the water.
And then it started all over again. We stood there for quite a time, thinking that this naughty little hippo would do something, but each time, it just irritated the buffalo, just shy of biting its hind legs, running away into the safety of the water.
At times, I really just held the shutter button down. I did not mind that my camera's memory got full, because I could not miss a shot. Unlucky for me, my camera cannot take videos. So, all I did was take photographs of this really special, innocent, and rare moment. Our food was getting cold, and our group was almost getting nervous because of the time we spent down there.
But each time the little hippo captured its lost ground, we had hopes that it would do something crazy to the buffalo.
And then both of these beasts got angry. The buffalo really seemed to lose its cool, and the hippo wanted to do something. What it wanted to do is still a mystery to us: did it want to bite the buffalo? Test its strenght? Challenge something bigger than itself?
Then the fun was over. We saw the mother getting closer and closer. She emerged on the left hand side of the fight (see the photograph below) and she clearly did not like what was going on. If she was mad at her baby or mad at the buffalo, that we will not know. But as soon as the baby got out of the water, and the buffalo seemed like it was starting to get too agitated, the mother made her presence known with a really loud call.
And so another moment happened in the Kruger, with us having all the luck in the world to be there at the right moment, at the right time. It is funny how these moments just happen, and if you are lucky enough to be there at that moment, you will see something special.
But so many moments just go by, with no one seeing it.
Such is life.
For now, happy photographing, and keep well!
All of the photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300 and Tamron 300mm zoom lens. The musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by the sweet moment between these to beasts.