Elephants at Tarangire- my watercolour painting

  

Early one morning in the Serengeti ….

We set out early one morning in the Serengeti when suddenly I saw this big herd of Elephants below us. I shouted for our driver to stop and managed to get a photograph with a long lens. They were at a distance and I steadied the camera on the jeep roof and begged the other occupants to sit still!
This is an oil painting of that scene.

Lions at Tarangire

My oil painting of a pride of lions at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. The background including the two baobab trees is drawn from a photograph. The lions and cubs inserted from various photographs I’ve taken over the years.

Handsome Fellow!

I photographed this African Buffalo Bull in the Serengeti, Tanzania. He gave me that ‘don’t mess with me’ look, leading me not to hang around too long, afterwards!

Hug a Baobab Tree

Hugging a Baobab Tree means an embrace with often over a thousand years of history. These strange ‘upside down trees’, as they are often called because their branch structure looks more like that of tree roots, are particularly a feature of parts of Tanzania.
I photographed this very old Baobab in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. It bears the scars of generations of elephant tusks, in its bark, which is so thick as to be untroubled by the attentions of generations of elephants, unlike other indigenous trees.

A Date in Zanzibar

An imaginary date, in an imaginary cafe at Stone Town, Zanzibar. Painted in oils.

Monitor Lizard

This Monitor Lizard, photographed at Lake Maynara, Tazania, was about 4 feet long. Never seen one before, or since.

One Evening at Ngorongoro

This photograph is taken from the East rim of the crater some 8000 feet above sea level, watching the sun setting behind the West rim. The crater bottom is some 2000 feet below.
After dinner at the hotel, we had to be escorted back to our lodge by an armed attendant. Just as well, because on the way we met two buffaloes. Apparently they feel safer at night, on top of the rim, where there are humans and less likelihood of lions.

Lean and Hungry!

The Serengeti is Cheetah country, with its vast open spaces for these speedy cats to run down their prey. I photographed this one slinking up on a herd of antelopes just before she set off with an amazing burst of speed!

Old Campaigner!

Photographed in the Serengeti, Tanzania, this fellow was waiting for his dinner, in the shade. His several wives had left their cubs under a bush and I watched them bring down a buffalo. It seemed to me a very satisfactory arrangement.
Lionesses do have the advantage of being able to welcome a younger more virile lion, to take his place, eventually. At which he will shuffle off into the wilderness complaining about how two faced women can be, at times!