The Most Beautiful Wildlife Pictures I Ever Took

A collection of photographs

Animals. In the wild. Wildlife in their natural habitat. Nothing can be more fascinating than that. In days when civilization takes over and not much looks like it did before we are fascinated by pristine nature. And its inhabitants.

Animals.

The photographs I selected aren’t listed from best to worst. I didn’t choose a chronological order either. They are listed in animal categories. Because I decided you can’t compare a photograph of a giraffe with a rhino.

Otherwise, I would just be adding photographs of lions and other predators up here. Because that is what most people are fascinated about. But I tried to give every animal category a place to shine.

Some of the pictures are special just because of the animals. It’s a close-up. It’s the way they look at you. Or it’s because of the constellation with other animals. But some of the photographs include the surroundings as well.

Birds

I could write an entire article about birds spotted in the wild. But I decided to leave them out. I do have great photographs of birds too. But I had to cut my selection.

This is about the best wildlife photographs I ever took and I decided to focus on mammals in Africa. Those animals are most likely to be connected with a safari. Birds will get their time to shine as well. But not in this post.

Ostriches

I do know ostriches are birds. But I like ostriches. I see them a lot. In the desert. During the midday heat. They don’t seem to care. And I’ve seen them all across the continent. From West to East Africa and further down throughout southern Africa.

They are always part of a safari. Ostriches. Yet they always appear gracefully. Unless they run. Then they are scary. You might want to start running too.

I chose the shot above because it shows the environment they can survive in. You see nothing. Nothing but rocks and gravel. Yet it is where they eat and sleep.

Hippos

I haven’t seen them much in the past few years because I mainly traveled through dry landscapes but I have seen them a bit. Hippos. They fill entire lakes in the Serengeti and take over a town in South Africa.

Saint Lucia is a coastal city in South Africa. It is where the hippos come out at night and walk through the town. They walk along the streets and graze on the lawn.

If you should ever meet one on the street and it starts to come towards you make sure you’ll get to the closest tree. Those animals might look slow but they can charge you with 50kph.

A guide told me just to make sure you ain’t the slowest runner. So if you’re not a great runner make sure you trip the person next to you. This ain’t funny. It’s survival skills.

When looking at this hippo’s back you can only imagine how sharp those teeth are. Those scars he got from a fight with a rival. Some of them end deadly. Some of the fights. For someone.

Rhinos

I love rhinos. Part of it because they are endangered species. Part of it because I like their calm appearance. And part of it simply because they are rare to see. Yet there are other animals I’ve seen less than rhinos.

Over the years I have been lucky and got the chance to see a few of them. Despite being the number one victim for poachers rhinos do seem to be visible in the parks I visited.

When I spot a rhino I hold my breath. There’s always such a silence surrounding them. They move slow. They feed on the grass without making a sound. They look at you.

But they don’t care about you. In your car. As long as you don’t come closer. Just stay where you are and watch. Embrace the moment. Enjoy the uniqueness of the animal sighting.

Like this one on the photograph. It was late afternoon already and we were on our way back to camp when we passed a family of giraffes. I don’t know if they were all part of one family. But there were lots of them.

And all of a sudden it was there. The rhino. I wanted to jump for joy and almost forgot my foot was on the gas pedal still. I turned off the car and just watched.

Giraffes

I don’t know why but I love giraffes. Their elegancy. Their size. The way they drink. And eat. Everything about them is fascinating. Despite being an animal that appears in a few parks in high frequency I get excited seeing one.

Especially if I see them outside the parks. In the mountains or the semi-desert. Wherever I do see them I slow down. To take a picture. And to embrace the moment.

I love to watch them drink. Or eat. Getting delicious fruits from the tree with their long tongue or simply look at you.

I’ve once been on a walking safari in Botswana and we spotted giraffes. Silently we walked closer. Eventually, I had to put my head in my neck to be able to see them.

I was impressed by their sheer size. Being with my own feet on the ground and not sitting in an elevated vehicle I only understood how tall they were. It was a great meeting.

Elephants

They are everywhere. Or I’ve seen them everywhere. In every country, I visited. Even in Ghana, West Africa. Even over there I did see elephants in the wild.

I’ve seen big herds of elephants in Tanzania. And I’ve seen the rare desert elephants in Namibia. I’ve also seen two of them on my walking safari. That was quite daunting.

But they are still amazing to see. So majestic. Their appearance. So inspiring their family connection. The hierarchy within the herd. The way they look after their young ones.

One amazing community. Of elephants.

Antelopes

Just like the birds, I could make an entire article with and about the antelopes I captured. First of all, because there are so many different antelopes. And then they appear in such huge numbers.

You can’t miss them. On any trip through Africa. You’ll see them. At least one. Or let’s say at least a few. Different ones. But just because they are common to see it doesn’t mean I don’t value their appearance.

I am happy about every single animal I get to spot. That includes birds and antelopes.

Zebra

Zebras are another fascinating species. Mostly seen in groups and larger herds they always hang out together with the wildebeest. Apparently, they depend on each other.

The zebras know where to go. To follow the migration. And the wildebeest know when the water is coming. They can smell the rain days before. With both of them together they find a waterhole at the right time.

Wildlife at its best. Fascinating and inspiring. You have to work together to survive.

Wildebeest

I do admit. Wildebeest aren’t the prettiest of all the animals out there. Yet they are part of it. The big migration. When thousands of animals cross the Serengeti during the yearly move.

Wildebeest survive in numbers. They might not be the smartest ones. That’s why they stick together. You’ll always see them in herds. Big groups of animals staying together.

This picture was taken during an animal crossing in the Serengeti. A huge herd of wildebeest was crossing the road. Some zebras were in between as well. And as this little one jumped on the road it fell.

Mom stopped immediately. Waiting impatiently for its young one to get back up. Meanwhile, the herd had passed. But that is no reason for the mother to leave her offspring behind.

I took the picture at the moment both of them were looking after the herd. The young one had gotten back up again but still didn’t have the strength to move yet.

A few moments later it started to walk and run soon after. I watched them eventually reconnect with the herd. Such a unique and intimate moment.

Cheetah

I haven’t seen many of them. I have seen cheetahs on two occasions over a period of six years. That’s it. No more. And only on one of those situations, I spotted the cheetahs in the wild.

The first time we saw a cheetah with her three cubs on the plains of the Serengeti. It was a lovely scene watching the mom caring for the young ones. Always looking around checking for predators.

It wasn’t easy to get a shot of the cubs since the grass was so high and the young ones still small. On this one, you can see the fluffy fur of one of the cubs.

The second picture was taken in a sanctuary in Namibia. Old cheetahs, young ones who lost their mother, and other animals in need are kept in here. They live out in nature.

But they are looked after. They get fed. They live in a fenced-off area and are protected from the outside world. All you have to do to see them is drive into the plot they’re in.

I would usually not go on such a drive but I wanted my mom to see a cheetah and since we anyway stayed at the lodge we went on the short excursion where I captured this female one during a long morning yawn.

Leopard

Leopards are bigger than cheetahs yet an endangered species. Their territories have been reduced a lot in the past few centuries and they are struggling to survive.

My first leopard I also saw on the big safari trip in the Serengeti in 2015. Our guide was in contact with other drivers and got the message of a leopard being in a certain area. After driving for a while we saw him.

Beautiful animal. Strong. Muscular. Self-confident.

But during this safari I was spoiled. We got to see all the big five within a few days. We saw rhinos, hippos, elephants and lots of lions. We saw them all. That is why the appreciation for one single sighting was less.

But then everything was different a few months later. My first self-drive safari. I was driving. And I was showing a friend around the country. The animals. The beauty of Namibia.

We’ve been for a few days on the road already when we entered the park. Etosha National Park. The most famous park in the country. I had just passed the gate when I spotted something in the bushes.

I didn’t stop the car because other cars were standing there. I stopped because I saw something. I saw a leopard. Deep in the bushes. And he was coming towards us.

Right in front of my window he stopped. Just next to the road. He looked at us and other cars which had stopped by now behind me trying to figure out what there is to be seen.

Not caring about any of that the leopard slowly crossed the road. Right in front of us. He almost touched the front of the car. That’s how close he was. And then he disappeared again. On the other side of the road, he walked into the undergrowth.

I couldn’t believe what had just happened. My friend just said, “next one please”. She was ticking animals off a list. I went for the experience. And couldn’t believe what I just experienced.

After that, I never saw a leopard again. Ever.

They are rare. To see.

Wild dogs

I never gave wild dogs much attention. I mean they’re dogs, right? So what’s so special about them?

Everything! Wild dogs live in packs. They have a very tight community with dogs in different rankings and various jobs to be done. They raise the cubs all together.

I only got to see wild dogs once. It was also in Namibia. During a guided game drive. The game reserve had lost that same year half of the wild dog population due to lightning.

One strike hit a tree where several wild dogs were lying underneath. And since they are very touchy creatures they were all connected. And died together.

I am very happy I got the chance to watch them for a while. I do know now why some wildlife photographers spend months following a pack. They’re simply such a wonderful species.

Lions

The king of the jungle. Lions. Always worth a capture. Always worth stopping the car. Always worth rolling up the windows. You never know. Be careful. Those animals can be dangerous. They might look like they’re sleeping but they’re not.

I’ve seen lions in all the parks I visited over the years. And I’m always excited to see them. Their majesty. Always takes my breath away for the first few moments.

The scars I’ve seen on their faces. On the male ones just as much as on the female ones. Lions get into serious fights with their rivals. And you can see the results of it on their body.

On a few occasions, I got even lucky to see lion cubs. In different ages. Depending on the time I went for a visit. Lovely to see the little ones play around. Not worrying about anything in life while their parents are on constant alert.

Summary

I did struggle to chose only a few photographs for this article. Going through an archive of six years of nature photography in Africa and selecting a few wasn’t easy. They are all special. To me. I mean not all of them. But a lot.

There are many bad pictures I found on my hard drive too. I even deleted some. I don’t know why I bothered saving a lot of them. Blurry. Out of focus. Or simply skew. No reason to keep such photographs missing quality.

But there are a lot of good ones too. Photographs that brought back memories. Memories of the trips I made. Memories of times I saw them. Memories of the people I went with on these excursions.

There’s always more behind a photograph. More to what you can see in the picture. It’s about the moment it was taken in. About being at the right time at the right place. And eventually pressing the shutter. Of course.

Luck is always part of taking a perfect wildlife shot. You simply can’t tell wild animals to pose for the camera. You have to place yourself in the right position. But you also have to hope for them to remain still. Or do the move you want them to do.

“If I have ever seen magic, it has been in Africa.” — John Hemingway

I’ve taken great animal photographs at night before too. I put them already in an article a few weeks ago. Have a look at it if you would like to see more stunning wildlife shots.

More stories about nature and animals in Africa…

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