Jackals water hole

Spent three hours here today and saw so much game. Every day I try to get out of the car and get self portrait by putting the camera on the beanbag and moving away to get a shot.  Once you do that, you stop being a car in the eyes of the animals and start being a human being.  They are uncertain about cars and quite afraid of humans.  This fear can cause them to either run away or confront and attack you.  The giraffes behind me chose to run, but the warthogs in front of me were studying me for an attack.  It scared me enough to watch them closely while the 12 second timer wound down.  After the photo, I jumped back into the car and that movement caused the warthogs to scatter.

Don't try this at home folks...

 

 In the park, the birds are often as beautiful as the animals but quite challenging to capture because they are often either very small or far away.  This one posed nicely for me in a camelthorn tree - every plant in Etosha seems to be armed with thorns.

 Gemsbok are quite common and will often run away when they see you coming.

 During the mid-day, most animals find a tree to hide from the hot sun, like these Springbok, who often wait until the larger animals clear the water hole before venturing in.

 At the hole, many mammals take turns drinking and scenes like this are common.