Baby Zebra

December 29: In the Serengeti, a newborn zebra figures out how to stand up and begins to nurse.

Beauty in the Serengeti

December 29: Some pretty scenes from our first day in the Serengeti:

Flamingo

Dik-dik

Acacia

Rescued! Christmas Dinner Photo in Tanzania

December 25, 2015: When I started posting this series of photos from our recent African trip to Tanzania and Rwanda, I noted that I was forced to start in mid-trip, since the SD card for the first part of the trip, in Tarangire National Park, had somehow become corrupted and was unreadable. Fortunately, it was rescued by a data recovery firm (all it takes is time and money to buy their expertise), and I got the files—701 of them—back this morning. I'll be posting the best of them in due course, but there is one that needs special attention.

This is a photo of a cobra attacking a puff adder on the road in Tarangire. It was taken on the afternoon of Christmas Day, hence the title of this post. Our very experienced guide, Mzee, said that in 20+ years of working in this area he had never seen such a thing before. The puff adder had apparently just eaten a big meal, so it was swollen in the middle and couldn't move fast. The cobra was aggressive and attacked from all sides, three times while we watched. This particular photo captures a moment just as the cobra bites. The adder eventually, and very slowly, crawled into the grass by the side of the road. We don't know whether it survived.

Serengeti Carnivores

December 29: There are lots of creatures in the Serengeti that eat meat, not all of them mammals. Here are some that we saw on this day.

African wildcat

Hyena mother with cubs

Lion cub

Maribou storks

Tawny eagle

Elephants and Hippos in the Serengeti

December 29: The elephants were grazing vegetation by the side of the road. The hippos were a long way off in a small lake. It was a treat to see the baby alongside its mother. The hippo images are small crops of photos taken at 400mm maximum telephoto.

Giraffes and a Waterbuck

December 29: On our drive from our Ngorongoro lodge to the Olduvai Gorge we happened on a group of giraffes and a single wary waterbuck.

Olduvai Gorge

December 29: Today we drove from the Ngorongoro Crater to the Serengeti, An intermediate stop was at the Olduvai Gorge, where Mary and Louis Leakey discovered the footprints of Homo habilis dating from 1.9 million years ago. It's a striking site.

Eroded formation showing the layers of volcanic and sedimentary deposits that covered the footprints.

Roof of the museum building

Cast of the footprints of the ancient family, with a mural above conjecturing how the scene might have appeared.

An acacia tree casts a lacy shadow on the ground below.

One of the many lava flows that covered the gorge in layers.

A docent at the monument at the location where the footprints were unearthed, with bones of prehistoric animals found in the layers.

As we left the Gorge on our way to the Serengeti, these Masai boys wanted their picture taken.