Fortunately, elephant tusks are not in high demand (as compared to rhino horns).  They can grow quite large. 

This is early morning near a watering hole.  She’s probably tired from a long night of hunting and moving.

The lions pay us little attention, as long as we stay in the vehicles.  The second a lion sees a standing human form, things will immediately go from relaxed to very tense.  Vehicles have never killed a lion or stolen their food, and is also a recent invention, so the lions have no reason to be bothered by its presence. 

Monkeys are mostly assholes, out to cause chaos for the sake of causing chaos.  They seem to derive pleasure from it.  They may sound familiar to some of you.  This little one was trying to get at our lunch. 

The lion cubs are too young to hunt, and mostly stay behind while the lionesses are out making a living.  Thus, they have tons of energy and are very playful and curious. They approach our vehicles, unlike older lions.  They also play with each other, mostly ignored by the exhausted adults. Unless, of course, anything dangerous comes near, which includes humans.  A lion will attack humans while protecting their young. 

This male lion takes a break from the commotion and sits away from the group for a little peace and quiet.  Male lions are rarely involved with child rearing, and do not tolerate the cubs near them for long.  

Their job is to “contact call” and warn other lions to stay away.  This protects their cubs.  Should an outside male lion come into this group, he will kill the cubs and mate with the females to preserve his own genetic line. 

Offspring of all species play, and this play is practice for adult life.  Here the cubs are playfully fighting, mimicking their parents, and will later use these skills to hunt. 

The night sky here is very intense.  While long exposure cameras can capture more stars than a human eye can see, it is still a very impressive sight.  

The tall sticks to the left and right are part of a platform we are standing on, near the canopy, in what’s called The Tree House.  I will talk more about Ngala and The Tree House later. 

The Milky Way stretches across the frame.