P.T. Barnum drew huge crowds in England, the U.S. and Canada when he began exhibiting “Jumbo” the elephant in the 1880’s. American circuses and zoos have had a love affair with the giant pachyderms ever since. It’s no surprise they are one of the African animals that every visitor wants to see in the wild. Fortunately, there are a good many to be seen. Of the Big 5, only the Cape Buffalo is easier to find. Elephants greatly outnumbered other members of the big, grey and dangerous club. What is surprising is how close you can get to them (and to lions, but that’s another story).

        Rhinos, either white or black, are another member of that exclusive group of “must see” animals. They are a lot more difficult to find, especially the increasingly rare black rhino. Their colorful name has nothing to do with skin color, but began as mistranslation from the Dutch word describing their mouth and related eating habits. White rhinos have wide flat straight across lips and are grass munching grazers. Black rhinos have a hooked upper lip ideal for helping them tear branches off shrubs, their favorite delicacy.

        The other member of the “big gray and dangerous” group, the hippo, isn’t considered one of the Big 5, but a hippo is important to watch out for.  They may look fat and clumsy but they can outrun the fastest man on earth and kill more people every year than ANY other African animal. I got a lot of shots of large groups of them in a river, as the camp we stayed in was located right in the middle of hippo heaven (their favorite spot in the river for miles around).

        Once again, the photos are in no significant order.