Elephant with Sunset

We raced to get the sun behind elephants and just made it to this group, which is a subset of a larger herd moving through the mara. I liked the one elephant with raised trunk in salute to the end of a good day. Maasai Mara, Kenya. Thanks again to Simon who got me to the spot, just in time. Bella Camp is terrific. Please look into it if you plan a trip to Kenya. (Loxodonta africana.Simon knew where and when a herd of elephants regularly crossed the river and we located there for a late breakfast and to see if they kept to their pattern. Sure enough, not long eating they began to emerge from a forest on the far side of the river, just across from us. Before crossing they played a bit in the dirt, the little ones clowning around a bit, happy I think to be at the river where they could drink. It seemed to me, in this scene, that the leader was the elephant laying on the ground, and the others weren’t going to cross without her. There were about ten elephants in this herd but they stayed together in little groups between 2 to 4 individuals. Elephants, as many of you probably already know are our largest living land mammal. The species shown here is an African Bush Elephant, the largest of the three living elephant species we have left, all of which are endangered. (Loxodonta Africana) The elephant in the foreground is known as Craig who lives in an area just outside of Amboseli National Park, in Kenya. He’s very tolerant of people and Simon and a local guide, Dave, allowed me to get close enough to use my wide-angle lens. Greg lived up to his reputation, as did his buddy, name unknown, who was not tolerant at all. We had to keep our distance from that fellow. Elephants are abundant in Amboseli and sometimes it’s possible to get Kilimanjaro in the background. Unfortunately, the clouds only allowed me a hint of the mountain. Maybe I’ll go back to get it. On the plus side, I got some images I like of elephant families crossing the dry lake bed and foraging in the marshes. There were also many elephant photographic opportunities in the Mara, although my main objective there were the predators. I looked elephants up and found that there are three remaining species: African Bush Elephants, like these guys, Forest Elephants, and Asian Elephants. (Loxodonia Africana