Welcome to a fresh @lordnigel's travels.  

Time has slipped by again and sadly I haven't done a quality travel post for a few weeks - time to correct this and stop letting Steem down :) today I'd like to share a very special time I had with some very cute creatures -

Wild MeerKats!!!

Now you probably have seen plenty of MeerKats at the Zoo, but the photo's today are of wild ones, living the way they should be free and in the Kalahari Desert (Well...technically I'd say these are semi habituated, but as close to wild as your going to get for close up pictures in their natural habbitat).

The images I am sharing on Steemit today were taken around Makgadikgadi where I visited a group (often refered to as a mob or gang) of cool Meerkats. Meerkats don't really like humans and are extremely shy, popping in and out of their holes to dig and hunt for yummy grubs, there is always at least one on the look out for swooping birds of pray.

As mentioned, these wild Meerkats are habituated enough so that I can sit and enjoy a few hours with them; basically they have been visited everyday for many weeks to get use to having humans around. If humans stopped visiting even for just a few days, they would become fully wild again and not trust humans.

Meerkats love to scratch themselves, scratch the ground and scratch each other after getting into tiny play fight brawls. hehe so cute!

Hanging out in a gang has it's advantages it means look outs and err...better odds you don't get plucked by a hawk and someone else does instead...ouch!

Meerkats are a member of the mongoose family and so they are targeted by predators who like small mammals as happy meals (poor little guys have a tough life and get targeted often). I understand most Gangs of Meerkats consist of extended family members, biological brothers, sisters, uncle, aunties etc. living and caring for each other in small communities.

No Africa post is complete without another perfect African sunset. It's one of the few places on earth you can stare at the sun with the naked eye and watch it's golden shine without going blind - still do this at you own risk!

I hope you enjoyed this @lordnigels travels. Until next time take care and Steem on!

_{All photographic images found on this page were taken on a camera owned by @lordnigel}