My Favorite Ungulates – Photos from Tanzania

/ Tracey

We took over 3,000 photos with two cameras and two iPhones in 10 days. I wasn’t sure how I would ever organize or narrow down the images, let alone my thoughts from our first photo safari. Then Mark told me he was tagging his with the D-65 Digital Workflow Lightroom Keyword tool. Under the category of “mammals” were carnivores, marsupials, primates…….. and “ungulates” or hooved mammals. Neither of us knew the word (no biology majors here) and I suspect people who do know it google the definition to be sure! So, for the next sub category of photos and experiences, I’m talking about ungulates (both even and odd toed).

Ungulates Who Look You in The Eye


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A female Cape Buffalo in Arusha National Park keeps guard while the male naps.


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A female Giraffe with her “fly friends” in Serengeti National Park.

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A female Blue Wildebeest (brindled gnu) watches as we drive through the Ngorongoro Crater.

Ungulates Who Cross the Road For Your Photo Ops


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Zebra and Wildebeest migrate together and we often saw mixed herds crossing the roads in Serengeti National Park.

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The Giraffes, second only to Lions, seemed un-phased by our presence. These four were in Serengeti National Park.

Ungulates With Babies


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We found this family on the roadside in or near Manyara National Park.

 

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These young Wildebeests were very curious. They were close to us on the roadside in Ngorongoro Crater.

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Hippos are very protective of their young. We didn’t get too close to this pond in Central Serengeti. I was surprised at how colorful this close-up revealed them to be. 

Ungulates in Pairs


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These two male Impala were play fighting in Central Serengeti.




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Synchronized tail swishing by these Giraffes in Central Serengeti.


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Zebra often rest like this so that each can keep watch of their respective directions. These two were spotted in Northern Serengeti.

Ungulates Exploring On Their Own


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I love this female Impala’s ears! She greeted us in Arusha National Park.


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Older male elephants are almost always alone. This big guy was in Northern Serengeti.


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I don’t think we ever saw a lone zebra. They travel in herds, often with wildebeest, but we caught this one facing the morning sun in Central Serengeti.


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One of four resident Dik-diks at our last lodge. They are small and harder to photograph on safari.

I started out this trip favoring the Zebras and Giraffes, both seeming gentle and having the most beautiful, interesting coats. However, after watching the Wildebeests throughout our journey, I came to appreciate their unusual collection of physical attributes. Some refer to it as a cross between a cow and a horse. One of our guides called it “the spare parts animal” also having features similar to Billy Goats and Zebras. As odd as they look, they really do have beautiful brindle coats and blonde beards. What is your favorite ungulate?

Saying farewell on our last morning in the Ngorongoro Crater, I caught the morning sun on these two wildebeests with my iPhone.

All photographs, except for the last one, were taken by Mark Winslet. We are using Seth Resnick’s D-65 Keyword list product to tag our photos. It can be purchased at https://www.d-65.com/store/.

28 thoughts on “My Favorite Ungulates – Photos from Tanzania”

  5. Squeeeee you must have had sooo much fun! I blooming love all these photos, especially the photos when they are staring into your eyes.

    p.s we were similar on safari. If you take less than 3000 photos, did you even go? 😉

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  7. Tracey, these are beautiful. How exciting to see animals like this in their natural habitat. Curious to know what lens Mark was using. I will check out the key word list. Nice job.

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  8. Ungulate is a new word for me. Such amazing photos – my favourite being the close-up of the giraffe. I’ve never noticed before now the tuffs of hair standing on the top of their ‘horns’ – like mini-mohawks 😉

    After being on safari, when I came home I kept looking at the side of the road as I was driving expecting to see giraffes, zebras, and elephants. It’s been a long time but I still miss them.

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