Simply the best

If I was really pushed to pick just one African species as my favourite it would have to be the elephant.

When you get up close to these amazing creatures you feel overwhelmed by a sense of their power but also their intelligence. Some people rave about the big cats but they spend so much of their time sleeping. Elephants are never dull to watch - whether in a bachelor group like these two or a breeding herd, they are always doing something.

This shot was taken in Tembe Elephant Park which sits in the far north of KZN on the Mozambique border. The elephants there are among the biggest in South Africa because they are an original herd which has been able to grow to maturity unlike most of the rest of the country where the animals have been re-introduced from elsewhere.