Never Thought About Going to Africa? Here Are 27 Magnificent Reasons You Should

The Masai Mara is famous for the Great Wildebeest Migration, which runs mid-to-late July through October. It's during this time you might be lucky enough to see a Mara River crossing: a phenomenal spectacle filled with chaos, drama, and intrigue, not to mention really big crocodiles.

This is Rockfig Jr., a gorgeous leopard with aquamarine eyes. She was taking a break from gorging herself on an impala she'd killed earlier that afternoon.

A close call for this brave zebra trying to cross the Mara River. She kicked the crocodile in the face and galloped out of the water.

This sweet gerenuk (found in northern Kenya) would rather eat standing up. Its giraffe-like neck enables it to eat leaves off bushes and small trees like this one.

Cubs can be a little needy now and then. This little guy, one of seven youngsters, was desperate to play. His momma was less so.

Baby anything is adorable but this this excited calf was especially so. Its trunk flipped around like a wet noodle as soon as it spied the egret in the foreground.

The first flood in 15 years made this once-barren floodplain a smorgasbord of plant life along the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. To eat food below, a giraffe must spread its front legs very wide in order to reach the ground. It's a risky position. It's not easy for a giraffe to right itself quickly if a desert-adapted lion should appear. As luck would have it, predators were nowhere in sight.

Buffalos and oxpeckers have a wonderful symbiotic relationship. Buffalos attract all kinds of insects and the oxpeckers love to eat them. I've watched oxpeckers stick their heads up a buffalo's nose to snag a tasty morsel.

Two testy zebra stallions hoove it out for dominance. They tackled and bit at each other and then one chased the other out of sight.

I know that this male cheetah wouldn't have appreciated my show of affection, but I desperately wanted to rub his tummy while he slept.

I love impalas. They're delicate and beautiful and one of the most abundant species in Africa. Unfortunately for them, predators love them too.

This is Pappa G, a 50-year-old desert-adapted elephant. We ran into him one morning while driving along the dry Hoanib River bed at sunrise. And though we were directly beneath him, he couldn't have cared less.

It was just after sunrise, and our guide spotted this huge male in a tree. When we parked nearby, the leopard stood proudly, showing off the impala kill he'd draped neatly over a branch.

Five cheetah cubs waited patiently while their mother hunted an impala nearby. As soon as she had her prize she called to them and they scampered off to have some lunch.

Sometimes, one more cub wanting to nurse is just one too many.

Zebras walk through the bush in a single-file line so they can be on the lookout for predators. In high grass like this, they're not always successful. Earlier in the day, we watched a lioness stalk a herd just like this. She was only 10 feet away and they never knew it.

Meet Scar,, the Cecile of the Masai Mara. He's survived countless battles with other lions over dominance (hence the loss of his upper right eyelid) and a Maasai spear to his side.

The mother cheetah mentioned in slide #14, licks one of her cubs in the pouring rain while her other cubs finish an impala kill. We watched from start to finish. The hunt. The kill. And the feast afterwards.

It's rare to see a caracal during the day because they're nocturnal, but this one was flushed out of the high grass by a black-backed jackal and I had only a second to snap a picture before they were gone.

The oryx (or gemsbok) is one of my favorite animals. I find their markings and horns so beautiful. They have a nifty trick of being able to regulate their internal temperature to offset the heat of the Namibian desert.

The light in the Mara after an afternoon rain is otherworldly. On this day, when the sun peeked through the clouds, the grass turned golden and the sky a blueish purple. The giraffe wasn't half bad either.

Even the lizards in Africa (an agama shown here) are beautiful.

Hartmann's zebras grazing at twilight. They're different than the zebras found on the plains of the Masai Mara. See how the stripes don't wrap around their bellies?

One of my favorite African birds: a lilac-breasted roller. Their colors gleam in the sunlight when they fly.

We waited for hours for this sleepy lion to wake up from her nap in the tree. When she finally did, she stretched for a hot second then climbed down and ran away.

If only I could wake up to this sight every morning. A beautiful day dipped in soft blues and yellows and a herd of elephants walking my way.

Elephants are extremely social creatures and physical contact is integral to their relationships. Here, two young bulls play a spirited game of Push Me Pull You.