Posts Tagged ‘Elephant’

South Africa: It’s A Wrap

Posted in Africa, Animals, Photography, South Africa, Timbavati, Travels, Wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on Sunday, 16 July, 2017| 24 Comments »

Baby elephant attempting to give mama some water

Baby Elephant attempting to give Mama a drink from the riverbed. The water level is high so the elephants don’t have to dig too deep to get fresh water.

A little over six weeks ago, we drove out of Umlani Bush Camp and made our way back to Johannesburg. We had a plane heading for London to catch the next day. Not going to lie, both my daughter and I had a tear in our eye as we left the magical Timbavati Private Reserve. This safari was everything I dreamed it would be but I was also sad/angry that a lot of the animals are at risk from poachers. Thankfully, there are those willing to fight against them but it seems like a losing battle sometimes. As with drugs, the demand for animal parts needs to be stopped but oh, what a complicated weave that is.

There were so many wonderful memories from our nine days there and below is a recap in photos. My heart is happy when I look at them…

Bird Colorful

The lilac-breasted roller in South Africa.

Monkey with blue balls

Vervet Monkey, males are known for their bright blue scrotum and vivid red penis. They have a complicated vocal communication system. For example, one screech will indicate a predatory bird and all the vervets will scan the sky. Likewise, a snake call will have all looking at the ground. 

Steenbok running

The Steenbok is a small, brown antelope. Females don’t have horns. They zig-zag as they run when avoiding a predator.

Giraffes three

Always a thrill to see Giraffes ~ they are such interesting creatures. Where there are giraffes, there are usually zebras. And like the zebra stripes, the brown and white pattern on the giraffe is unique to each individual. These are males because their stumps are bald. The females are tufts.

Sunset in The Timbavati

Sunset in South Africa

If you’d like to see additional safari photos, follow along on instagram @beachbums88

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South Africa: Leopards, Hyenas and Elephants

Posted in Africa, Photography, Safari, South Africa, Timbavati, Travels, Wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on Sunday, 11 June, 2017| 11 Comments »

Of all the animals we saw on safari, the leopard was the most beautiful and my favorite to watch prowl. They are graceful creatures, with stunningly intense gazes. Their eyes are amazing to watch as they stare at either food or foe.

Leopards prefer hiding in the bush and are so stealth, we considered ourselves very lucky to have experienced seven different leopard sightings during our nine-day stay in the Timbavati. On our first early morning drive, Cabinet, the Umlani tracker, pointed to a female leopard hiding in a bushy area staring intently in one direction:

leopard bloody whiskers.JPG

She still had blood on her long beautiful whiskers which indicated a fresh kill. As we drove around the corner to see if we could get a better view of her, we saw what held her impenetrable gaze:

Hyena eating the leopards kill

Hyena One Blind Eye II

A one-eye blind hyena was munching away on her recently killed impala. She was waiting to see if she could steal it back. Michael, our Wildeye Photographic guide, explained that hyenas are much stronger than the leopard, higher on the food chain and frequently steal their kills. Leopards attempt to get their meals into a tree and out of the reach of hyenas but this hyena was too quick for her.

As we watched the Hyena and Leopard, our Umlani guide said “Look, Ellies” ~ we turned around to see a large herd of elephants moving up to the waterhole. I was astounded that this was what we were witnessing on our first morning out. Absolutely amazing!!

Elephants at the waterhole

All creatures in the bush give a respectful wide berth to the elephants. No one wants to be on the receiving end of a elephant tusk or foot. As the herd came in, the leopard watched closely to see if the hyena would scurry away but unfortunately for her, he confronted her. She’s a little hard to see in the following video but look to the left ~ she’s snarling in the bush.  Her growl was enough to get the hyena to leave her alone

Any leopard sighting is thrilling because they are so secretive and prefer to stay undercover.

Our last morning drive we saw the same beautiful female leopard with a recently-killed grey duiker. We came full circle with her and I was pleased she finally got to eat the meal she caught.

Leopard with bloody nose

Female leopard with bloodied nose from eating a grey duiker

Leopard looking at the camera

 

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South Africa: Big Five in South Africa

Posted in Africa, Animals, Photography, South Africa, Travels, Wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on Tuesday, 6 June, 2017| 10 Comments »

The term Big Five was originally coined by big game hunters but is now used by  those wanting to see and photograph the following in South Africa: Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros and Cape Buffalo.

I went on safari without expectations of “must see” animals. But our guides were invaluable in finding us the Big Five within the first two days of our nine day safari. Michael from Wildeye, SA not only told us about animal behavior but could predict when they would get up, yawn, walk by us, etc. It helped a lot in capturing the animal’s behaviors. Always good to have a few seconds warning to get the camera ready when there might be only one chance to snap a photo.

A male leopard was the first of the Big Five we saw on our first drive out in the bush. Back at camp, before we started on the drive, some of the guests mentioned they had been waiting days for a leopard sighting. Guests on different vehicles would compare notes as to which animals had been spotted ~ reminded me of Apres Ski talk around the fire when skiers would brag about double-black diamonds & vertical feet. Except at Umlani. talk around the firepit is all about the animals!

We are all so excited when Shadrack pointed and said “leopard” ~

leopard at night ii

The rest of the Big Five were spotted numerous times over our nine day stay.

I’ve had some people question why I would spend the money traveling to a far-away country to see animals I can view at the zoo. Those are people who don’t know me well. I cry at zoos so I don’t go. The chance to view animals in their natural environment was priceless for me. The multiple sightings were fascinating because the behaviors changed each time. My idea of heaven on earth.

Here are some of our sightings of other Big Five:

Rhino large male

Lion eyes

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