The Moon - Ball or Balloon?

This colourful setting "caught my eye" recently during our stay in a hotel at the beachfront in Durban . . .

. . . the mood changed once a near-full moon was reflected on the surface of the sea (Indian Ocean) . . .

. . . when I zoomed in to capture that particular source of light.

A night later (during the "real" full-moon-phase) we were in the Drakensberg region, where I observed this view of a full moon just before sunrise . . .

. . . when moments later it looked like a balloon flying high in the sky . . .

. . . or was it a ball - about to run down the incline . . .

. . . before it slowly - somewhat teasingly - disappeared.

Babies Galore

At this time of the year animal youngsters in all of South Africa's game reserves "rule" - in my opinion these are fine examples: 1) a baby elephant with attitude!

2) a greedy little impala kid

3) instead of "ducks in a row" - it's baby geese

4) a curious little white rhino

5) this tiny tree squirrel seems to have an issue - perhaps it's about the colour (with regard to the rhinos) mentioned above??

6) a case of "follow your leader"?

7) "a hard day's night" - my (tongue-in-cheek) caption to this last photo today BUT in total today's entry is number 301 on my (this) photo-blog!!!

African Scenes

Greetings from the African bush - a small elephant herd resting in the shade of a tree in the Kruger National Park.

An endearing scene of the otherwise highly endangered White rhino - a male appearing to stand guard behind a female and her calf.

"At the river" - a Goliath heron holding sway over a hippo?

Tranquility in its purest form? Relaxing "in the shadow" of the majestic Cathkin Peak (slightly hidden by clouds in the background) of the Drakensberg Mountain range.

A photographer's dream site - waves crashing high against rocks at the Storms River mouth in the Tsitsikamma National Park.

A new day dawns - right in front of one's hotel room at The Point in Mosselbay.

Close Encounters

Was this old male lion dangerous . . .

. . . or just having a bad-hair-day?

The question is: when on a game-drive in an open safari vehicle, how long does it feel safe to stop next to a hyena, even if it has a tame, dog-like appearance?

Less threatening, even if it is the largest mammal, is a Northern Right whale, visiting our shores at this time of the year & now counting as number 6 of the BIG 7 (no longer only the BIG 5).

An interesting encounter was with this Marshal eagle & its prey - which at first looked as if it could be an enormous snake, until we "discovered" it had legs . . .

. . . then drove around the tree & saw it was a leguaan! The magnificent raptor certainly had a typically fierce look about it.

As close an encounter with a hippo, especially at night, as this was, is more dangerous than probably "meeting" any of the above animals "along the way".

Winter Wonderland

 A photographic tour through the wintery landscape of South Africa right now includes an orange-golden sunset in Johannesburg . . .

 a colourful scene in the Kruger National Park . . .

                                       

 unfortunately also a devastating fire in the Hluhluwe Game Park . . .

                     

   a serene scene in the uKhahlamba/Drakensberg area . . .

                              

  an always pleasant view across the sea at Plettenbergbay . . .

                             
the contradictory green effect of the semi-arid Klein Karoo region . . .

                             

  as well as sleepy-looking Campsbay with the 12 Apostles in the background.

                  

Major SA Cities

Today I want to share a kind of "visual reality" with regard to the 6 major cities in South Africa & to use only ONE word to describe them. [IF you don't agree OR have another description - feel free to share]

BUSY Johannesburg

FRIENDLY Pretoria

SLEEPY Cape Town

STATELY Pietermaritzburg

STEAMY Durban

WINDY Port Elizabeth

Predominantly Red

When driving through our country right now, magnificent red flowers are "the order of the day" during these winter months . . .

. . . from the Coral trees along the the Panorama Route (in the Mpumalanga Province) . . .

. . . with its (raptor) claw-like flowers . . .

. . . to the blooming aloes, which can be found all over the country . . .

. . . either "acting" as a frame . .

. . . or representing the "centre piece" . . .

. . . attracting a great variety of insects and birds - other than their aesthetically pleasing aspect.