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.

Cast in Stone

As in clouds I often detect faces on the surface of rocks . . .

. . . although sometimes an actual profile is visible . . .

. . . as is also the case in this photo.

However sometimes it's not a case of human-like features - instead a rock can look like an (ancient) reptile!

And what creature could this be - appearing to be "honoured" with a flower necklace?

Surely these rocks resemble fish?

And this could be (the bottom) half of perhaps a mermaid?

Plenty Lions

Today I wish to share a few photos "snapped" during the last tour - a kind of photo-update centering mainly on the lions we were privileged to encounter.

At first a couple of lionesses were visible in the grass . . .

. . . but instead of hunting, they moved with their youngsters to the (main) road.

This male lion wasn't part of the lion family (above) - instead he's a "resident" on a private game reserve near Mosselbay . . .

. . . where these 2 Waterbuck youngsters also are at home . . .

. . . as is the case with the "models" in this photo . . .

. . . and where another "resident" came to welcome me back to the luxury tent I occupied before :)

As Promised

As promised to some guests during my last tour - I'm posting photos today which were taken during our game drive in open safari vehicles in the Kruger National park.

Just as the photo above - another endearing mother-&-child moment.

What looks like long earrings are in fact (red-billed) oxpeckers assisting an impala with the grooming process.

A young warthog looking surprised??

And then there was the "find of the day" - a lazy cat on a branch right next to the road.

A look at it from the other side . . .

. . . before this deceptively docile leopard opened its eyes.