Today we took all volunteers up to a nice spot to have a G&T at sunset 🙂
A very enjoyable way to end a day!
Return from Town!
When I returned from a day in Richards Bay two male Cheetahs were greeting me at the gate guard house (These Cheetah are very used to the gate traffic and ignore the guard in the building – he is perfectly safe :-)).
And once I had returned to Thanda house two Zebra had a good fight in front of the fence (the “whitish” distortions in the picture).
Before the sun set a female Scarlet-breasted Sunbird was looking for food in one of the trees in front for my room.
There is never a dull moment on Thanda, even after a day in town!
A Game Drive in Pictures!
This is the picture story of today’s evening game drive.
After leaving the camp we first encountered Giraffes with Oxpeckers on them.
We moved on to view a large group of Zebra.
Then we spotted an Elephant bull while we were looking for …
… the herd of Buffalo. The volunteers on my vehicle were most impressed when we were surrounded by one of the “Big Five”.
And while we were viewing the Buffalo we heard about a Cheetah sighting at a waterhole nearby.
After the Cheetah left we stayed until the sun was gone to take a few beautiful pictures of the sunset over the dam.
Another hard day in Africa 🙂
I am big!
This small Elephant tried to impress us on today’s game drive. He behaved exactly like an adult bull, but in his case the gestures were rather comical than intimidating.
Enjoy the pictures!
Roar!
Today’s post is my first small video project since I have arrived in South Africa. Mid of last week all my remaining equipment arrived from Amerika and I am now able to produce videos.
During this morning’s game drive I took a short video segment of one of our male Lions roaring. A Lion’s roar – heard a few meters away from the animal – is one of the most astonishing sound experiences on earth. One cannot only hear the roar but one can feel the vehicle vibrating from the sound. The sound on this video is only a meek representation of the real thing 🙂
Have a great week!
PS: This male was recently introduced to the reserve. That is the reason why he still wears a radio tracking collar.
Forest Work – Elephant Style
At the end of a very quiet morning game drive we watched this Elephant bull doing a bit of forest work. He knocked over the Acacia tree to get to its roots, which in the winter time hold most of the tree nutrients.
Have a good weekend!
Butterfly Meal
This Chinspot Batis enjoyed the butterfly.
I took the shots while taking a siesta in front of Thanda house , with my 500mm lens in a comfortable chair 🙂
Never say never …
This morning I explained to the volunteers on my vehicle that Hamerkops (a medium-sized wading bird) do usually only occur around larger water bodies and are therefore normally not seen on places like Thanda (with very limited water sources).
An hour later I drove by on of our waterholes and what was wading through the water: A Hamerkop.
That teaches me never to make definite statements – I will use the word usually a lot in the future 🙂
We also got photo opportunities with a Grey Heron (in flight) and a Namaqua Dove (I love the purple color on the wings).
Even without seeing any of the big five everyone enjoyed themselves very much.
“Bush Chicken”
They behave a bit like Chicken and they are related to them! So I nickname them “Bush Chicken”
A group of Helmeted Guinea Fowl greeted me this evening when I returned from town. As my vehicle was down again I had the time to go into town.
I started working on my South African drivers license – this will be a “length-ish” process :-).
Enjoy the picture!
Breakdown and Musth!
As one of the car mechanics put it, my Land Rover finally broke down and is in the “Intensive Care Unit” 🙂
But, I still went on game drive this afternoon with another car. This vehicle can only drive on roads, because it go a roof!
But we were lucky. We ran into an Elephant bull (in musth, but still pretty relaxed), into a White Rhino and also saw the Buffalo herd. The wet back legs (from dribbling urine) and the secretion from the glands on the side of his head are clear signs that the Elephant bull is in musth.
So the new group of volunteers – which arrived today – had a good first drive.
Let’s hope I get my car back tomorrow night in time for my drive on Wednesday morning!
