On today’s evening game drive we followed the Thanda Elephant herd for almost three hours. We saw them moving over a hill, drinking at a waterhole, racing away from the water, crossing one of Thanda’s major roads and then feeding in a beautiful fever tree area.
It was difficult to choose one image for today’s post, but my favorite shots are of the two youngest Elephants in the group. The Thanda guests on my vehicle agreed on the high “cuteness factor” for these two!
Thanda guests enjoyed watching the herd of Elephants taking a mud bath at a waterhole. After an enjoyable swim and the mud bath they were dusting themselves before they disappeared back into the bush.
Elephant use mud and sand as a sunscreen, protecting their skin from ultraviolet light. Although tough, elephant’s skin is very sensitive. Without regular mud baths and dust baths to protect it from burning, insect bites and moisture loss, elephant’s skin may suffer serious damage.
When one is taking close-up pictures of two male Elephants sparring it feels a bit like taking pictures of two giants. In this case the two young bulls were close enough to merit the use of a wide angle lens which is not used too often for wildlife photography :-).
The Thanda guests on my vehicle and on the vehicle in the picture enjoyed this action-filled sighting.
… the Jacobson’s organ inside the mouth of an African Elephant.
This was a really tough one!
More about the Jacobson’s organ:
The Jacobson’s organ or vomeronasal organ is an auxiliary sense of smell organ that is found in many animals. This organ is the sense organ involved in the flehmen response in mammals. The Jacobson’s organ is mainly used to detect pheromones, chemical messengers that carry information between individuals of the same species. Its presence in many animals has been widely studied and its importance for reproduction and for social behavior has been shown in many studies.
Its presence and functionality in humans is controversial, though most studies agree the organ regresses during fetal development. Elephants transfer chemo-sensory stimuli to the Jacobson’s organ in the roof of their mouths using their “fingers”, at the tips of their trunks.
What a day – During today’s evening game drive we saw all the Big Five – Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo. The Thanda guests were delighted – and so was I 🙂
Imagine you are an Elephant Bull living at Tembe Elephant Park.
It is midday and you are due for a service 🙂 You move to the largest of the
waterholes …
… and fill up with fresh water while some human tourist watch you
drinking…
… you meet a few of your pals, some of them friendly and some of them are ready for a fight…
… you finish your drink and do a little light sparring…
… you move on to the “cool down” mud bath. Some big shots are in front of you so you have to wait your turn…
… what a great feeling to cool down in the heat of the day …
… you chase a Wildebeest around a bit – just for fun …
… and have a little dust shower…
… and now it is time you move back into the bush to continue your on-going
meal (about 350kg per day).
Today I have observed this scenario 14 times at Tembe Elephant Park. All 14 bulls adhered to the same procedure – creatures of habit!
Have a good weekend!
In 2008 I was for the first time at Tembe National Elephant Park (This picture was taken then).
Tembe is know for some of the greatest tuskers in Africa (=Elephants with very long tusks). I will be spending the next two days at this reserve and I hope I get to see some of these “teeth giants” 🙂
This youngster of Thanda’s herd of Elephant was trying to use his trunk to get a fruit of the Prickly Pear, but he did not succeed.
We watched the little one for quite a while as he was trying to imitate his mum and his older sibling.
A beautiful sighting in the morning sun!
The Thanda guests on today’s evening game drive were a bit intimidated and very impressed, but really loved the encounter with one of our two 40-45 year old Elephant bulls.
He gave me a few head shakes as a greeting after my absence on a trails guiding course. What a welcome!
While I was in the Lowveld for my training course I spent a few hours at Lake Panic in the Kruger National Park.
Besides many good bird shots I took a series of pictures of mating Hippos. Because of their size/weight they mate in the water. For most of the mating time one sees only the male but in the quite lengthy process the female occasionally surfaces to get some air.
My favorite lake panic bird picture is of a Malachite Kingfisher returning from fishing. I also got images of a Brown-hooded Kingfisher, a Woodland Kingfisher and a Pied Kingfisher. A good Kingfisher day!
On the way to Lake Panic I passed the Sabi River. This Elephant bull almost disappeared in the high grass along the river bank.
I enjoyed the Sabi Sands, Kruger and Lake Panic!
… and I am back home at Thanda 🙂 …
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 