Sunday, February 26, 2012


Early morning traffic jam
Blog 7 from South Africa

Hard to believe seven weeks have already come and gone. Only one week to go which is a good thing because I am ready to go home and see my lovely wife.

This is the first week in a long time that we haven't be stuck in the sand.  But now we have an assortment of cruiser problems.  Our diesel fuel filter started leaking.  After traveling about five kilometers we had loss ten liters of fuel.  A quick trip back to the shop and a bolt to plug the water drain hole and we were off again.  But then our starter soliniod failed and we have been push starting the cruiser most of the time. This morning I changed a flat tire and help put a tire back on the rim.  Early in the week it was troubleshooting to figure out why a radio didn't work.  Those auto repair skills my father taught me have been coming in handy.

Foam Frog
We did another bush walk this week to look for Rhinos.  I saw ears and backs before they startled and ran away.  So the only pictures I took that morning were of this Foam Frog.  The female Foam Frog lays her eggs in a foam nest that she mades.  When the tadpoles hatch from the eggs they eat the foam and drop out of their nest.  If Mom and Dad Foam Frog placed their nest properly they fall into water and life is good.  If the nest was placed poorly their life is short.
These White Backed Vultured are quite large.  The circling vultures alert you to recent kills.
Two Giraffes smile for the camera.

There are lots of Zebras at the reserve.  I almost got to the point of not taking their pictures because you see them so often.


Purple Roller.  I think we identified 75 different birds this week.
This is a Tawny Eagle.  He was keeping a close eye on something in the grass.  We were a little too close for his comfort so we moved off. 
Four lions were brought onto the reserve to improve the gene pool.  Two females and two males.  The existing dominate male lion brothers are hunting for these four to kill the males. These four lions walled within five feet of our cruiser. In the wild the average male lion only lives about seven years before he is killed by another male.  When the new male because dominate he kills all of the young cubs.

These four where looking a little thin. 
You can tell these two males are young.  Their manes haven't grown in yet.

None of these images were cropped.  I was shooting my 70-200 lens at 70mm because they were so close.  Remember I said our starter solinoid didn't work and we had to push start the cruiser?  Five minutes after these thin, hungry looking lions walked by we were outside the vehicle pushed starting.  It was a little uncomfortable.  When you are in the cruiser the lions see you as one large object.  Not the same when you are outside pushing the cruiser.  Glad I can run faster than John. Oh by the way the worse thing you can do is run.
Yes those teeth look sharp.
We have had a few nice sunsets this week.  Most of the time were are not in a good location for a photo.
Checkout this guy's tail.  We don't know what kind of lizard he is at this time.
Finally I got to see Leopards and capture some photos.  We ran across a mom with her two cubs.  What wonderful looking animals.  There were four people walking within 50 meters of these Leopards and they were unaware that there were Leopards in the area.  Leopards are know to track humans.  A little scary.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Mom feels comfortable around the vehicles but her cubs are skitish.  As she walks the open road they are walking in the grass.  Mom keeps an eye on them and if they get to far away she calls them.

One cub joins her and I am snapping away thinking these may be the only photos I get.
Mom turns around to check on the cubs.
Off she goes into the bush and I still don't have the shot I want.

Mom circled back on us to wait for the cubs. I ask John to get out and cut the leaves but he refuses.
Finally a picture I like.  No leaves blocking the face and not butts.

This is probably my favorite picture I have taken in Africa. Our cruiser wouldn't start again so were were picked up by someone else.  I was sitting in the very last row which is usually bad for taking pictures.  But since mom and this cub circled behind us it worked out great.
The cub is watching us and mom is licking her lips.

Getting ready to disapper in the bush.
Beautiful animals

It didn't take long before you couldn't see them.
Large bull Cape Buffalo.  He walked up to the cruiser to let us know he was the boss.  Cape Buffalo are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.
This is a Boomslang snake.  This snake is extremely venomous.  She was in a tree over the road.  Since they are known to drop onto people and bite them we waited for her to move before we drove on.

 Only one more blog from South Africa.  I hope you have enjoyed the pictures.

Sunday, February 19, 2012





Six giraffes looking for my sixth blog from Africa      
John Miller stayed at the reserve today while I went out to see the Blythe River Canyon. So he has already put out his blog and gone to bed.

After six weeks in Africa I am still looking for a Leopard.  I did see a Cheetah this week but unfortunately there wasn't an opportunity for a picture. 

John, Claudia (head ranger), and I had a giraffe dung spitting contest.  I won with a shot that had to be 30% longer than my opponents.  There was talk of a re-match since I am much taller but one dung spitting contest is enough for a life time.

We had a successful bush walk this week.  Rhinos look much bigger and a little more frighten when you are on foot.  Fortunately they were more scared of us and took off through the woodlands.

We bogged our cruiser down to the axles in sand after a river crossing.  After two hours of jacking up each wheel multiple times and placing rocks and palm fronds under the wheels we were still stuck. A radio call was made and a tractor pulled us out in short order.

Here are this weeks pictures.
This picture was taken in poor light at the end of the day.  But it is the only picture I have of a hippo expressing displeasure because we were too close.
This is a Paradise Whydah. The male only grows this long feathers during mating season. After mating season the feathers drop off.
This is a Lilacbreasted Roller in flight.  While this picture isn't as sharp as I would like I believe this shot gives you a better idea of how beautiful these birds are. 
Lilacbreasted Roller
Many of the animals in the reserve use the roads on a regular basis. These hyenas were jogging in front of the cruiser for quite a ways early one morning.      
These Yellowbilled Hornbills were perched right next to the road. 
Pale Chanting Goshawk
This sign is in the reserve.  It translates to "It is great to live in the bush"

This is the first of three pictures of the Little Bee-eater.
These White Face Ducks must have had motherly instinct.  They were shortly chased away by the Knobbilled Duck mother of these 17 ducklings.
Waterbuck Antelope
Giraffe silhouette at sunset.
The first of eight lion pictures.  There were thirteen cubs and three moms hanging out in the shade on a hot day. The moms will suckle any of the cubs not just theirs.


I thought this guy was so cute that there are three picture.



One of the females was watching us closely.

A Leopard Tortoise - the only kind of Leopard I have seen in Africa.
Helmented Guineafowl
Crocodile   
The Blythe River Canyon. The third largest canyon in the world.

A wide angle closeup of a chameleon. 
Only two more weeks in Africa. I hope to have picture of Leopards and Cheetahs to show you next week.  

The 4oo mm of rain they had here a few weeks ago has changed some of the animals movement patterns. It looks like there has been a significant impact on the wart hog population.

The camp is quiet now. Looks like I am the last one up. Last night at this time a large bull elephant stopped by.  I hope he is not between me and my bed.