Krugernationalpark on The Singemonkey

September 23, 2024

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 18:41:09 +0000

Smol hippo.

September 23, 2024

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 18:13:31 +0000

Another hopefully atmospheric bushveld scene. Buffalo and a Sabie River wild fig tree. I like this kind of pic to remind me of the experience of being on that river road when it’s very far away.

September 23, 2024

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 18:07:09 +0000

Sunset Impalas. We’re on our way home and have been having some patchy wifi. It was a really good time in the park. We finally saw a pack of painted wolves about half an hour before we drove out of Malelane Gate.

September 19, 2024

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 21:21:58 +0000

Tiny critters in a big landscape. Almost every pile of boulders (ancient magma chambers exposed by erosion and then crumbled by weather, plants, and time) has a pair of resident klipspringers (rock-hoppers) - an adorable, agile, and feisty little antelope.

These plaques on the rocks are the kind of memorialising that used to be de rigueur in the old days. Now such things are usually confined to camps and gates rather than forced onto the landscape.

September 19, 2024

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 20:39:57 +0000

A White-Fronted Bee-Eater. I’ll hopefully post a compilation for fellow bird-nerds before too long. I’ve seen some cool stuff and some that’s really new to me or photographed ok by me for the first time.

September 19, 2024

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 17:45:04 +0000

Scratching post.

September 19, 2024

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 17:39:38 +0000

Kruger is about landscape as well as beasts, birds, and trees.

September 18, 2024

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 18:12:50 +0000

There’s a certain type of wildlife picture that I just really enjoy even if it’s not very clever. 1960s/1970s style wildlife portraiture.

Thinking about my dear cousins @joydemillar and @timdrmillar today.

September 15, 2024

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 21:51:42 +0000

The prettiest kitty. Dozing on a branch over the Sabie just like her ancestors have probably done for thousands of years.

September 15, 2024

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 09:10:31 +0000

From hell’s dark heart we stab at thee. The oxpeckers riding the behemoth were sold to me as a kid as being benevolent helpers clearing animals of parasites. But they are also parasites themselves. This huge flock are riding this giraffe to pick at an open wound on its back.

It’s no good shaking them off. They just swoop back seconds later.

September 13, 2024

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 09:47:55 +0000

Yesterday evening on the Sabie - for my money the most beautiful river in South Africa. And that has a lot to with the huge wild fig trees that line its banks.

September 12, 2024

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 21:25:19 +0000

Long and lovely day. Goodnight.

September 12, 2024

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 14:22:55 +0000

A big old bruiser.

September 12, 2024

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 06:36:26 +0000

We’ve had two days of frankly chilly weather but today it’s back to the proper lowveld heat.

September 12, 2024

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 06:29:53 +0000

The smallest hyena I’ve ever seen. Its ma is obsessed with it.

September 09, 2024

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 19:28:20 +0000

All elephants together.

September 09, 2024

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 19:12:01 +0000

Plains Zebras are very passionate. Affectionate or fighting at the drop of a hat. Horses got strength and endurance and zebras got the rest perhaps.

September 09, 2024

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:39:20 +0000

I’ve been struggling a little with my photographic workflow since this 20 year old Nikon D200 uses the old compact flash cards and my card reader no longer reads them.

One bit of emergency photo recovery and some new software later, I’m back in business. I should be posting more regularly on this trip.

There’s been a lot of talk about the qualities of old CCD sensors like this one. But really the sensors before this generation (the last) were rather terrible.

September 07, 2024

Sat, 07 Sep 2024 18:26:21 +0000

The Sabie River bridge at Kruger Gate with denizens.

September 06, 2024

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 20:30:34 +0000

Three days on the road and now we get to relax. We’re not going to be go-getters tomorrow. We had to go through the park pretty swiftly from Malelane Gate to Kruger Gate and, although we saw tons of great stuff, I only took a handful of pics.

A Steenbok is the most delightful little animal. And those terrapins are showing us the way - basking on top of a fully alive but very sleepy hippo.

February 14, 2023

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 16:12:11 +0000

A mess of hippos.

January 16, 2023

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 09:19:35 +0000

The Lowveld in summer mist. This kind of landscape is generally called ‘savannah woodland’ as far as I know. It’s not the open savannah grassland you find in much of East Africa. Beautiful bushveld trees are everywhere - making up in perfection of form what they lack in height and girth.

I see the potential to reverse the annihilation of natural spaces like this, done in the 19th and 20th centuries, as the population peaks this century and agriculture becomes denser and more efficient - allowing more and more land to be released back into a natural state. This is the flip side to the ecological doom that looms ahead. At this point we could go either way. If the people with the money decide, we know it will only go one way.

January 14, 2023

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 12:27:52 +0000

Little fruitbats dangling themselves to sleep in Satara restcamp. I think they’re probably Wahlberg’s Epauletted Fruitbats. They’re about the size of my fist. When they’re settling themselves down they look like someone struggling in a sack.

January 12, 2023

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 10:15:28 +0000

A new zebra. They’re fluffy and their stripes are rather brown at this age.

January 11, 2023

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 10:32:01 +0000

Our cancellation-surfing approach to staying in Kruger worked less well than in other years we’ve done it. We ended up pinballing between camps a fair bit. Who can say why? Are more people doing it now? Are there companies grabbing cancellations and reselling? Or is it just the ‘post’-pandemic situation? Hard to say. It makes it a less appealing prospect for future trips, for sure.

January 09, 2023

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 12:33:58 +0000

Two large, impressive vultures. The lower bird is a Lappet-Faced Vulture which sports the largest wingspan of any non-seabird in Southern Africa. A huge, powerful vulture that’s able to tear open carcasses to the benefit of slighltly smaller vultures like the White-Backed Vulture shown landing here.

January 08, 2023

Sun, 08 Jan 2023 11:50:58 +0000

But when these doggos aren’t ripping impala lambs apart without bothering to kill them first, they’re very sweet and sociable. These painted wolves made a cuddle puddle under a bush to wait out the rain with the reassurance of family all around. Though they’re obviously vulnerable to lions, they’re not easily taken unawares with many ears and noses at work for their common defence.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 16:07:11 +0000

Painted Wolves (aka African Wild Dogs aka Cape Hunting Dogs) are the most desired large predator sighting in Kruger Park by regular visitors. We’ve been fantastically lucky to see them on most visits in the last decade. Packs are frequently wiped out by diseases of domestic dogs. Only the slow process of evolution or a genetic vaccine will restore them to the numbers they enjoyed in the late 19th Century.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 15:42:47 +0000

The Saddle-Billed Stork. I was delighted to find that the Indian Black-Necked Stork is a close cousin who’s eschewed the clown makeup for a gothic, vampire look. The perfect contrast.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 15:37:10 +0000

Dogs are always dogs. They love to play. They love to support and socialise. The painted wolf second from right has clearly been released from a poacher’s snare by the brilliant South African National Parks Board Staff. Despite the ugly gash, closeups reveal that it’s scarring over and healing nicely.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 13:38:54 +0000

I’d guess a lot of South Africans would be surprised to know we have indigenous parrots. This busy, curious little bird is the Brown-Headed Parrot. In some cities you can see Rose-Ringed Parakeets. But they’re the descendants of escaped pets. And they thrive in urban environments as they have for thousands of years in their native India. But this is a true Southern African parrot.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 13:27:06 +0000

Two cheetah brothers. In the second pic you can see the one brother calling the other down from his pedestal in his surprising cat-like high meow.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 13:20:17 +0000

A Burchell’s Coucal. The “rain bird.” Here drenched in rain. @withoutaleaf and I were laughing so hard at the Robert’s Birds description of its habits. This species is an absolute hot mess. Pure chaos.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 13:15:44 +0000

The sportiest and slinkiest. The African Cheetah. Two brothers using the way markers outside Orpen rest camp as viewpoints and scent marking them. Seeing cheetahs in Kruger is special. Seeing them clearly and close is magic.

December 24, 2022

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 12:22:18 +0000

Monkeys. Genuinely fun. Especially when they come in different sizes.

December 24, 2022

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 12:19:33 +0000

Dawn impala. I’m trying some new camera settings and they take a bit of getting used to. Quite a bit of noise on this one. Correctible with care. But I didn’t need a very high shutter-speed for this kind of thing.

December 24, 2022

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 12:16:19 +0000

Dawn in the African bushveld style.

December 24, 2022

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 12:14:10 +0000

Oh hai! Guess where we are again.

October 28, 2022

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 11:28:03 +0000

Looking through some pics to make some prints and I discovered this lion pic from 2018. They really are strange-looking cats. Very long and lean. I guess they’re built for more endurance than Tigers and most other cats that are ambush hunters. Lions have to keep up with prey for longer periods of time, I think.

October 25, 2021

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 09:39:18 +0000

More experiments with retro wildlife photography. These are plains zebras - the more common of the two species of zebra in South Africa. This one is widespread throughout the continent South of the Sahara. There is one more species that is deeply endangered that survives only in small, protected enclaves in Kenya and Sudan.

October 24, 2021

Sun, 24 Oct 2021 11:59:51 +0000

The Cape Buffalo - or African Buffalo. It has a far more violent reputation than most of its Asian cousins - especially the Water Buffalo which has been widely domesticated and provides mozzarella for your pizza. This buffalo has never been domesticated. It’s simply too strong and fierce. Of course they start off pretty cute.

October 24, 2021

Sun, 24 Oct 2021 11:53:38 +0000

Looking at some of my ‘B’ selections from our recent Kruger Park trip. This was more experimentation with my ultra cheap ttartisan 50mm f1.2 on my Fujifilm XE1 - shooting wide open to get a mid 20th C bushveld look. You can see the vintage lens design in this brand new lens in the slightly odd character of the out-of-focus parts of the image.

September 22, 2021

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 12:59:07 +0000

I found a few pics on cards from our 2019/2020 trip to Kruger. That was summer and the impalas were giving birth to huge numbers of lambs - most of which are destined to be dinner rather than grown up impalas. But they are delightful little creatures.

September 15, 2021

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 20:06:33 +0000

A first for me: the eerie Bathawk (if I’m not mistaken). I WAS MISTAKEN. It’s apparently a brown morph Honey Buzzard. Well there you go… Who knows what circumstances in its youth led to an ordinary hawk leading a double life fighting crime in this frightening guise?

We’re home after the usual exhausting trip across the country - notwithstanding a wonderful time in Jozi with @sophdex, @ezlemoen, some lovely parents, and many cats and dogs. It took all of one minute in Observatory during which we were both inside for some rando to try steal the lens which this picture was taken with out of the car. He was most offended that I was suggesting that his reaching into the car, opening a bag, and trying to secret the lens under his arm implied that he might have been attempting to steal it. The nerve of me to suggest such a thing! I think he actually believed himself too.

September 12, 2021

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 18:58:55 +0000

Impala Lilies are blooming in The Kruger National Park in spring.

September 12, 2021

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 18:52:32 +0000

I decided I preferred this Blue Eared Starling pic.

September 12, 2021

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 18:47:59 +0000

Another very common bird in The Kruger National Park: The Yellow-Billed Hornbill. And again, although they’re everywhere, they’re always fun. So full of arch, suspicious character and long glides just at windscreen level.

September 12, 2021

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 18:41:17 +0000

Would you believe that this creature is one of the most common birds in the Kruger National Park? They’re even common in Johannesburg gardens. They’re still stunning birds, no matter how ubiquitous - and cheeky - they are.

September 12, 2021

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 18:36:42 +0000

We primates distrust each other for very good reason.

September 11, 2021

Sat, 11 Sep 2021 14:13:22 +0000

Speaking of animals that often wish us ill, this has been the very last thing quite a few people ever saw.

September 11, 2021

Sat, 11 Sep 2021 14:08:48 +0000

There’s a non-zero chance that this is the same Cape Buffalo that I photographed chasing off that leopard at this same waterhole the other day. Impervious to leopards though they be, the boldest African lions can lay them low. As I understand it, the usually-complacent male lions are the ones that hunt buffalo - since it requires all of their massive strength to kill one of these aggressive bovine behemoths.

September 09, 2021

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 18:24:38 +0000

I don’t think this works great as an Insta pic, but it’s the kind of photo I’ll enjoy having hanging somewhere to remind me of this place when I’m not here. And bushbuck. Because I love bushbuck.

September 09, 2021

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 18:15:02 +0000

Not every leopard just walks right up to your car.

September 09, 2021

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 18:07:46 +0000

The savannah woodland in the morning - also the world’s largest land animal.

I experimented a bit today using my Fujifilm XE1 and the fast manual focus 50mm f1.2. On full frame that’s a 75mm focal length and roughly an f1.8 aperture in terms of depth of field wide open. I was trying to go for a bit of an old-fashioned look like if you were in the bush in the ’60s with a Pentax Spotmatic with a Takumar 85mm f1.8.

September 08, 2021

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 17:23:42 +0000

The delicate little Steenbok that lives a very nervous life all by itself in the Southern African bushveld.

September 08, 2021

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 17:15:46 +0000

Bird dump: Little Bee-Eater, African Darter, Greenback Heron, White Helmetshrike, Blue Waxbill.

September 08, 2021

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 16:18:16 +0000

This old guy’s almost ready for Valhalla. Scarred. Wounded. Moving slowly. I reckon his days as a silent bushveld assassin will be over soon.

September 07, 2021

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 09:54:18 +0000

The Bushbuck is a solid little beast. He won’t mind you but they have a nasty reputation for responding violently to harassment.

September 06, 2021

Mon, 06 Sep 2021 08:21:26 +0000

We’ve been seeing more giraffes that ever before so far on our holiday. From youngsters to grizzled veterans towering over the car with their scars and lion-lost tails. While I’m sometimes used to them, I’m still sometimes struck by what zany nonsense creatures they are. Evolution can take you to really strange places if you’re not careful.

March 02, 2021

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 14:53:06 +0000

I can’t remember if I posted one of these pics from Punda Maria restcamp in Kruger in Jan 2018. It’s far in the tropical North of the park. The waterhole you can watch from inside the camp is full of amazing visitors. Without having to be worried about gate-closing times, you can also catch them in the best evening light.

January 26, 2021

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 18:23:29 +0000

It’s not hard to love the warthog. Knee-high to most of the things you see on the savannahs and deserts of sub-Saharan Africa. Tough as nails. Trotting along with their maned and whiskered piglets in a train, their tails up like flags. Or down on their wrists nosing in the dirt. Unlovely but loveable - they’re jaunty endurance in the face of powerful challenges.

This, like the last one, was taken in 2012.

January 26, 2021

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 18:13:24 +0000

The very beautiful Impala. While the lowveld is thick with these, I never get tired of them. One of the most beautiful and graceful antelope you’ll ever see. In full panic they make astonishing leaps during their dashes for safety - taking to the air like 75kg swallows. Impala is one of the all-time most beautiful animal names. But I also like the Afrikaans, “rooibok,” - which means simply red buck.

October 07, 2020

Wed, 07 Oct 2020 13:40:21 +0000

Birds of prey. Look at me getting ambitious with some amateurish cutting.

These were all filmed in Kruger years ago. Featured birds: African Fish Eagle, the fearsome and mighty Martial Eagle, the Giant Eagle Owl (now called Verreaux’s Eagle Owl), the Bateleur - the skymaster - and the… Wahlberg’s Eagle?

Fun fact: I know how to talk to Giant Eagle Owls. That Owl was responding to me talking to it.

October 05, 2020

Mon, 05 Oct 2020 13:46:12 +0000

Young lions being sweet. This is a bit unusual to see. 90% of the time lions do nothing at all. 8% of the time they’re terrifying murder-machines that set our ancient alert system on defcon GTFO. All their other behaviour fits in that last bit.

If this seems a weird environment for a wild lion outside India, this is what the bushveld looks like after heavy rains. Kruger is mostly described as, “savannah woodland,” with plenty of large trees. This was in December 2013.

October 03, 2020

Sat, 03 Oct 2020 12:48:28 +0000

Handsome boi. Wait for it…

I thought I’d lost these clips. One of those times where you see something spectacular between entering Kruger and getting to camp. This was on the way to Pretoriuskop from Numbi Gate, I think. 2014. Prolly should have cropped this for insta. Oh well.

October 02, 2020

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:25:15 +0000

This hefty chap standing guard as the herd comes down to the river. Shot this in Dec 2013. One day I’ll learn Da Vinci and make some small films from the footage I’ve shot in Kruger.

September 28, 2020

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 18:15:03 +0000

Our painted wolf is the most dramatic dog in the world. Like their distant cousins in the frigid North, they’re superb pack hunters. Even at this early age, they learn to work together as the most lethal mammalian hunting team there is. Unfortunately, they have no resistance against canine distemper that inevitably spreads among them from domestic dogs - wiping out entire packs at a stroke and reducing the numbers of this apex predator to a handful. Perhaps one day they’ll figure out a genetic vaccine that can be passed down from mother to pup. This is an old one from December 2012.

December 26, 2019

Thu, 26 Dec 2019 16:04:00 +0000

A waterbuck bull. It has big horns and a ring around its butt. What’s not to like?

December 25, 2019

Wed, 25 Dec 2019 19:06:23 +0000

This was the second leopard posing on our drive this afternoon. We only stopped for a few minutes for this one because it was 20 minutes to gate closing. The other one that @withoutaleaf photographed was even more amazing.

December 25, 2019

Wed, 25 Dec 2019 19:03:17 +0000

An old chap chewing on a grass stem.

December 25, 2019

Wed, 25 Dec 2019 09:06:48 +0000

There have been heavy rains. We’ve never seen Kruger this green before. Photos can’t convey the glowing, emerald green of parts of the Southern Park. The animals look like they’re in one of those English ‘safari parks.

December 25, 2019

Wed, 25 Dec 2019 09:02:38 +0000

After three days on the road it’s great to finally arrive at the best place on Earth.

August 15, 2019

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 13:01:30 +0000

#throwbackthursday in more ways than one. This is the skin of the lion that jumped Harry Wolhuter - a hunter turned The Kruger National Park’s first game ranger. The lions ambushed him and he was thrown from his horse. He came to being dragged by the shoulder between the animal’s legs. He reached for his knife, praying it hadn’t been thrown clear as it had on two previous occasions. It was there. He then had to awkwardly reach around with his left hand as the lion’s jaws had completely incapacitated his right arm. He stabbed the lion thrice where, as a hunter, he knew its heart to be. It grunted and released him. After an awful night tied up in a tree by his belt, he was rescued by his retinue and they tracked the blood trail to the lion’s body. The puncture wounds are clearly visible. On a visit to England he went to buy another of these knives. He told the guy at the counter that he’d killed a lion with one. The clerk said sarcastically, “Yes sir. Here we use them to kill sheep.

August 07, 2019

Wed, 07 Aug 2019 19:07:04 +0000

Mad kitter. I’ve shot a lot of wildlife footage over the years but I’ve never done anything with it. Maybe it’s time to actually cut some of it together - even though the gear I used is pretty primitive by todays standards.

January 11, 2019

Fri, 11 Jan 2019 08:15:31 +0000

Not my best pic from the trip. But you can’t beat this for excitement. We were given bad instructions on where to look for this leopard - so out of 35 mins we spent there we spent about 5 mins actually looking at the animals. But shortly after we did spot them, this little leopard kitten stuck up it’s little head and I grabbed a couple of pics.

This also shows you why people use such enormous lenses for wildlife photography. This was with a long lens (500mm) and a 1.4x extender. And this is still a crop of only probably 40% of the image area. On a phone this leopard cub would have only been a few pixels.

January 09, 2019

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 11:30:45 +0000

Crested Barbet. Not uncommon to see in Johannesburg gardens. I managed to photograph a few things that got close enough for my Pentax 67 film camera. I’ll have to wait and see whether any of them worked out. I might try it again though. It’s a lot of fun to use and the clatter of that enormous shutter is very satisfying.

January 09, 2019

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 11:27:38 +0000

It’s our last day in Kruger. So lucky to get to stay so long, and yet it seems to always be over so fast.

We saw this smart little Black-Backed Jackal yesterday. Just taking it easy in the twilight.

January 06, 2019

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 16:18:04 +0000

One more for today (had no signal this morning). We came across a hyena family - including the littlest hyena. Full of fun and playing with its siblings.

January 06, 2019

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 16:15:32 +0000

We finally saw a spotty cat. This was yesterday. Quite a scrum of cars. We saw one better today though that @withoutaleaf got some nice pics of.

January 06, 2019

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 16:09:53 +0000

The Nahpi Boulder in late afternoon with beautiful post-rain skies. In my head this kind of scene is as South African as it gets.

January 06, 2019

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 16:07:51 +0000

We were visited by this toad that came to eat our bugs.

January 03, 2019

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 08:32:01 +0000

We’re in Pretoriuskop after a bit of an exhausting day yesterday. Got up to go driving around at 4 AM and didn’t settled down in our new place here until 5 PM.

December 31, 2018

Mon, 31 Dec 2018 11:41:05 +0000

The first success of camp day. This Violet-Backed Starling appeared in the tree next to where I was sewing a button and @withoutaleaf was preparing breakfast. I’ve wanted to photograph one of these since forever. A jewel of the bushveld.

December 31, 2018

Mon, 31 Dec 2018 08:08:52 +0000

We’re taking a camp day today. No driving out. Just seeing what wildlife’s in Skukuza and the river and checking out some of the old exhibits.

December 31, 2018

Mon, 31 Dec 2018 08:05:49 +0000

We took it pretty easy yesterday after our early starts. We haven’t really had time to really just relax since we left Cape Town. Aparna spotted this orchid growing in one of the bushveld trees - which we thought was pretty amazing. And just right for my 1970s 105mm lens.

December 29, 2018

Sat, 29 Dec 2018 14:40:17 +0000

I hate to brag… actually I love to brag about stuff that’s inconsequential… but this was lion sighting 4 out of 8 so far since Wednesday. Four of those were today. First up was a set of heavy boys who were shaking up the morning bush with their calls.

Photographically speaking, not the best day. But I used some 19th Century style photo printing techniques to make the most of this. Only it’s a lot easier on digital where you don’t have to wave bits of card under enlargers for set numbers of carefully planned seconds.

December 29, 2018

Sat, 29 Dec 2018 14:31:37 +0000

The Sabie River just after daybreak.

December 28, 2018

Fri, 28 Dec 2018 12:28:36 +0000

“Hail the jewel at the heart of the lotus.” We saw a lot of amazing bird behaviors today. Dancing Mourning Doves. This African Jacana bowing to this water lily while its mate looked for twigs as presents. And rollers bobbing and squawking at each other. None of the pics I took of this extraordinary behavior were any good though. Naturally.

December 28, 2018

Fri, 28 Dec 2018 12:21:18 +0000

A damp vulture. You probably can’t see on instagram, but the heat finally broke this morning and the rain came down. From 30C at dawn it’s now a comfy 23C with the delicious sizzle of rain with occasional thunder.

December 28, 2018

Fri, 28 Dec 2018 12:16:11 +0000

We got up at 4 this morning to go look for these lions in the hopes that they’d be doing something in la crepescule du matin. Well, at least they weren’t hiding under a bush.

December 27, 2018

Thu, 27 Dec 2018 15:06:22 +0000

The car thermometer peaked at 48C this afternoon. So the lions we saw were asleep under a bush. But at Lake Panic, this killer was undeterred. We probably have little furry ancestors that hung from the jaws of this Squaco Heron’s dinosaur ancestors like this doomed frog.

December 27, 2018

Thu, 27 Dec 2018 08:37:34 +0000

It’s hot in the Kruger Park. Yesterday was 42 degrees. Today is predicted for 44 (as usual, I have no idea what that is in loony units - join civilization and go metric). Everything we saw on our drive from Malalane to Skukuza was moving slow in the boil. Birds were panting in the trees. If anyone can say what this dark brown eagle is, I’d appreciate it. Brown eagles are my Waterloo.

December 26, 2018

Wed, 26 Dec 2018 13:55:21 +0000

About to sign in to the best place on Earth.

October 18, 2018

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 15:37:25 +0000

#tbt to the last time I tried to shoot wildlife on a medium format film camera. And by luck we encountered this scarred old veteran close enough for the Pentax 400mm lens with a 1.4x extender.

October 11, 2018

Thu, 11 Oct 2018 15:02:07 +0000

#tbt to when we drove past this tall kitty strolling down the road.

January 08, 2018

Mon, 08 Jan 2018 13:32:17 +0000

White Fronted Bee Eater at Pafuri picnic area in the extreme North of the park. It’s our last day 😢 We saw a leopard in the dark just after leaving camp at 4:30am. And, later, very sad scenes of and impala ewe and two lambs stuck up to their necks in a pool of mud.

January 07, 2018

Sun, 07 Jan 2018 21:27:25 +0000

The vigilant herd matriarch. Elephant cows spend much of their time away from the large and unpredictable bulls. They form herds to raise their offspring led by these tough-as-nails older females that are ever watchful and have no patience for bullshit.

January 07, 2018

Sun, 07 Jan 2018 21:20:01 +0000

The smallest elephant in Kruger. This wee elephant is about the size of a dog. There was an incident this evening - where a teenage elephant pushed this baby over. The herd matriarch was pissed to say the least - screaming in anger. The whole herd rushed to see that the baby was ok. When it was back on its feet, a sibling or cousin not all that much bigger walked with its trunk draped over the little one to reassure it. Elephants are no gentle giants. But they look after their little ones.

January 06, 2018

Sat, 06 Jan 2018 19:18:00 +0000

The fancy roller. We thought for a hot second it was a Racket-Tailed Roller - which would have knocked my socks off (had I been wearing socks). But it’s the very common - but still lovely - Lilac Breasted Roller.

January 06, 2018

Sat, 06 Jan 2018 19:13:03 +0000

“It’s an animal that looks like a dude!

January 06, 2018

Sat, 06 Jan 2018 19:09:31 +0000

Sundown Impala battles.

January 05, 2018

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 18:35:41 +0000

The proof! @withoutaleaf risks lion attacks at the Tropic of Capricorn.

January 05, 2018

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 18:33:01 +0000

We’re in the tropics!

January 05, 2018

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 18:30:09 +0000

After a long day of driving we have reached Shingwedzi. Tomorrow we go further North to our final goal.

January 04, 2018

Thu, 04 Jan 2018 10:04:14 +0000

@withoutaleaf is taking no chances in getting that perfect Woodland Kingfisher pic. They’ve defied her for too long. Now she’s staking out the branch on which they do their thing with her book and her script supervisor’s chair.

January 03, 2018

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 16:54:09 +0000

Orpen rest camp no.2 looking back the other way to where we were staying.

January 03, 2018

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 16:51:12 +0000

Orpen rest camp no.1. It’s quite tiny. About 8 double cottages, no restaurant, and just this one strip of lawn and trees facing onto the fence. Still a delightful place to put your feet up to the sound of thunder and even more thunderous frogs.

January 02, 2018

Tue, 02 Jan 2018 13:57:32 +0000

A tough old boy we got to see doing his thing this morning. I’m pretty sure all of us have some kind of species memory for when we were very much on these guys’ menu. There’s an eerie feeling when you see them up close. And they feature often in my nightmares.

December 31, 2017

Sun, 31 Dec 2017 14:45:55 +0000

Had a brief drive just now and saw some more wild dogs. But the highlight for me was when @withoutaleaf spotted this little African Barred Owlet having a sleepy afternoon almost hidden in a tree. It’s only about the size of a dove.

December 31, 2017

Sun, 31 Dec 2017 07:47:57 +0000

In case y’all are sick of birds, here are some of the painted wolves we saw a half hour ago. Always worth getting through the huge clusters of cars to see them behave just like dogs do. They’re so vulnerable to diseases from domestic dogs that it’s a special privilege to see these rare hunters.

December 31, 2017

Sun, 31 Dec 2017 04:44:09 +0000

Pre-dawn on the Sabie River is when the night wails of the bushbaby mix with the victory cry of the fish eagle.

December 30, 2017

Sat, 30 Dec 2017 20:03:05 +0000

Posting one extra from yesterday to remark on the magic of flying ants. Walking by the riverside here in Skukuza, they rise in great cones of insects - perfectly silent. Not the slightest sound. They fly towards the brilliant summer moon in their hundreds like grey fairies in the dusk. This phenomenon is impossible to photograph and would be a challenge to film.

This is a Woodland Kingfisher, BTW. Its call is the sound of the summer.

December 30, 2017

Sat, 30 Dec 2017 19:53:30 +0000

I didn’t take too many pics today. And if birds aren’t your thing, you’re bang out of luck 😂. This is the Carmine Bee-Eater - one of the only bee-eaters, in my experience, that won’t wing it at the first sign of a camera.

December 30, 2017

Sat, 30 Dec 2017 06:53:51 +0000

A Lesser-Striped Swallow does a little yoga to get going.

December 29, 2017

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 16:13:22 +0000

One of the most striking Plains Zebras I’ve ever seen. Usually they’re more white than black. But not this guy we saw this afternoon.

December 29, 2017

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 15:42:17 +0000

Did you know we have absolutely beautiful pigeons in South Africa? If all you know are “sky rats,” your impressions may be softened by meeting the African Green Pigeon - a beautiful wood Pigeon very fond of wild figs.

December 29, 2017

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 14:45:58 +0000

Just them bushveld trees and the sun going down. Living in Africa - classic edition.

December 29, 2017

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 14:40:31 +0000

So my project this year is to capture something of the feel of Kruger rest camps. I’ve started slow, as usual. I missed doing anything to show off Berg en Dal at all (although it has its own wonderful charm). But here’s Crocodile Bridge. The camp is just this small circle of rondawels (colonial versions of traditional houses among some South African tribes) and a very open campsite. The small size and this leafy greenness are what really struck me. It’s a lush feast for drought-tired eyes.

December 29, 2017

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 09:35:12 +0000

Most people in SA don’t even know what asafoetida is - let alone take it in their holiday supplies like @withoutaleaf does 😂

December 29, 2017

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 09:02:06 +0000

Dear @sanparks … why aren’t these available for sale? We would buy the heck out of these.

December 28, 2017

Thu, 28 Dec 2017 19:24:45 +0000

Who cares about a big old lion lyin’ about in the veldt when you can return to camp to find that a busy raiding party of banded mongooses has brought their little cubs to work with them? .

December 28, 2017

Thu, 28 Dec 2017 18:52:00 +0000

Narcissus. Herons sometimes feature in Buddhist iconography representing the Buddha mind of stillness with great alertness. This Little Egret knows it’s a great way to fill the belly.

December 28, 2017

Thu, 28 Dec 2017 15:25:00 +0000

You may find a hint that these little binoculars are getting on in years. But they’re still absolutely brilliant - literally.

December 27, 2017

Wed, 27 Dec 2017 16:24:15 +0000

“The cult members wear coal-black cloaks and bloody red masks. They strike with great curved daggers.” The Ground Hornbill is the largest and most powerful hornbill - about the size of a turkey. Despite their name, they can fly - an awesome sight. They make short work of reptiles and small mammals.

December 27, 2017

Wed, 27 Dec 2017 16:11:49 +0000

“Would madam prefer that in black?” Black Stork at river level.

December 27, 2017

Wed, 27 Dec 2017 16:07:23 +0000

Formal portrait of three warthog siblings.

December 27, 2017

Wed, 27 Dec 2017 15:59:38 +0000

That feel when you’re only little and everything’s exciting. This little hyena was having such a good time by the pool with aunties and uncles.

December 27, 2017

Wed, 27 Dec 2017 15:53:52 +0000

A rather silly looking hyena having a frolic in a pool near their den. We found them while lost and running on fumes. The antics of this pack made it all worth while.

December 26, 2017

Tue, 26 Dec 2017 12:47:11 +0000

Pretty in powder blue. A European Roller. First day in Kruger and we see a Black Rhino (!) and 4 young cheetahs.

January 01, 2017

Sun, 01 Jan 2017 09:30:07 +0000