nThambo Day 5 – New Sightings and Old Friends

Day 5 at nThambo Tree Camp proved another special day in the bush. Despite the wintry chill of the 5:30 am wake up, the sights I experienced were once again heartwarming. The morning game drive was highlighted early on with a nervous heard of impala drinking at the waterhole as their reflections peered back at them. A pleasing surprise was a great spot by Issack our tracker – an African Barred Owlet!

 

As we continues we were happy to encounter our friends the two “Ross Pride Breakaway Females” There two lionesses had left their original pride of 20 + lions to go it alone. There have proved themselves great hunters, but had sadly lost several litters of cubs over recent years. Having a healthy pride to help raise and protect cubs is critical as many other animals will kill young lion cubs if they encounter them unattended.

 

A hearty breakfast was followed by a nice bush walk where we got to learn more about tracking , animal scat, and the smaller things to be found in the bush. It was a very nice treat to wind up walking alongside a journey (or tower) of giraffe for over half an hour. My friendly Lilac Breasted Roller even visited us as we returned to camp.

The first part of the afternoon drive was highlighted by being in the midst of a relaxed breeding herd of elephants. To me the coolest part was to see the two elephants below “greet” each other in a most unique way! Has anyone ever seen this behavior before in the wild or in captivity?

   

 

The day concluded with another up close encounter with our by now well-known lionesses. Their expressions here show it all. Notice the condition of her teeth – close examination shows her to be missing a canine tooth and two incisor teeth. Life in the bush is not for sissies!

 

Cheers – come back to see the WOW factor that day six brings!

Back in Africa!

Greetings from South Africa – I safely arrived two days ago and am happily at home in the bush at the wonderful nThambo Tree Camp in the Klaserie game reserve just to the west of Kruger National Park. 

My travels halfway around the world was as pleasant and uneventful as any 10,000 mile voyage could have been! I wish to single out two people who made my travel from Dallas to Johannesburg more enjoyable. First is Jerri Thomas one of the flight attendants on my Dallas to Atlanta flight. When space for my carry on camera gear was sparse, she went out of her way to find a way to keep my precious gear in the main cabin rather than forcing me to check it --- and she did all of this with a genuine smile while working on July 4th.  THANKS Jerri!  Second was my waitress at the Atlanta airport TGIFriday’s Devona was absolutely as welcoming, pleasant, and funny as I could have hoped for given that she was working a very busy shift on the 4th of July. Her great good cheer and ready laugh was another bright spot which made a long trip much better than it might have been. THANKS Devona!

16 hours across the Atlantic Ocean was tiring but thankfully easy. I was warmly greeted and hosted for the night by my friend Dave, one of South Africa’s great caving pioneers. The following day, it was back to the Airport to catch my flight to Hoedsprit, the gateway to the Kruger region of South Africa.

After a short and enjoyable drive to nThambo with Enoch, I settled into my “Chalet”, a luxurious tent set on top of a platform 20 feet high. Camp Manager Lily did a fine job of welcoming me to the camp and orienting me to the daily pulse of this great camp. A delicious lunch was followed by getting to meet my guide Luan, and our tracker, Isaac. I also became acquainted with the other guests who were from Germany, South Africa, and Seattle. 

Our first game drive began slowly as the only unusual animal we encountered in the first hour was the threatened Ground Hornbill – It was busy trying to make a meal of a Leopard tortoise. Looking at this bird you might think I had made a wrong turn into "Jurassic World"!

As the sun sank and the sky began to take on the hues of a lovely sunset, the rhinos made their appearance – We started with one young bull and were joined by two rhino cows within moments! 

 

Thing then got better as we followed them to the local water hole where we were treated to the presence of three more rhinos! We enjoyed our sundowners there as we watched the rhino calf suckle as the sky grew progressively orange. 

We then began our trip back to camp and dinner, but were treated once more to the beauty of the bush when we came across two lionesses known as the Ross Pride Breakaway females because they left the larger Ross pride to strike out on their own. 

 

Seeing them relaxing in the darkness was exciting and a perfect end to my first full day back in Africa! 

2013 Blue Lion Year in Review- Part 3 of 6

In this post, we will wander from photo # 15 down to the edge of my top 10 images of 2013. This collection features images from my South African Safari as well as local shots and even my favorite Civil War reenactment shot of 2013. Enjoy and make sure to visit back tomorrow for images # 6 through 10! If you missed previous posts in this countdown, you can click on them here: PART 1, PART 2.

# 15 ~ Spotted Hyena Snarl ~ Ngala Game Reserve, South Africa

# 14 ~ Snowy Egret Hunting ~ Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX

#13 ~ "FIRE!" ~ Battle of Fort Richardson, Jacksboro,TX

#12 ~ (Not So) Graceful Giraffe ~ Fossil Rim , Glen Rose, TX 

#11 ~ Reflective Heron ~ Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX

Once I post the next installment in the countdown, you can click HERE  to see it! As always I am interested to hear which of my images speak most loudly to you individually! Feel free to tell me in the comments below! 

On Safari - Wounded Pride

As you may recall from earlier posts, during my African Safari I had the opportunity to follow a small lion pride over the course of several days. On the Ngala property there are three different prides of lions that crisscross much of the territory. It seems that this property was on the edge of their territories and thus none of the three prides staked it out as core territory. The largest of the prides, the Birmingham pride numbers over 20 different lions. Unfortunately, they were spending most of their time in the Kruger National Park during my visit so I did not get a chance to see them. The smallest of the three groups with several new, young males were looking to take over an existing pride. These young rogue males also didn't make an appearance during my visit. The lions I did get a chance to see were a pride of four lions: One adult lioness and her three sub adult children. We encountered them at three separate times during my visit. The first encounter (documented in my post "On Safari - Part One") involved them stalking a herd of impala.



The second encounter involved us following them through some very heavy brush. Despite the thickness of the brush, I was able to get some nice views but you can definitely tell they were not too keen on us being that close!



The third and final encounter with this pride was at the far side of the property as they came down to drink at a water hole in the early morning.




We had heard reports that they had been involved with a carcass in the overnight hours. No one was able to tell if they had made a kill and this was their carcass or if they were trying to steal it from some other predator. The result was that there had clearly been a battle over this carcass. When we caught up with this pride, we observed that the mother lioness had certainly taken the brunt of a very significant fight. As you can see from these images, she had some significant wounds to her flank and her head. What the still images don't show is that she was walking remarkably easily given the nature of her wounds. Those of us with less experience were concerned that these wounds might indeed prove fatal to her. However, our ranger assured us that such wounds while certainly running the risk of infection usually would not be fatal. Another concern brought up by these wounds is if the matriarch of this pride was wounded, would it impact her ability to make sure that her sub adult children could survive to adulthood with the hunting skills they needed. Only time will truly tell.

 One thing this encounter clearly demonstrates is that life in the African bush is never easy. Those of us who do not encounter the drama of the African bush on a daily basis easily forget that hunting for your food each day is not without great peril. Aside from the dangers inherent in killing prey that does not want to be killed, there's also the risk of dealing with confrontation from other predators who want what you may have. The story of this lion pride and my visits with them clearly shows the grittier side of Mother Nature. As much as we may want it to seem like it's a Disney movie, survival often has a rather R-rated script to it.

On Safari - Leopard Sighting!

Click  in the image to see the high resolution version 

This post brings us to the afternoon of day three of my visit to the Ngala Safari Lodge in South Africa. As you have seen from my previous postings, I had a great deal of success seeing a wide range of African animals. At this stage of the trip, two animals were missing from my list of the “Big Five”. These two animals were rhinos and leopards. I had been lucky enough to see rhinos on several occasions during previous visits to Africa, so they were less of a priority for me. However, my previous visits had yielded only a short glimpse of a wild leopard. Shortly before sunset we got a call over the radio from another ranger that a young male leopard had been spotted with an impala carcass in a tree. The challenge for us was to get there before the sun went down. The leopard sighting was estimated to be approximately 20 minutes away and under perfect conditions we might just get there before sunset. Our ranger drove with great determination to beat the clock and get us this leopard sighting before darkness fell. Upon our arrival, we were able to see the leopard about 20 feet up in a leadwood tree tending to his carcass. 

Click  in the image to see the high resolution version 

The faint light was less than perfect for photography. Rather than let this opportunity pass me by, I reached into my camera bag, put on my high-powered flash, played with some settings, and hoped for the best. The images that you see here certainly have some flaws, but they accurately capture the excitement of those special moments. 
Upon our arrival, we noticed that in addition to the leopard in the tree with his carcass two hyenas had camped out under the tree and were vocally harassing the leopard hoping that his inexperience would cause him to drop the carcass down for them and they could feast. The leopard fed on the carcass for a while, seemingly oblivious to the hyenas. However, after a while he turned and wandered down the tree aways and let them know that he was none too pleased with their presence. 

Click  in the image to see the high resolution version 

When he finally came all the way down, he gave the hyenas distance and they gave him distance. The leopard moved away from the tree and off into the grass. 

Click  in the image to see the high resolution version 

We then headed back to camp and the dinner that awaited us. We made plans to return to this tree the following morning in the hopes of a better opportunity to photograph this beautiful leopard in action. Unfortunately, the carcass slipped out of the tree overnight and the hyenas had their fill of it. Even though I missed a chance to shoot the “Young Tom” leopard in the morning light, I held out hope that the final days of my Safari experience would yield another good leopard sighting. I'm happy to report I was not disappointed. Please coming back soon to get the full story of a future leopard sighting!

Looking back on a smart move!

Earlier this week I saw on CNN video of a young Australian woman who was visiting Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River at the Zambia/Zimbabwe boarder. On New Year's she decided to be adventurous and bungee jump from the Victoria Falls bridge which sits almost 400 feet above the river. Sadly, the bungee cord snapped and plunged her into the mighty currents of the Zambezi. Miraculously she survived with little more than some very nasty bruising but no broken bones! If you have not seen this video, I am posting it below.

Seeing this brought back memories of my trip with a friend to Southern Africa in 2006 which included a visit to Victoria Falls on my way to the Chobe River National Park in Botswana. As it was my friend's 50th birthday while we were there, he expressed a great interest to do the same bungee jump you saw above. Having a VERY healthy fear of falling from ridiculous heights, I declined his invitation to join him, but promised that I would dutifully record his deadly plunge into the Zambezi Canyon for his family.


To my surprise, he changed his mind overnight and greeted me at breakfast with the suggestion that we see teh falls from the air in a helicopter. Having never been in a chopper, I was more than game! Trying to ignore the safety risks of flying in a Zimbabwean helicopter, we had a fantastic ride and saw Victoria Falls in all its glory.

If you look to the right center of this photo you can see the bridge over the Zambezi Canyon and even see the small hut where the bungee jumping outfit operated. 


Am I ever glad we chose the helicopter ride that day! 

The Stately Saddle Billed Stork

The winner of the latest poll on the Blue Lion Photos Facebook Page was Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, or the Saddle Billed Stork. This bird is the largest of the African Stork and is found widely throughout Sub Saharan Africa. 


The Saddle Billed storks are most commonly found around open wetlands where they feed on fish less then a foot long. They will supplement their fish diet with crabs, shrimp, frogs, reptiles, small mammals, young birds, mollusks and large insects. The storks take advantage of trees near the lake shores to build their nests, which are usually deep and built from sticks gathered by the mating pair. 


The pair mates near the end of the rainy season so that the chicks can fledge at the height of the dry season which allows them to find food when it is most highly concentrated in the shrinking pools and ponds.


I encountered this magnificent bird at the Fort Worth Zoo where they are part of an ongoing breeding program. The Ft. Worth Zoo claims to be one of only two zoos in the United States to breed these impressive birds. 

Zambezi Sunset

Zambezi Sunset

This week's Skywatch Friday & Scenic Sunday post comes from my 2006 visit to Southern Africa. I was lucky enough to be able to present at a conference in Johannesburg, South Africa that June. To make good use of the long trip and to live out a lifelong dream, I booked two safaris. The first was at Ngala Private Game reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park. The second was in Botswana at the Chobe National Park. The trip from Ngala to Chobe entailed a two-day stay in the town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. As the name suggests, this is where the mighty Zambezi River falls more than 360 feet (more than double the height of Niagara Falls) into the Zambezi River Gorge. The falls is also more than a mile wide at this point. The evening before I kayaked the rapids of the lower portion of the Gorge, I was able to enjoy a sunset cruise on a flat-bottomed barge on the Zambezi just above Victoria Falls. Lucky, it was the dry season and we were treated to a stunning, cloud free sunset in addition to sightings of crocodiles and hippos.

Enjoy your view of one of Africa wildest rivers!

Click in the image for to see it in the original gallery

PS - several of you have already emailed and asked about any images I have of the Victoria Falls. Due to the mist that the the Falls kick up (the locals call Victoria Falls - "The Smoke that Thunders") it is tough to get a good view if the Falls from the land based viewing spots. As such I took one of the local helicopter rides to see the Falls  from above. The images are not great as I felt like I was holding on for dear life  as we sharply banked over the Falls.

Click in either image for a higher resolution version

Zambezi Sunset

Zambezi Sunset

This week's Skywatch Friday post comes from my 2006 visit to Southern Africa. I was lucky enough to be able to present at a conference in Johannesburg, South Africa that June. To make good use of the long trip and to live out a lifelong dream, I booked two safaris. The first was at Ngala Private Game reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park. The second was in Botswana at the Chobe National Park. The trip from Ngala to Chobe entailed a two-day stay in the town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. As the name suggests, this is where the mighty Zambezi River falls more than 360 feet (more than double the height of Niagara Falls) into the Zambezi River Gorge. The falls is also more than a mile wide at this point. The evening before I kayaked the rapids of the lower portion of the Gorge, I was able to enjoy a sunset cruise on a flat-bottomed barge on the Zambezi just above Victoria Falls. Lucky, it was the dry season and we were treated to a stunning, cloud free sunset in addition to sightings of crocodiles and hippos.

Enjoy your view of one of Africa wildest rivers!

Cheers!

John

Click in the image for a higher resolution version



PS - several of you have already emailed and asked about any images I have of the Victoria Falls. Due to the mist that the the Falls kick up (the locals call Victoria Falls - "The Smoke that Thunders") it is tough to get a good view if the Falls from the land based viewing spots. As such I took one of the local helicopter rides to see the Falls  from above. The images are not great as I felt like I was holding on for dear life  as we sharply banked over the Falls.

Click in either image for a higher resolution version

The Lion King

This image I call "The Lion King" because of his obvious regal stature and his iconic pose. I took this photo in the Chobe River National Park in Botswana in July of 2006 while on safari. The Chobe area was a real haven for wildlife and especially lions! Over the course of 3 days we saw more than a dozen different lions at all times of the day and night. This morning happened to be my last at Chobe and I was happy to enjoy whatever nature was going to offer up to us that day. Our blood began to boil a bit when our intrepid and amazing ranger, Willie heard lions moaning & grunting in the predawn darkness. Amazingly, he could hear them several minutes before we became aware of them.


As we drew closer (within a mile or so)we could hear a clear baritone "call & response" between two male lions. It was a mix of sounds that ranged between a deep moan and a series of "huffs" almost as if one of the lions was trying to clear his throat. Willie informed us this was two large males who were the Alpha male of the pride and his brother and the #2 in command. They were separated overnight and were grunting to each other to clarify their locations to each other and to the rest of the pride.


We first came across the brother, who I think of as the "Lion Prince". The Prince was obviously not the leader of this group as he was clearly scarred up and had gotten the brunt of previous battles with other males (mostly his brother). Like most of the lions I encountered, he was seemingly oblivious to our safari jeep and continued calling for his brother even as we were within 25 yards of him. Almost close enough to smell his breath!


Having located him, we could then follow his brother's sounds. This led up about three quarters of a mile to the grasses near the river's edge. Here we we greeted with the warm light of dawn and two lions! The Lion King in all his regal splendor and his favored lady - dubbed the Lion Queen. Upon seeing the two of them together, you could see that they were the "IT" couple of this pride of lions. They looked like a Hollywood couple - the "Brangelina" of Chobe National Park. Both seemed to be without the scars you'd expect of lions who have risen to dominate their pride.Indeed, you could say they looked almost too perfect! Needless to say, I was not complaining as I was able to capture some of my favorite lion portraits with those two.


When I came up the the idea of "Blue Lion Photos" I knew this had to be my mascot and thus a little Photoshop work and he became the official "Blue" Lion.