nThambo Tree Camp Day 4 - Another Day in Paradise

Day 4 at nThambo Tree Camp was another stunning day with superb winter weather (cool in the  morning and warm in the afternoon) Bother game drives produced some wonderful sightings. The morning began with yet another beautiful South African Sunrise  - the sunrises and sunsets here in southern Africa are remarkably orange relative to what a comparably clear sky in Texas produces. It seems that a greater presence of dust in the upper atmosphere here (potentially blown by winds from the Namib desert to the west) give this special color without the presence of clouds.

Elephants were the early highlight of the day as we were privileged to witness a relaxed breeding heard come down to  the waterhole to get a drink. The early light and their imposing presence made their visit all the more special  - I always love watching elephants manipulate their trunks in interesting ways and this encounter did not disappoint.  

 

We also got to visit with two of the most "prehistoric" looking creatures of the Klaserie Game Reserve - I'll leave you to decide which is your choice for "Most Prehistoric". 

 

As is always the case on came drives, there is the tension between predators and prey. The tiny steenbok (left) and impala (right) are always on alert and ready to alarm call and flee at a moments notice when any hint of hyena or lions crosses their sensory radar. 

 

 

I feel truly privileged to get to have and share this amazing experience in a truly magical place with you. While I am always a little disappointed when a game drive comes to an end, it's hard to stay that way when presented with a another glorious sunset! 

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 - 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!

On SAFARI - Hyenas and Wild Dogs

This is a short post to be able to share with loyal Blue Lion Blog readers the promised video of the Spotted Hyena – African Wild Dog showdown video that I have posted to my YouTube account.



The back-story is that we had seen a solitary Spotted Hyena resting near where we had reports of wild dog tracks from earlier in the day. After watching the hyena reclining, we went in search of the dogs and soon found them. In the short 10 minutes since we left the hyena, the dogs had managed to kill an impala and then have the hyenas (including the individual we had just left) steal it from them. The dogs pestered and harassed the hyenas and finally regained “ownership” of the carcass.

On Safari!- Part 1

Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure to spend two weeks in South Africa on a dual purpose trip. The first half was spent in Johannesburg exploring my long time interest in the anthropology of early pre-humans with Professor Lee R. Berger and his team at the University of the Witwatersrand This is the group that discovered and is describing the species Australopithecus sediba.  

The Karabo Skull - Australopithecus sediba

Holding the Taung Child skull - A dream come true! 

The second half of the trip was spent on the unfenced western edge of Kruger National Park at the Ngala Safari Lodge. The five nights spent there were truly magical, and I will be sharing the images and videos of that experience here on the Blue Lion Blog.

Steenbok (Raphicerus campestris)

If you've never been on safari, your day starts early when you awakened for the morning game drive at 5:15 am.  You get dressed warmly (July in South Africa is winter) and meet your ranger & tracker for a quick cup of coffee/tea and a biscuit (cookie) before you load up the Land Cruiser by 5:45 am. You spend the next four hours tracking whatever game may be available as your ranger and tracker follow up on clues on the dirt tracks or information shared on radio by other members of the ranger team in their vehicles. 

The afternoon game drive is similar and starts at 3:00 pm. You drive for 4 hours with the last hour being in the dark as you use a red spotlight to pick up the eye reflections of nocturnal animals for observation. The daylight animals (diurnal) were not spotlighted to keep them from the temporary blindness caused by a bright light in the dark.

I arrived in the afternoon so this first post reflects an afternoon drive. Our first sighting was a welcome sight for me as it is my favorite bird in the world! It was a Lilac Breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus), which perches on visible branches to hunt for its prey of large insects and small lizards and mammals. Its stunning colors are a wonder to me as a North American, but the “LBRs” are quite common in South Africa. They are also the national bird of neighboring Botswana.



 
The second sighting was a breeding herd of Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) as they gathered close to the sandy riverbed of the Timbavati River. These members of Africa’s “Big Five” (The five most dangerous animals to hunt on foot as determined by early European hunters -- Buffalo, Lion, Rhino, Leopard, and Elephant) are impressive, but have no sense of humor as they always seem to look at you as if you owe them money! I guess I’d have that disposition if I were being hunted regularly!

Another common bird resident is the Yellow Billed Hornbill (Tockus leucomelas). Like the LBRs I mentioned before, these birds have a truly exotic feel for me as a North American.



The highlight of our first game drive developed as we headed to follow up on some African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) tracks – I was aware that Wild Dogs were the second most endangered African carnivore after the Ethiopian Wolf, but I confess I did not have a great innate appreciation of them. However getting to see them in person changed that! Their teamwork and unique personalities were a revelation to me. Before encountering the dogs, we came across a single Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) resting under a tree.


After leaving the Hyena, we were alerted by the sound of the wild dogs in full voice about 15 minutes later and discovered they had killed an impala, but then lost it to four hyenas (including the one above). After they chased the hyenas away, they were able to savor the final scraps of their original kill. My next blog post will feature my video of this encounter.



After we left the wild dogs and headed back toward camp and dinner, we  drove in the dry Timbavati River bed for a bit and discovered the largest Owl in Africa – the Verreaux’s Eagle Owl (Bubo lacteus) in a tree above the dry river waiting on a meal to wander by.



Overall, I could not have asked for a better first game drive back in South Africa. Throughout my trip, my game ranger, Fin Lawlor and tracker Jimmy proved themselves supremely adept at finding every animal I hoped to see – given that Ngala is not fenced in, there is no certainty that you will see any particular animal as they may move back and forth to neighboring properties.