I chose to highlight some of the predators that I saw on my last safari. Of course, there is more to predators than just animals; there are reptiles and birds that also fall under this category, but today I am sticking with the four-legged variety.
Predators are what a lot of people aim to see while on safari, but a game drive is so much more than seeing a glimpse of a lion or leopard. It always bears repeating, that the best game drives are the ones that you go on without a strong agenda, and allow the beauty of Mother Nature to unfold before you, and experience all that is on offer.
A mother leopard and her cub grooming each other. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.A lion cub very relaxed in the shade on a very hot afternoon in Savute. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.
A rare sighting of an African wild cat, which is slightly larger than an average house cat. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.
A hyena that approached our vehicle with a pack of wild dogs nearby. At the time we saw this individual, we only had two of the dogs in our sight, but they soon took us to where the rest of the pack was. The hyena didn’t follow. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.
A wild dog relaxing in the shade. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.Some lion cubs playing in the cool of an early morning with one of the mothers watching from the sidelines. This was a small part of the pride that was in the area, and all the youngsters were having fun before it got too hot to do anything but lie under a bush. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.You can’t ask for much better than a leopard posing on a termite mound. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.A young lion in the tall grass, being kissed by the late afternoon light. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.A pair of hyena with an impala ram submerged in a small pond. We were incredibly fortunate to come across this sighting. We were lead to it by seeing a tawny eagle with a piece of very fresh meat, and our guide knew there had to be a very fresh kill nearby. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.
It’s been a while since I have posted any images; between preparing for a trip, the time spent away and then the return to normal life, the blog fell by the wayside for a bit. I’m slowly working on cataloging and rating images from my time away; and while I have a long way to go before that is complete, I don’t want to wait to share images until all that background work is done.
Today I decided to pick one image from each location I stayed at. It seemed like as good a starting place as any.
Leopard mother and son, sharing an affectionate moment. The cub is on the left, and at basically the same size as his mom, his days enjoying her company and her providing for him are numbered. Timbavati, South Africa. April, 2024.This was a first for me; watching a hyena stash its impala kill in a small waterhole. Klaserie Sands, South Africa. April, 2024.This trip was the trip of lions, with many sightings over the different areas I stayed in. This lioness was seen in Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.The other standout for sheer volume of animals were zebra, seen in vast numbers in Savute. Our trip timed it just right to encounter some of the zebra migration. Savute, Botswana. April, 2024.
A once in a lifetime sighting in Moremi Game Reserve. An endangered Pel’s fishing owl. We were fortunate enough to see the mother and offspring that were nesting at the camp next door to where we were staying. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.
Elephants racing for the water on a hot afternoon. The areas where I traveled were experiencing significant drought, and it will likely be very, very hard on many animals come September and October, before the start of the next rainy season. For now, there was still decent amounts of water and vegetation to be found, and the animals we saw were still in good condition. Makgadikgadi Pan National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.
When I was in Namibia in 2017, I thought that would be the time when I would see a brown hyena, as they are a fairly regular animal to spot along the Skeleton Coast. Instead, we saw substantial aftermath of hyenas, in the form of numerous seal pups littering the beach, but didn’t spot the hyenas. Fast forward to my trip in 2022; on the drive from the Madikwe air strip to the lodge, my guide told me there was a brown hyena den on the property that we would would try to get to during my stay. I was quite excited about the prospect of finally seeing one of these animals.
Luck was on our side for a sighting, but not on my side for a great photographic opportunity. Heavy rains had closed many roads, giving us quite a long drive to get to the den site, and the approaching darkness meant we could only stay a short time. We had hoped that an adult would come back to the den while we were there, but it was not to be. We did see a youngster at the mouth of the cave where the den was located, but watching a cave entrance in the approaching dark from significant distance doesn’t provide the best chance at a decent photo.
But, while the photos matter, in that I enjoy taking them, editing them, sharing them and creating with them, they also don’t matter, because enjoying the moment is more important to me than coming back with an image of it. I will share what I do have of my first ever brown hyena sighting, because it was interesting and special for me. I’m hopeful that someday, I’ll get a better look at these creatures.
I didn’t crop this further, as zooming in closer on a juvenile hyena grooming itself really isn’t necessary. I’m sharing this mostly to show the cave they were using as the den. If you look closely into the top left of the cave, you can see the light coming through the secondary cave entrance.A juvenile brown hyena. Madikwe, South Africa. November, 2022.
Today I felt drawn to play around and create some of my artistic impression images. There wasn’t any real rhyme or reason to the images I selected; just ones that caught my eye, and that seemed as good a reason as any.
I’m working on a guest post for a friend doing an Armchair safari series, and thought I would share the images here as well. I decided that the theme of my post would be sunrise to sunset on safari; showcasing images from dawn till dusk while out in the bush. These are all shot during my last trip to South Africa and were from all of the camps that I stayed at. I would have to plan a lot more in advance while out in the field to have a sunrise to sunset images from a single day (note to self, do that next trip!).
Rather than a highlight reel of amazing sightings, these are just a collection of moments out in the bush.
I hope you enjoy.
6am – Lions. Two of the Torchwood Pride greet each other.
7am – Hyena and Impala. A group of impala look on wearily as a hyena approaches down the road.
8am – Elephants. A pair of youngsters tussle while the older elephants graze nearby.
9am – Giraffe. A giraffe bull paused in the road allowing me to capture this image while on the way back to camp for breakfast.
10am – Waterbuck. A waterbuck heads towards the dam for a drink.
11am – Hippos. A group of hippos making their way back to the water to beat the midday heat.
12pm – Yellow-billed hornbill. A “flying banana” perched just beyond the deck at camp.
1pm – Landscape in infrared. Midday was a great time to wander around camp with my infrared filter and play around with long exposure photos. This was shot from the deck at Lion Sands Tinga Lodge.
2pm – Purple Crested Turaco. I tried for ages to capture a good image of this beautiful bird from my balcony, but given they like to be deep in the branches, it really wasn’t meant to be. It was a fun way to spend part of the afternoon though.
3pm – Cheetah. We’d only been out on game drive for about 10 minutes when we came across this cheetah, and had the chance to watch her stalking some impala. They spotted her right away so supper wasn’t in her immediate future.
4pm – Wild Dog. Spending time with wild dogs always makes my heart happy. We had a good half an hour with them before they took off in all directions, setting out to hunt.
5pm – Honey Badgers. I had always wanted to see honey badgers and on my first game drive of the trip I finally had my chance. It only lasted about 30 seconds but it certainly was thrilling, even if all I could get were butt shots!
6pm – Leopard. We were heading back to camp for drinks and dinner and came across this leopard heading in to this large puddle to drink. It was a quick stop before the leopard was on its way.
Hyenas are an often misunderstood and much maligned creature, seen as a lowly scavenger, robbing the kills of leopards, wild dogs, cheetah and even lions (given the right circumstances). From all that guides over the years have told me, and my watching many nature documentaries, I know that while they do scavenge a lot, and provide a necessary ecosystem service in that regard, they are also skillful hunters, and have very interesting clan dynamics, led by an alpha female.
Hyenas can be pretty hit and miss on safari though. Unless there is an active den on the property, guides (that I have been with) don’t generally seek them out or follow their tracks. It’s more a situation of randomly running across them, and then stopping to watch for a few minutes before moving on. If there is a den on the property with little ones, it can be a very enjoyable sighting, as the cubs can be quite boisterous and inquisitive. I still recall my first time in the Okavango Delta, sitting just after sunset at a den and a cub came over and started chewing on the tires of the vehicle, getting into it the way my dog used to take to his squeaky toys as a pup.
No such luck with young cubs this past trip, but here are a few of the images I did capture of hyenas.
Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.
The only cubs I saw on this past trip; a pair of juveniles with Mom, and another hyena hanging around in the background.
This hyenas was sniffing around as there was a kill nearby that had been stashed in a tree by a leopard.
This hyena seemed to be having quite a good time in the water; it definitely wasn’t warm enough for it to need to be cooling off.
A very alert herd of impala, watching the approach of a lone hyena.
