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.
I hadn’t planned to take most of the summer off from editing photos and posting, but suddenly it is September and I haven’t done anything with my images since July. To be fair, there was golf to play, a yard to take care of and generally, a summer that is far too short and the desire to enjoy it as much as possible.
I chose a few images of my favourite cat, the leopard, to work on today. These are the first I have edited since getting a new computer and new monitor set up, as well as an updated version of Lightroom to use (my previous computer was so old, Lightroom hadn’t been able to update in close to a year, if not longer). It certainly is different working on a 2024 model compared to my old machine. It seems like there is still so much to do with program settings and the like, but I am happy to at least have had the chance to get back to my images.
A young leopard posing on a termite mound in the late afternoon. Timbavati, South Africa. April, 2024.A big yawn to get on the move. Timbavati, South Africa. April, 2024.This mother and son leopard were on their final time together, as soon after we viewed these animals, it would be time for the cub to make his own way in the world. It is so special getting to see such solitary animals interacting; we were treated to some lovely behaviour in this sighting, including a lot of grooming. Timbavati, 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 started my summer term in May, I knew I had a very heavy workload planned and would likely only have minimal opportunities to work on my photography and post to the blog. But between work, school and other commitments, as well as trying to enjoy what little summer Prince George gets, photography completely went by the wayside. The September term was even more packed, and it was all I could do to keep up with commitments. When I logged on today, I noticed that the last post I did was May 23rd.
Next week I’m starting in to my last semester of grad school, with only two classes to go. With a slightly less hectic school schedule, I am hopeful I will be able to carve out a bit of time each week to work on my photography and share some images. But until this education journey is complete, I have to prioritize as needed, and the blog will likely be the thing to get dropped if my schedule gets too hectic again.
Today I’m sharing a few images of my favourite cat, the leopard. While initially I had been using a trip to Africa as a carrot for getting through my program when things got tough, right now it seems uncertain when I’ll be able to plan an international trip again. I’m certainly hoping, like so many people, that things calm down and travel can resume again without the risk of last minute cancellations and flight issues. I’ve got a very full plate until the end of April, but I am hopeful that I can start to plan a trip once my courses are completed, whether it will be local or international – your guess is as good as mine.
I almost missed my Monday post, but remembered in the knick of time that I hadn’t put anything up yet today. I edited this one yesterday, and it was an interesting sighting that ended up involving three different leopards, while staying at Lion Sands.
This sighting was at dusk and lit with a spotlight with a red filter. Converting it to black and white was a great option to remove the strange colour casts, but I’ll be honest, I still find it a little flat looking. But, it was pretty flat with only a bit of light left in the sky, and the sighting in a fairly heavily treed area.
Regardless if the photo turned out great, it brings back memories and I find myself right back there in the vehicle, sitting behind our ranger Albert, who was getting rather frustrated by the confusing tracks all of the place, which made far more sense when we came to realize they were made by three different cats.
Leopards caught my eye today, so that is what I worked on. I sure wish I was out watching leopards today, rather than watching the snow falling.
Hosana, seen occasionally on Safari Live, made an appearance the last day of my trip.A leopard cub in the grasses at the top of a termite mound.This is the cub’s Mom, who was not too far away.
Lately I’ve picking a theme for the week; so far no one has complained about a few posts in a row about one sighting or a similar topic, and it makes it a lot easier for me editing with the limited time I can dedicate to that at the moment.
If you missed yesterday’s post, go back and check it out as it has a little story of this leopard and a few links to other posts where she was featured.
A few weeks ago I feature some images of a leopard on an impale kill (if you missed them, you can see them here). These images were shot about 10 – 15 minutes later in the morning; the leopard came out of the tree and relaxed in the grass a short distance away, and in short order, the cub came out of where it had been hiding to have a brief visit with Mom.
In the previous leopard post I mentioned that the sighting on the kill was a challenging one for one of the other guests, but thankfully as we decided to leave, the leopard decided to leave as well, so it wasn’t like we ended up missing out on a sighting. In fact, as the leopard moved from the tree to the grass where she met her cub, she had a bit of a stare down with a tracker on another vehicle, which was definitely a tense couple of moments (you can see that post here, with a few more images of these leopards).
Mom patiently waiting for the cub to come out of hiding.Such a wonderful greeting between mother and cub 🙂Mom is the first to head off.The cub was quick to follow!
