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2020-06-08: Monochrome Monday

Being on safari in the dark is quite a magical experience. Some people find it scary, I am sure, as predators are more active after dark, but I find the experience exhilarating, even if the photo opportunities are more limited.

We came across this particular pride of lions on the way to a bush supper, and our spotlight was busted. Another vehicle came along and we had their spotlight for a minute to get a look at the cats, and then we were both off. This was the lead lioness, and the rest of her pride was a few paces behind her on the road and in the bushes. I’m sure my supper was far more easy to come by that evening than the lion’s was!

I’ve shared other lion at night images, if you missed them the first time around check here.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

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2020-06-01: Monochrome Monday

I’ve kept on with the lion theme started yesterday, though with one a bit more active. She was taking a rather leisurely stroll down the road; she definitely had a destination in mind, but was in no hurry to get there.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

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2020-05-10: Happy Mother’s Day

Here are a few images of Mom’s in the bush, all taken during my last trip to South Africa.  Looking through my photos brings back such lovely memories, made even better by the fact that I experienced them with my Mom 🙂

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2020-04-12: Artistic Impressions

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 hope everyone is staying safe and keeping well.

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2020-04-05: Sunrise to sunset during safari

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
6am – Lions.  Two of the Torchwood Pride greet each other.

7am - Hyena and Impala
7am – Hyena and Impala.  A group of impala look on wearily as a hyena approaches down the road.

8am - Elephants
8am – Elephants.  A pair of youngsters tussle while the older elephants graze nearby.  

9am - Giraffe
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
10am – Waterbuck.  A waterbuck heads towards the dam for a drink.

11am - Hippos
11am – Hippos. A group of hippos making their way back to the water to beat the midday heat.

12pm - Hornbill
12pm – Yellow-billed hornbill.  A “flying banana” perched just beyond the deck at camp.

1pm - Infrared Landscape
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
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
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
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
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
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.

 

 

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2020-03-29: Lounging Lions

I think it is safe to say that I always want to be going on safari.  But with everything going on right now, I am really grateful I don’t have any upcoming travel plans.  I’d be very broken hearted if I had planned a trip for 6 or more months, which is what it normally seems to take, only to have to cancel it later on.  Instead, I’ve had my head buried in books, moving towards finishing up the two classes that I have been working within the next week.

Perhaps all the extra schoolwork I have been doing is the reason lazy lions appealed to me to edit today.  Who knows, but that is what I have to share today.

These were taken on several different game drives at different reserves; so if you haven’t been out with lions before, you can start to see a theme.  They do spend a lot of time lounging around and resting.  Something I am looking forward to next Sunday after I finish my exam.  I don’t think I have it in me to manage lion style lounging for 22 hours or more, but a relaxed afternoon certainly sounds nice.

Stay safe, wishing you good health and a positive week ahead.

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