2019-11-04: Monochrome Monday

While staying at Lion Sands River Lodge, we set out on our afternoon game drive and came across a small bachelor group of elephants.  These four broke off into pairs, play fighting as the day grew dim, while a couple of other bulls grazed nearby.  It’s so cool watching the interaction of these animals.

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Happy Monday everyone!

2019-10-21: Monochrome Monday

I wanted to share a few landscape scenes from some of the camps I stayed at this past May.  The first two images were taken while staying at Lion Sands Tinga Lodge, and the last image was taken while staying at Chitwa Chitwa.

I hope you enjoying, and wishing you a fantastic week!

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Blinded by the light!  We stopped for a quick view of the river as the sun roe behind; but I definitely didn’t have time to do anymore than a single quick photo and then we were off again.  
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A different portion of river later in the morning.  The tall reeds amongst the meandering water could be hiding all manner of animals.  I’ve seen both leopard and lions in conditions like this.
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A view of an afternoon game drive.  Oh, how I wish I was there now!

2019-10-14: Monochrome Monday

For some reason, lions were calling to me today, so that’s the feature of monochrome Monday for the week.  These images were from a few different lion sightings on my most recent trip to South Africa.  I hope you enjoy, and wishing you a fantastic week!

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The Torchwood pride spent one day around Chitwa Chitwa, and we were fortunate enough to see the whole pride on the move, both in the morning, when this image was taken, and long after dark the same evening, where instead of trying to take pictures, I just sat back and enjoyed watching the lions walking under the light of a full moon.
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A lone lioness moving through the bush.
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An impressive male lion.

2019-10-07: Monochrome Monday

I think a lot of times, the antelope species seen while on safari get a bit ignored, as many guests want to focus on finding the Big 5 or Magnificent 7.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love those as well, but I do also enjoy stopping to watch the antelope going about their day.

Nyala are beautiful animals.  The males have curving horns and a shaggy coat on the underside of their necks.  The females are smaller and more lightly coloured (almost the same colouring as an impala).  Both feature white facial markings, and subtle stripes on their backs.

So why monochrome?  It just seemed to fit the images (and it gave me something to post today!)

I hope everyone is having a great start to the week!

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An older image that has been in my edited file for quite some time.  This mother and her calf were lounging the mid afternoon away in the undergrowth outside of my tent at Ngala Lodge.  I just loved the expression on the nyala’s face, like she is saying hi.

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This guy wandered right up to my deck at Lion Sands River Lodge while I was sitting outside having a cup of tea and reading my book.  He obviously felt safe and knew I was no threat to him, and he peacefully grazed while I snapped a few photos.

2019-09-30: Monochrome Monday

It seems like it has been a while since I have played around with tinted monochrome images.  This elephants looked good in black and white, but felt better with the warmer, coffee tones you see below.  These were taken on different days, but all fairly late in the morning, when the sun was casting harsh shadows.  Conventional wisdom says that’s the time to put away the camera, but I’ll keep shooting as long as there is something interesting to look at.  The bulk of an elephant and the highly textured skin seem to be able to handle harsh light quite well.

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2019-09-09: Monochrome Monday

Like impala, vervet monkeys can sometimes be seen so frequently from camp and when out on game drives that you stop paying attention to them, or taking the time to take photos of them.  The alarm calls of the vervet monkeys can sometimes lead to predator sightings, so they are definitely an animal worth paying attention to out in the bush.  They are interesting and inquisitive animals, and can often be seen up in the trees near camp buffet tables, trying to work out the best way to steal a muffin.

None of the vervet monkeys in the photos below were up to any such mischief (though I have seen it happen many times).  These were from two different troops that we stopped to spend time with while out on game drives in May.

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2019-09-02: Monochrome Monday

Today I wanted to share a few of the images that I captured while driving the Panorama Route in South Africa earlier this year.  It’s a beautiful scenic drive with lots of opportunities to stop and take short walks to view waterfalls and breathtaking vistas, like the three rondavels.  If you are travelling to South Africa, it is definitely a day trip worth taking.

I hope you enjoy my selections for the day, and wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead!

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The three rondavels under stormy looking skies (not a drop of rain fell during the entire time I spent in South Africa though).
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Some of the small waterfalls at Bourke’s Luck Potholes, another stop along the panorama route.
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Berlin Falls

2019-08-26: Monochrome Monday

It’s no secret that I love elephants, and that I love editing elephant images in black and white.  Here are a few from my most recent travels.  I hope they brighten up your Monday 🙂

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This little elephant was precocious and kept all of us laughing and smiling as he played with sticks and branches, tossing them over his head.
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A mama guiding her young calf across the road to join the rest of the herd.
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Another adorable youngster; this one was very inquisitive and spent lots of time near the vehicle, seeing what we were all about.
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A large bull elephant in musth.  Our guide was very cautious as this guy approached us on the road, but the elephant turned off into the bushes, after giving his head a dramatic shake at us.
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Drinks stop while Mom graves.

2019-08-20: Monochrome Monday

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend, and is ready for the week ahead.  I found a lion image from a previous trip that had been edited but never shared, so I found a couple of others to put together this grouping.

I hope you enjoy, and wishing you a fantastic week!

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This image was from 2017, when we had prolific lion sightings and had the pleasure of listening to their roars cutting through the night.  On this past trip, I didn’t hear a single lion roar, but the lion dynamics can change significantly on properties over a few years.
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This young male was seen in the late afternoon lounging next to a waterhole at Kings Camp in the Timbavati.  Doesn’t he look majestic?  You can find this image, along with lots of others, over in my gallery.
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This lion and his brother were moving at speed through the property that Chitwa Chitwa has traversing rights to.  We were fortunate to have an opportunity to view them before they crossed the boundary, and could no longer be followed by our vehicle.

2019-08-05: Monochrome Monday

This week I decided to work on some cheetah images for monochrome Monday.  I only had one cheetah sighting on my last trip, but as we had the opportunity to watch the female cheetah stationary under a tree, and in the beginning stages of a failed hunt, there were lots of opportunities for images.  I’m still waiting for the magic moment of seeing a cheetah moving at something faster than a saunter; but that’s just another reason to go on safari again someday!

I hope you enjoy my selections for the week.  Happy Monday, and wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

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Cheetahs are such slender animals, that when they lay on their sides with their heads on the ground, you can barely see them.  I think we might have driven past this female if she hadn’t lifted her head at an opportune moment.
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A stretch and a yawn, then she moved about 5 feet before laying down again.  
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Disappearing into the tall grass at the start of a failed hunting expedition.  The herd of impala spotted her as she moved through a clearing, ruining any element of surprise.  Here though, you can start to see how these animals become invisible in their environment.  If she had been slinking along through the grass in a more crouched position, she would have been invisible to any impala that glanced in her direction.

 

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