Showcasing the beauty of Mother Nature
Starting the week off with an elephant just seems like the right thing to do. Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.
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It was a soggy day flying from Phinda to Ngala, which was my second to last stop on my trip. It’s tough thought o be too upset about rain in locations where it has been desperately needed for years, and besides, we only had two days with any rain over a four week period, which is pretty fantastic from a sightseeing perspective (especially in an open vehicle). I have spent time at Ngala previously (you can check out some past highlights here if you want).
We only had two days at the camp, but they were filled with lots of laughs with our wonderful ranger Lee-Anne, some fantastic game viewing, and really great meals. The first game drive was a soggy one, but we didn’t let that get our spirits down, and we ended up seeing both lion and leopard on the same game drive – not too shabby!
I hope you enjoy a small selection of the photos that I took at this beautiful property.
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This leopard was called Piva on Londolozi, and he was an incredibly impressive animal. At 7, he held a great territory and was one of the largest leopards in the area. When I was there in May, on our first game drive we found him having a territory stand-off with another male; and it was so interesting to watch the dynamics of the two animals.
Sadly, I read that this leopard was killed by a pride of lions over the weekend. The circle of life and the battle for space and resources can oftentimes be a cruel one to watch.
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After my time in Botswana, we finished out our trip at three different camps in South Africa. All were places we had visited previously and liked so much we wanted to return to experience them again.
Travelling from the Okavango Delta to the Durban area in South Africa is pretty much a full day event. We didn’t have time for a morning game drive, so we had an early breakfast and took a leisurely 1 1/2 hour drive to the airstrip that was being used by Machaba while the local strip was flooded. From camp we flew to Maun, onwards to Johannesburg and then finally into Durban, arriving around 9pm. Rather than take another flight, we had a driving transfer from Durban to Phinda, around a 2 1/2 hour drive, that left our hotel around 10 the next morning.
Arriving at Vlei lodge, we were greeted like family with welcoming hugs from Kathryn, the camp manager (whom we had also met during our previous stay). We also had a chance to reconnect with the wonderful chef Happiness, who even asked us for our favourite items from the previous stay, so she could make sure they were on the menu during our visit.
Unlike the lodges we visited later that were adjacent to Kruger, Phinda is a fully fenced reserve, and as such have taken the difficult decision to de-horn the rhino population in an effort to curb poaching. With horns or without, rhino are such impressive creatures to come across. It is just so sad that it has come to this in order to keep them safe. Like the properties in both Namibia and Botswana, Phinda had received an abundance of rain during the rainy season, after several years of rather severe drought. The abundance of food and water meant that general game were much more scattered, and often the game drives were quite for periods when we didn’t see any animals around. We did have one epic morning drive though filled with fun elephant encounters as well as several groups of rhino.
Phinda is definitely a good place to go if you are interested in seeing cheetah. We saw 6 different cheetah during our stay, including a mom with 3 cubs.
Here are a few of my images from my recent visit to Phinda. If you are interested, you can find some from my previous visit here and here.
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and
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The photo challenge prompt of the week is textures. There are a lot of directions that this can be taken; I decided on a combination of animals in their environment and animal portraits.
I hope you enjoy my take on texture.
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The photo topic of the week is Unusual… which could be taken in just about any imaginable direction. But I’m turning towards a stunning show mother nature put on while I was on safari.
While staying at Ngala in South Africa, we departed for our morning game drive under dark and drizzly skies, but with the promise of a clearing day ahead. Our route took us through a very open area, giving us a great vantage to both the east and west. To the east, the sun breaking through the clouds, the sky on fire with intense colour. Above us, rainfall. And to the west, the moon still visible and a double rainbow arcing across the sky. It was the first time I recall seeing a sunrise rainbow, and definitely the first I’ve seen on safari.
What a morning 🙂
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and
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On one of the morning drives while staying at Phinda Vlei Lodge, we came across a male cheetah lounging on top of a small termite mound. I loved this view of him gazing off into the distance; I can only imagine what he was able to see through the mist.
You can find this image, and others like, available over on my website.
Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.
and
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I’ve only recently returned from a trip to southern Africa, and over the past month, I’ve seen so much it is almost tough to know where to begin. There were blooming deserts and blowing sandstorms.
There were watery playgrounds for the large and the small.
There were close encounters with wildlife, and close encounters with humans while tracking wildlife.
This and so much in between. So many stories, so many sightings, so many wonderful people and so many memories that will make my heart happy every time I think of them, for years to come.
My wanderlust keeps pulling me back to Africa, and I am hopeful that it won’t be long before I can return again.
There are loads more photos and lots of stories to come from my latest journey – stay posted!
Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.
and
https://shopvida.com/collections/voices/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.
