Caracal on the dunes
The caracal in the Kgalagadi dunes It was the dead hours in the Kgalagadi, sun shining high in the sky, animals looking for cover from the blistering heat, and we were driving along among the dunes just hoping for something interesting to come along. A movement barely visible in the red sand on the left […]
The fast and the hungry
The cheetah family at breakfast. Cheetahs are the fastest land animal and they depend entirely on their speed to hunt. The cheetah kill is one of the most spectacular sights on the plains. As spectacular as it is, it attracts a lot of attention. Every scavenger and free-loader and even predator in the area sees […]
DOVES AT THE WATERHOLE
Sunlit doves in the Kgalagadi When the sun’s rays are at a low angle in the Kgalagadi and the heat of the desert day is dissipating into the cool of the night, animals and birds come for a drink. The waterholes are busy and the unwary are in trouble. We sat by a waterhole before […]
The eland herd escapes the lions.
One hot Kgalagadi morning we saw an amazing sight. A large eland herd was walking along the Auob riverbed. This is a rare sight and eland are not the easiest of antelope to watch, they tend to be skittish and like to watch us from far away. This herd how ever was obviously heading for […]
win some lose some
The huntress and the Go-away bird. One bright winter morning in Kruger we driving along the Sabie river and saw some movement down the slope to the bank from the road. I had a good feeling about this and stopped to check it out and sure enough….. leopard! She was sneaking around the bushes tail […]
The gemsbok baby.
Large plains antelope are found in a whole range of colours, from sable antelope which are black to Gemsbok that are silver grey with fashionable stripes to Hartebeest which are a lovely rusty brown. The amazing thing though is that all their calves are fawn in color. A wildebeest calf looks almost like a Gemsbok […]
The 3 stooges of the Kgalagadi
The badger, the jackal and the goshawk. As the saying goes, ‘there are those who are willing to work, and there are those who are willing to let them’. This is never more true than in the Kgalagadi with the 3 stooges. The honey badger, the black backed jackal and the pale chanting goshawk are […]
Hot as hell
Life and death in the Kgalagadi. The Kgalagadi is hot as hell! In the arid belt in the middle of South Africa is a place called Hot as hell. Believe it or not its true. Its spelt Hotazel. Well any way hot as it is in the Kgalagadi bush, many animals have adapted to it […]
The leopard who would not share
We came upon an amazing sight in the Kruger one day. A large group of cars were all parkedand very close to the rest camp. That usually means a leopard sighting and so naturally wewent to take a look. Sure enough a large male leopard was up a tree with an impala carcass. He was […]
The kopjie climbers.
When you explore Africa you come across some amazing creatures thatdon’t really get enough press. Klipspringers are one of those. Dainty littleantelopes that love on the rocky outcrops across the country. In Kruger wecall them koppies or Kopjies which is the original Afrikaans word for theserocky outcroppings of granite. They can be from 20-80 meters high and […]
