As I sit here and ponder my words, I feel a calm pass over me. My senses are in tune to the wilderness, I listen, I smell, I see. I see deeper than I ever did before. I feel a place not many get to touch. With their eyes, or their heart. This feeling awakens me, it drives me and it engulfs me. I feel pride, and I understand the privilege of my time in this place. Words are hard to come by when trying to explain this feeling and so I try to do it from behind my lens. I hope you understand the feeling. Enjoy the week in pictures.
A young hyena cub, with deep, curious eyes.
A mother and her calf walk gently through a clearing to a well sought after waterhole.
The Mashaba female. Dominant, beautiful and proud.
With the setting sun reflecting off the Sand River, the Mashaba female poses gracefully. Such lighting I have not experienced before.
It is very rare to capture an image of a buffalo with big open skies.
A true highlight of the past few days. Finding the Tsalala pride on a crocodile they killed.
A young Tsalala cub. Now beginning to fill its role within the pride.
The Marthly Male, patrols his now shrinking territory.
A Dwarf Mongoose. Patiently guards his family from any lurking danger.
The Nanga female in the Manyelethi riverbed.
Some of the last moments spent with the wild dog pack who have now shifted their den site off Londolozi.
Contrasts of the Manyelethi.
The Vomba young male, enjoying the last few golden glimmers of winter mornings.
The Tamboti female has a stare off with a lurking hyena.
A Brown Snake Eagle in full display.
Written and Photographed by: Mike Sutherland
GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS MIKE! THANKS.
REGARDS,TED.
Fantastic images. Vomba young male and the buffalo really awesome.
Awesome photos as usual ,Mike,great to see the Mashaba female looking so good 🙂
Enjoyed your commentary as much as your photos!
Beautiful photos and well-written blog Mike! I love the Mashaba female in the setting sun…just stunning. Thanks for another great week in pictures!
Mike,
First the photographs are marvelous and make me yearn to return to Londolozi sooner than later to once again try to see these sights for myself.
In the meantime, I have a question. Has someone already written a blog explaining the various names of the leopards and lions. An example, are the four Majingilane lions so named because of their black manes (ergo ALL lions with similar manes are called Majingilane) or are these four so named because of where they were first sighted or where they are originally from?
I know some leopards are individually named by their facial spots for identity purposes. But there are multiple Tsalala lions so identified.
I’m just curious. Thanks
Beautiful words Mike. You said it all, your pictures paint the scenes that you experience daily and cherish for us to share! Thank you
Especially enjoyed the young hyena. Feel I have again gone on safari this morning. It is a privilege to view scenes like the above and yes, we know that feeling which only comes from loving and knowing the bush and its wild life. What a wonderful planet we live on and are systematically wrecking … So tragic. Wendy M
Wonderful photos! I enjoy watching the changing light and the effect it has on the photos.. I understand the feeling of awe when you walk or ride through the bush.. I is an emotion that is indeed very difficult to put into words.. Wonderous, stunning, breathtaking, glorious, are all words that apply but don’t fully serve to explain the depth of the feeling! Hopefully I will be able to visit that wonderful continent of Africa again in my lifetime.. If not I want my ashes scattered over the Sabi Sands..
fantastic photos , we can feel the bush as we would be there ourselves