We always love receiving photos from our guests from their stay, especially when they include. abroad spectrum of wildlife.
Without even asking their ranger and tracker what type of sightings they had we can immediately get an insight into their safari experience from their gallery.
Henry Reiff posted us a few of his photos recently, and we figured a great wildlife gallery was the best way to wind the weekend to a close.
Enjoy…
One can see how caked with mud the forehead of this young elephant calf is. There is a lot of mud around during the summer months, which is when we get our rains – and the elephant take full advantage on hot days, plastering themselves liberally, using it as sunblock. Small calves are yet to have full control of their trunks though, and aren’t able to put as much on them as adults (proportionately), but luckily they often get caught in the crossfire as the larger members of the herd splash around.
Yawns are a good sign in big cats. They are most likely about to get active…
One of the two remaining Birmingham males. Speculation is rife as to which coalition will take over the territory – either by forcing the Birmingham males out or by simply filling in the gap they leave behind. The most likely contenders for now are the northern Avoca males, but anything could happen…
A couple of weeks ago we ran a post about Eye Glint in photos; making sure to capture that small reflection of light that will bring a photo to life. Having a young lion look up will help enormously in capturing it…
Whilst the grasslands of south-west Londolozi can be hit-or-miss when it comes to game viewing, the open terrain is stunning simply from the sense of scale you experience there. Even the world’s largest land mammals can appear to lose some of their impressive size when backdropped by such beautiful vistas.
Cheetahs are particularly hard to find at the moment. Firstly, there are only one or two that are resident here, and secondly, the grass is the highest it’s been in years, meaning these slender cats simply disappear down in the grasslands.
A white rhino calf snatches a drink whilst her calf wanders around behind her, and what is most likely also a calf of hers – just slightly older – begins to graze again in the background.
The Ximungwe young male spends much of his time in thickets. At an age at which he will be starting to see independence on his horizon, he is nevertheless still dependent on his mother for food, and will be left by her in dense areas like this until her return from what is hopefully a successful hunting trip.
The Ximungwe young male again, easily identifiable by his 2:1 spot pattern. The young male is pretty much the same size as his mother now, so by rights should be starting to take down prey by himself, although I don’t think anyone has yet seen him make a successful kill.
Another mud-besplattered elephant. As much as summer is our rainy season, even two weeks of high temperatures but no rain can go a long way towards drying up wallows and lowering water levels in the waterhole. Conditions can change very quickly, and after not having received substantial rain for almost a month, we are starting to see the grass slowly start turning brown…
A magnificent kudu bull find shade in a grove of Tamboti trees. Although Tambotis contain a toxic latex (even inhaling the smoke of a burning Tamboti log can make a person sick), kudus can somehow cope with the poison, and feed on the leaves with aplomb.
Although the claws of the big cats are naturally lethally sharp, a fair bit of maintenance is required on them. Leopards will scratch trees like this in order to remove unwanted keratin and stretch the tendons in their paws, as well as to scent mark.
Stunning images. Love the kudu.
Nice photos, especially kudu bull.
Hello Henry,
Beautiful photos!
What a beautiful photo of white rhinos! The picture of the magnificent kudu is very good! I also like the leopard that scratches the tree! You have really captured how fit and elegant they are!
Thank you for sharing moments from your safari!
Henry, great shots – I loved all of them, and even saved some in photography gallery🤗
In the tall grass times is when a lot of animals get killed by motorists driving through the dense grass for there pics and many cubs and Cheetah will die this way. Never think picture taking is a harmless thing to do. Land rovers have also been known to give away the dense of cubs to there predators.
Stunning photographs and a balm for my soul – especially when I’m missing “the bush” – also a reminder of how magnificent God’s creation is.
These are wonderful and just what my soul needed today. Thank you.
I love the photo of the kudu the best. Aren’t they elegant creatures?