Rhino drinking

Just dropping the kids off at the pool

A wonderful sighting of mum and baby white Rhino at a water hole.

Vultures

Vultures nesting

The Aardvark sunset

As the sun went down on another wonderful day in Timbavati little did we know that we'd finally see an Aardvark after more than 20 Safari holidays.

Sadly it was moving fairly quickly and the light levels were too low for a decent picture, but a wonderful memory none the less.

Full Hyena

While out on an evening drive we found this Hyena stuffed so full of a kill it had stolen from a Leopard it could hardly move.
Every breath seemed painful - if only it had some indigestion medicine.

Just nearby we could also se the Leopard hovering waiting for the Hyena to leave so it could retrieve some of its hard earned meal. But this Hyena wasn't planning on moving anywhere for some time.

Fever Tree

Fever Trees glowing against a bright blue sky at Kambaku River Sands

Another mum and baby

Another mum and baby.

Typically, if an elephant can fit underneath its mother’s belly it is under one year of age and very young baby elephants have a thick coating of fur that falls out by the time the elephant is 6 months to 1 year old. So this baby was probably 6 months to a year old.

Sunset over the Klaserie

Wild Dog

Wild Dog are one of our favourites. One of the most endangered animals in Africa it is always a privilege to see them.

In this case they were in a small pack denned on the edge of the nThambo area. We saw them over a period of a few days in various places.

Mum taking the kid for a walk

Mother and calf.

Snoozy Lion

This Lion could hardly keep its eyes open. Tough at the top I guess.

Rhino at dawn

Most wildlife sightings are early morning or dusk, and the light can be stunning. In this case a Rhino almost glows with the soft sunlight of dawn.

Rhino notice board

 Our excellent guide, Isaac shows us a Rhino midden at the side of the road.
Rhino mark their territory with these scraped patches of ground where they also defecate to leave their scent.
It's a bit like a noticeboard in the bush for them.

 

Moon over the Klaserie

 

African Sky

2016 South African

Our 2016 trip took us to South Africa, to two reserves on the edge of the Kruger national park just to the East of Hoedspuit, Timbavati, which is an old favourite, and the adjacent Klaserie.
This was without a doubt the Rhino trip as we were privileged to see them regularly. One just hopes future generations can enjoy watching these peaceful giants of the bush.

In the Klaserie, our first stop, we stayed at nThambo Tree Camp and in the Timbavati we stayed at Kambaku River Sands - both camps we would strongly recommend.

One last glimps of the Luangwa River

A last view down the river which for a fortnight had been the focus of our world before we headed off back to Lusaka, then Jo'burg and on back to London.

The Valley is a magical place where wildlife goes about its daily progress as it has for millennia.

There can be no doubt South Luangwa is very special and here's hoping tourism can bring the income to keep this real life Garden of Eden pristeen for many years to come.

Shadow of our last drive

The clouds float by

Lion symmetry

Geese in love

A pair of Egyptian Geese

Art in the bush

An abandoned Weaver Bird nest makes for a surreal piece of modern art in a bush.

A Lion with intent

African sky

The big trip

 From Tena tena we took a day long drive up into the Nsefu area.

First stop was a famous stork colony (currently vacant as the storks are migratory). You can just make out how the trees are bleached white from the droppings.

 We drove on tracks like this for a couple of hours, during this time we saw two other vehicles and two fellows from the anti poaching patrol (dressed in boiler suits and wellies with AK47s slung across their backs - it must have been 35 degrees).

 Many years ago the government of Zambia tasked a drilling company to look for water.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) the co-ordinates were wrong and they drilled here - many many miles from any habitation. What they found was a thermal reservoir and to this day hot water (too hot to touch comfortably) wells up, creating a wetland haven for all sorts of wildlife.

Honey Badgers on the prowl

A big favourite of our Africa trips - the Honey Badger. These animals have real attitude. Do a web search and the phrase "bad ass" is bound to crop up somewhere in relation to these animals.

On guard

The troop of baboon near Tena Tena had just lost one of its members to a Leopard (they are quite partial to a bit of baboon) and were on constant look out.

In fact baboon were one of the main clues we picked up on when searching for Leopard. The barks and squeals of the troop is a surefire give away.

Arty leaf shot

Sunset over the Luangwa River

Busy at the bar tonight!

When a herd of buffalo want to drink nothing is going to get in their way. This herd was spotted going down to the river near Tena Tena just as evening was falling.

Sausage Tree in fruit

Sausage tree fruit. They look like some sort of old BBC visual gag, like the spaghetti tree joke many years ago. But these are real trees and real fruit.

Nicknamed by some "the suicide tree" because the fruit are both heavy and hard with a habit of dropping on unfortunate people standing underneath.

Tena Tena - a wonderful luxury African experience

 Tena tena really does bring luxury into the bush, but in a way which keeps the natural surroundings and that feeling of immersion in nature.

Believe it or not this is our "tent".

 And from the outside

 Our "sitootery" (remember just hours earlier a Leopard had run within metres of this spot.

 Our view from the front of the tent across to the river where the Leopard was drinking earlier.

 The wonderful bar area and dining space.

Crossing the river

Here we are in the middle of no-where waiting for the boat to make its way across and take us to the Tena Tena side of the river.

It always amazes us that arrangements like this always seem to work faultlessly in the African bush - yet back here in the UK you can't even rely on a train being on time!

Up front was an armed scout - necessary because the river was absolutely packed with hippo.

As it was all went smoothly.

Leopard reflection

On a trip where Leopard were most certainly the stars of the show this one was very, very special.

As we drove early one morning from Kaingo bush camp to the river crossing point that would take us to the other side of the Luangwa river to Tena Tena, we stopped for coffee.

About 250m downstream we saw this Leopard on a sand bank in the river drinking. Immediately after this shot it leapt perhaps 5m to shore and trotted off up the sand to the bush beyond.


Little did we know that this action had, in fact, taken place on the sand bar immediately to the front of our tent at Tena Tena camp, which nestles under the trees along the edge of the main river channel.

This leopard was a mere 200m from what was to become our front door for the next four nights.

Sunset at Kaingo

Shadows on an Elephant canvas

Open wide!

Mum and baby

This mother and baby hippo was one of the sightings we had off the deck at Kaingo camp.

Kaingo Camp

The deck area at Kaingo Camp - a wonderful place to have afternoon tea before setting out on a game drive. In all honesty you could safari from here - we watched all manner of birds and mammals from the deck happily going about their business on the Luangwa river.