Jan 052014
 

I’ve had this picture sitting around for a year now waiting to find out where exactly I took it. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, and I’m tired of passing it over every time I look for a photo, so I’ve decided to post it tonight. I think it’s the last of my images from South Africa. It was taken after leaving a beach and on my way for a few drinks sat outside a pub, which we departed due to a chip shortage. Then, we had a nice lunch sat outside a well-stocked pub across the street.

cape point cape town south africa

Nov 032013
 

Today’s photo was taken during a day where we rode elephants and walked cheetahs and lions. The cheetahs are walked on leashes and then you get to watch them chase down a bit of meat, which resulted in this photo. It was an amazing day capped off by coming face to face with the king of the jungle.

We were introduced to two adolescent lions, the female you can see below, and a white male who was starting to get his mane in. Rather worryingly, the guides said that these lions were reaching sexual maturity so would be released onto the reserve soon as they would get aggressive and be too dangerous to walk. The plan is for these captive bred lions to breed in the reserve and produce lions that have had no contact with humans.

Fortunately, for this trip, they were pretty docile, walking along with us a we patted them on the back and held their tails like leashes. The most exciting part was when the female decided to leap into a tree above us. From where she was I’m pretty sure she could’ve pounced on any one us at any moment.

Face of a female lioness up close on a lion walk in Livingstone Zambia

Oct 222013
 

Actually, she wasn’t. My travel buddy, Harleigh, was almost to the ridge at this point, which led up to the top of the immense Dune 7. In an earlier post, she was making good progress on two feet, striding up with no problem. Then, it got steeper and she had to use her hands to claw her way up the last few meters.

There were three of us on the dune and we all took different routes. Harleigh got to the top first, I didn’t make it at all (I blame the camera gear).

Girl climbing a sand dune in front of overcast sky in Namibia

Sep 192013
 

The drive to Walvis Bay to the dunes at Sossusvlei is pretty barren. It’s mainly a long flat road, not suited to the vehicle we were in. We bounced along at half the speed limit as giant overland trucks sped past us. Still, it was an exciting drive. Every now and again, dotted across the landscape we’d spot flocks of ostrich strolling about. This group corresponded with a driver change 2 hours into the drive.

Ostiches in the desert in Namibia with a mountain in the background

 

Aug 122013
 

It’s been a while since I’ve made a post.  It’s been a pretty hectic couple of weeks with cupmatch and a stag one weekend after the other. On top of that, my usual laptop decided to stop working on me so I’ve been using my old one, which I was shocked to find still works, kind of.

It may be debatable as to whether or not I can claim this photo. I really wanted to get a good shot of a yawning hippo. While on a booze cruise, I had the camera all set and had been trying to catch it on avail. My travel buddy, Harleigh, asked to look through the camera to get a closer look at what was a pretty inactive hippo. Just as she pointed the camera at him, this happened. Harleigh reacted and held down he shutter button, firing off about a dozen shots. This was the best of the bunch.

Hippo yawning with  big teeth with baby hippo in the water next to it in Zambia

Jul 192013
 

On my last trip to Zambia, I got to walk with lions and cheetahs. Then, they showed us how they run the cheetahs. A bit of meat is tied at the end of a rope and a winch drags it round a circuit at high speed. The cat takes off after it at amazing speeds, culminating in a cloud of dirt as it comes to a sudden stop and receives its treat.

Even though I knew exactly where and when these cheetahs were going to be running past, it was still pretty difficult catching a photo of them. I like this one a lot, mainly because of the explosions of dirt flying up where the cheetah has pushed off.

Cheetah running with dirt flying up behind in Zambia

Jul 022013
 

Having a few days off, with nothing to do, has resulted in me getting the photos I have to process organized. A lot of the photos I’ve released from my last trip to the Victoria Falls were taken under tricky conditions. I was surrounded by swirling mist which soaked both me and my equipment and obscured my view of the falls, making everything blurry and flat. I got clear shots the first time I was there, but there wasn’t much water about.

This picture, is actually of the first view of the falls you see when you enter from the Zambian side, but it was the last picture I took that day. Apparently, I’d figured out how to deal with the mist by this point. I think I’d gotten more patient, waiting for the mist to clear before clicking the shutter. Looking at the shots I took just before this one, I think I’ve got some more clear images to come.

The Victoria Falls at high water framed by surrounding lush green plantlife

Jun 282013
 

While cruising the river in search of wildlife, on our shaded, covered motor boat, we came across these fishermen working hard in the heat of the sun. It’s no wonder they’ve stripped off. They were quite a distance away so I couldn’t really tell what they were doing until I got my big telephoto lens on.

I definitely would not want to be standing waist deep in that water. It wasn’t very far from here that we came across a crocodile with a freshly killed impala in its jaws.

They’re very careful about taking care of nature in Botswana. Looking across the river to Namibia, you could see a stark difference in the way that each country had decided to use the land. Botswana has set up nature reserves, making their income from taking tourists on safaris. Just across the river, Namibia has transformed the other bank into large swaths of farmland.

Fishermen in canoes tending their nets on the river bank in Botswana