One of the highlights of our trip was finding this mother lion with two cubs in a river bed. At this age – maybe three months old – they are still reliant on mother’s milk and too little to engage in the hunt with the rest of the pride, so mother will hide them for long periods to go hunting and come back for feeding and play time.
Tag: South Africa
Falling…
A leopard dozing in a tree above us. In fact, he was dozing so hard that he lost his balance and needed some claw action to prevent him from falling out of the tree and on top of… well, me. That was a scary moment!
At first sight
It was a long journey from the Netherlands to Tangala Safari Camp in #Thornybush Nature Reserve. We were just in time to catch the departure of the afternoon safari drive – and this was the first picture I took. What a welcome in South Africa!
Malachite kingfisher
The malachite kingfisher is one of the most beautifully colored kingfishers, with its creamy orange belly and dark blue back. If you are lucky, it will even show you its bright blue crest!
Photo taken in Dinokeng Game Reserve.
The Jesus bird
The African jacana seems to walk over the water and is therefore sometimes jokingly called the ‘Jesus bird’. In fact they are placing their long toes on the stems and leaves of floating vegetation. Jacanas are very special in that they are polyandrous, which means that one female has several male partners who take care of the chicks.Photo taken in Dinokeng Game Reserve.
Pearl-spotted owlet
A little pearl-spotted owlet gazing down at me from its perch on a wire. It was a magical day, finding our first pearl-spotted owlet in the morning and then finding another one at a completely different place in the afternoon. I feel like we’ve unlocked this species now!Photo taken in Dinokeng Game Reserve.
Jackal in the evening light
I love jackals. They are slightly bigger than a fox, but they move in the same jumpy way. This one stood in the evening light, apprehensively checking us out.Photo taken in Dinokeng Game Reserve.
Southern red-billed hornbill
A beautiful southern red-billed hornbill in the evening sun. I believe this is a male, because the base of the beak is black.
Portrait of a giraffe
A black and white portrait of a giraffe that was checking us out. Giraffes are quite curious animals. If they see something strange – like a car, but I’ve also seen them do this with lions – they will watch it intently before ambling away.
Photo taken in Dinokeng Game Reserve
Awesome wonder 