Tag: travel

Cheetah cubs behind a tree

Photographing wildlife can be very frustrating. Not only do you need to find the wildlife, which sometimes happens and sometimes does not, the animals need to position themselves in a photogenic way as well. In a majority of the sightings, especially in a park that does not allow off road driving, the animal is far away. Even if they are close like these cheetah cubs, you still have to find that one spot that gives you an amazing shot – and sometimes that spot doesn’t exist. So here are two cheetah cubs, looking in the right direction, quite close to us, photographed through a tree…
I guess I need to try again soon!

Steenbok male

In Europe, a steenbok is a big and impressive curly-horned mountain goat. In South Africa, it is the cutest little antelope. The male has two twig-like horns on its head, the female has no horns. They are extremely shy and will run away at any suspicion of danger. It’s a blessing to find one that stands still for long enough to be photographed!

Flooding in Venice

In the bus to Piazzale Roma I saw people carrying plastic bags with rubber boots. I decided to buy a pair as soon as I arrived. They were not cheap.

But necessary they were. The water started immediately. Walking through water is slow, and everything in Venice seems to be in some kind of slow motion at the moment. Tourists wonder: Do I dare to take this street? Venetians are trying to keep the water out of their houses and shops, with little to no success.

The difference between canal and walkway is gone. The best is to just accept that you will get wet. You will get wet if you don’t have boots. You will get wet if your boots do not reach over your knees. Even Banksy’s graffiti of a migrant is getting wet.

Life goes on in Venice. You can still buy fish on the Campo Santa Margherita, and some bars and shops are open even though there is about 20 cm water inside. The question is whether flooding like this will be a normal part of life in Venice…

Diederik cuckoo

One of the beautiful cuckoos that are summer visitors to South Africa. Once the rains start, the calls of the cuckoos can be heard everywhere in the bush. This glorious green bird is called the Diederik cuckoo, because its name sounds like the Dutch/Afrikaans name Diederik: It calls “Die- die- diederik!” Unfortunately hearing cuckoos is much easier than actually seeing them, so I was very happy when this one perched on a branch for a moment.

Giraffe in black and white

Giraffes are cautious but curious animals. If you stop to watch them, they are likely to come closer and watch what strange thing is parked in front of them. I once saw a pair of giraffes move slowly towards a pride of lions, seemingly just to check them out…
Photo taken in Pilanesberg National Park

Kori bustard on the move

The Kori Bustard is a huge, almost prehistoric-looking bird. It’s the heaviest bird in Africa and possibly the world that still is able to fly. However, it spends most of its time on the ground, searching for lizards, insects, or even berries. The impala in the photo has nothing to fear from the kori bustard, although it did feel the need to watch it pass.

Klipspringer on the rocks

A klipspringer standing on a rocky outcrop in the fading evening light in Pilanesberg National Park. Finding a klipspringer is always a highlight of my gamedrives, they are one of our absolute favorite animals. This one seems to have a serious bad hair day – or possibly it escaped the claws of a predator, for example of one of the leopards that are regularly seen on these rocks. Go well, dear klipspringer!

Leopard after the kill

This leopard had just caught a big bushbuck in Pilanesberg. I’m not sure how that was even possible, I’ve never seen bushbuck there, and he just catches one! He was still panting heavily in the shade of a bush. His kill was lying a meter off, too heavy to be carried up a tree. Later, that night, a couple of lions chased the leopard away and feasted on his kill. Such hard work, and so little joy from it!