Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Kruger Again

Not much going on in the studio- can it be called a studio without a design wall? I am still working on making one. Nothing wants to stick to the wall and the Styrofoam… generally one or the other… so I am now contemplating a wooden ladder frame… and glue the foam to that. By the time I figure this out it will be time to go home.

We went back to Kruger National Park for the long weekend. A very different trip than the last time. We did not see nearly as many animals, and mostly that was due to the heavy growth. South Africa has had a very wet summer, so the brush is thick and the grass is TALL.

Brush

Once again we did a “Game Walk” early in the morning… assemble at 4:45. Of course the walk was not quite like the last one… but we did see and hear some interesting animals…  right after we started the walk we heard the Lions… roaring and chuffing and we heard them all through the walk. We saw Wildebeest, Zebra, Giraffe, heard and saw an Eagle Owl (no pix) and a few other regular critters. The real surprise was seeing the lions… in the distance watching us! The grass was 4 feet tall…

am-lionsA Lion and lioness, watching us while we were on the ‘Game Walk’.

I think the overall theme for this visit was babies and birds. We saw lots of cape-calfthem…. the wildebeest looks its best as a baby, we also saw baby zebra, Cape buffalo (looks just like a cow calf), squirrel, chicks and an Impala. The other was the colorful birds- some really spectacular colors!

Cape Buffalo and calf (about 1 day old)

Euro-bee-eater

European Bee-eater

Impala-babyImpala and fawn

lbrollerLilac Breasted Roller

lilac-breasted-rollerLilac Breasted Rollers at sunset

Marabou-StorkMarabou Stork

spurfowl-chicksSpur Fowl and chicks

waterbuck

wildie-calfBaby Blue Wildebeest Calf

woodland-kgfshrWoodland Kingfisher

zebra Zebra

baby-sqirlMom and baby Squirrel

baby-zebraBaby Zebra

bfly-flowerButterfly and flowers

bronze-courserTemmincks Courser

In the first photo do you see the animal? It’s an elephant, full grown, and it is about 30 feet away. That is how thick the brush was…..

So what do you think about this safari? The photos aren’t the best… as I am learning the new lenses…. and light.

6 comments:

  1. Wow! (as usual) I love the pictures of the colorful birds. They're really something I've never seen before! Seems like all the big animals of Africa are what get the most attention, but the little ones are pretty amazing as well!! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. What a great trip Beth. Beautiful pictures. This is just such a wonderful chance you've given me to see S Africa through the eyes of someone from the US. Thanks so much.

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  3. My favourite photos this time are the baby zebra, lilac breasted rollers at sunset and the butterfly and flowers. I'm not sure that I choose between the three. You're so lucky!!

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  4. Holy moly those pictures were bee-u-ti-ful pictures. You have such a good eye, well except for lions. They seemed to have the better eye

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  5. Beth, excellent pictures of the wildlife in Kruger. You are indeed a good photographer. I miss the game drives but not the rain. I can see my old house flooded every time it rained. 8-)

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  6. The birds are so colorful down there. I like the baby zebra photo!

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Please leave a comment- big or small.... I love hearing what the pictures say to you too.