Sabi Sand Workshop 2011

The Sabi Sand Game Reserve is not only one of South Africa's oldest reserves it is also home to a phenomenal concentration of wildlife, especially the big cats!

www.elephantplains.co.za

Most people are lucky to see a leopard in their life time. In the Sands we are blessed with leopard sightings and this safari was no different with no less than six different leopards in four nights. We also got to see the same leopards a few times so the number of actual sightings was closer to twelve!

This beautiful male was on a waterbuck kill just outside a guest room. He was joined by a female and her cub.

Elephant are well known for their love of water. We watched this bull having a ball while his mates were more subdued and drank before moving off to feed. This waterhole produced elephant almost everyday, and it was great to see a large herd running down to drink.

Dagga Boy's

As they are know are the older males normal found on their own or in small groups. They are fond of wallowing in mud and tend to stay close to waterholes.

Dark Chanting Goshawk

Grooming male lion just prior to starting out for the nightly patrol.

Male leopard on patrol.

Camouflage

I have just had enough!!

Chikwenya

www.chikwenyasafaris.com

With Kariba Dam having two gates open at the time of our visit there was a tremendous amount of water in the Zambezi. This meant we could get into areas by boat that you can normally only walk into. We floated over islands and witnessed the animals movements and adaptations to this watery realm.

There seemed to be hippo everywhere!! WE were lucky to see a calf that had just been born as was still finding it's feet. Luckily it had a very tolerant mom!!

A not so tolerant mom!

The guests opted to use the boat more often as it is so peaceful just floating along. You are also able to get up close to various animals and birds, for great photography.

Elephant rubbing post.

A young African Rock Python coiled around a branch above the river.

The famous flood plain of Anna trees along the banks of the Zambezi. These trees are now threatened due to the lack of flooding since the damming of the river. The trees need the floods to help germinate new seeds.

Saddlebill Stork fishing one of the flooded areas.

The Zambezi is about 1.5 km wide at this point.

Elephant bull reaching for the Anna tree pods. The elephant in this area are smaller than elephant in other areas.

Under the watchful eye of our Zim guide Kaz.

Winter Workshop 2011

Bruna's Fish Eagle

Bruna managed to catch this fish eagle at just the right moment on take off!! She has done some work on the image by adding vignetting, a bit of contrast and sharpening.

Tree Squirrel.

These little guy's are super subjects in the cold weather as they sit in the sun trying to warm up. Their antics as they prepare for the day can be very amusing.

A young elephant testing the wind.

Fish Eagle.

As it gets cooler and the pans start drying up. The fish eagles and storks have easy picking. Most pans have a mass of writhing barbel (catfish) caught in the mud. There is also often a lot of competition between the different predatory species.

Dwarf Mongoose.

Just like the squirrel's these little fellows also struggle in the cold of winter and spend a great deal of time in the mornings grooming, warming up, and playing before starting to forage. They are often found in association with hornbills. The hornbills, being birds, are keen to get going in the morning and will call to the mongoose to try and get them up faster. This is because while the mongoose are feeding they often miss insects that the hornbills catch. The mongoose are repaid by having the hornbills as sentry's and by them giving an alarm call for avian predators.

Bruna getting down and dirty!

Michelle looking for that different angle, with her baby cam!!

Linda all wrapped up.

A large herd of buffalo on the morning drive.