The Warthog

The Warthog

The Warthog, or as many of you may know it as Pumbaa, is a member of the pig family.  They got their name from the protrusions under their ears that resemble warts.  It's almost comical that when ever I show pictures of the African wildlife to children they always reference an animated movie; Pumbaa, Simba, Happy Feet, Madagascar.

These were taken at Ngala Game Reserve in Kruger National Park, South Africa.  This family of Warthogs hang around the camp area because they find it a safe place to raise their young.  This is actually in the lawn area right in front of where we dine.  I was relaxing on a sofa on the porch when these Warthogs wandered in and hung out for a while.

They were very playful with each other running around and bucking and as you can see below, showing affection by cuddling and rubbing together. 

 

Here you can see one of them grazing while on its knees.  They will bend their front legs to better reach the grass.  It was fascinating to watch them graze while they scooted themselves along on their knees. 

This particular one was right outside our room, just a few feet away and kind enough to let me shoot it.

Leopard kills an Impala

Leopard Kills an Impala

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I participated in a safari at Ngala Game Reserve in Kruger National Park.  Just in case you haven't heard the story of the Leopard kill yet here it is in some detail.

A couple of days into our stay there we tracked and eventually found this Leopard.  Our guide and tracker spotted some Leopard tracks and we followed them them for nearly an hour and a half determined to find a Leopard (which are somewhat rare to find).  We stopped the vehicle and investigated the tracks in the sand several times during the course of this game drive.  When the tracks disappeared, our tracker, armed with nothing more than a radio, left us and walked off into the "bush" to try and pick up the Leopard's trail.

We drove on ahead to meet up with him further down the road as it looped around.  In the process of driving around we actually located the Leopard ourselves.  Our tracker had not caught up to us yet as we followed the Leopard for several minutes across the savanna.

Our guide maneuvered the vehicle within very close proximity to the Leopard - who seemed almost disinterested in us.  We were constantly within about 20 feet of the Leopard as it worked its way across the land.  We drove over bushes and trees to keep up the pace.

All of a sudden the Leopard stopped in its tracks and turned its head slightly.  A moment later our guide pointed out an Impala not much further ahead of us.  We stopped the vehicle and watched as the Leopard crouched down and froze in the grass.  The Leopard was down wind from the Impala so it had no idea what was about to happen.  My heart was racing as we all anticipated an attack.

Moments later the Leopard took two leaps and was on top of the Impala.  I didn't anticipate anything like this happening in front of me and wasn't prepared either.  It was an awesome yet very emotional experience - I sniffled through some tears as I snapped away on the camera.  The Impala held its ground while the Leopard lunged at its neck and wrapped its paws around it to hold it still as it suffocated it with a bite.

After 30 seconds or so the Impala weakened and eventually slumped to the ground dead.  My wife and I both cried during the take down - being an appreciator of all life it was a hard thing to watch.  Words can't describe the event that we had just witnessed.  But during the whole ordeal my wife managed to get video and I was snapping away.

Something I will never forget...

Here is a montage of the attack.

Moments before the kill this is what the docile Leopard looked like as we followed alongside it.

Here is the attack one by one...

Here you can see the Impala beginning to weaken and slump over.

And here is the proud Leopard hovering over its prize.

We estimated that the Impala buck was about 130 pounds and we all marveled at what great ease the Leopard dragged it away with.

Thanks for visiting!

Lions of South Africa

 Lions of South Africa

I've been back in the states now for a couple of weeks and I've finally adjusted back to California time.  It is a 9 hour difference, as far as time zones go, in South Africa and a hell of a 22 hour flight back.  But now that I'm processing a ton of images I know it was well worth it.

We stayed at Ngala Private Game Reserve for our safaris.  Here's a few more of the Lions we encountered on our first game drive in Kruger National Park.  There were four Lions less than three years old each, three females and a single male.  These were taken the next day after they were lounging around in the grass (their bellies were full).  This day they were on the move, when we caught up with them, meandering across the savanna.

Our guide maneuvered our vehicle alongside the Lions several times as they walked by without a care.  Occasionally they would stop and look at us.  Maybe admiring us as we were them or maybe just wondering what the heck we were doing.  One Lioness rounded our vehicle and took a step towards me then just stopped and looked at me a mere 3 feet away.  Yes, my heart rate went through the roof I think.  The look on my face was the butt of jokes the rest of the day.  I don't know what I looked like but I know it couldn't have been pretty.  I remember that when we locked eyes I turned to look at our guide to make sure he knew there was a Lion that close to me!  He didn't seem to care just as the Lioness didn't.  I was so nervous I didn't even take any pictures until after she moved on.

Here's one of my favorites because it shows you how close we really were to the lions as they walked by.

 

The Zebra

The Zebra

Even after seeing Lions and Leopards the Zebra is still one of my favorites.  I believe this is a Burchell's Zebra.  I got to see plenty while in South Africa a couple weeks ago. 

Every Zebra's stripes are unique to that one animal just like finger prints to humans (same as Giraffe).  Zebras are social animals and spend their time together in harems.  I found them to be quite skittish when we stumbled upon a small herd (thank God for telephoto lenses!).  They have quite an interesting social structure that is built upon a hierarchy of age with the oldest mares and the stallion's taking up the rear, while on the move, to with stand attacks and ward off predators.

After two years, colts will leave their harem to join bachelor groups.  They come into heat a few days each month and look for a mare to mate with.  Their is fierce rivalry between suitors and the harem master over the mating rights with the mares - this ensures that the most fittest stallion gets mating rights.  This can go on for up to a year then the mare will bear the young and remain faithful.

The Rhinoceros

The Rhinoceros

I'll round out the "big five" with the Rhinoceros. Definitely one of the oddest looking creatures on my trip in South Africa.  Although I have seen plenty of images of Rhinos it just wasn't the same as seeing one up close.  They are massive animals and almost ironically they are Herbivores. When we found this Rhino it was grazing in an open field.

Rhinos are all the rave right now in Africa because they are being wiped off the planet by hunters at a fast pace.  An unfounded rumor started some time ago about their horns having an aphrodisiac quality in China and trade on the black market has sky rocketed.  Rhino poachers are determined to make them extinct it would seem.  They are considered to be critically endangered.  We were lucky enough to see a handful of them (OK I realize that doesn't make sense...how about 5 or 6?).

Notice the light colored section on the right cheek of this Rhino - it is exposed tissue from a fight with another Rhino.  When we noticed that our guide backed up to get a look at the Rhinos behind.  He said that if there was a wound there he would have been the loser of the fight taking a horn in the rear end while running away.  There was no wound leaving us to believe he had probably won the disagreement.  But not without his scars.  If you look closer at his face around the eyes you can find more bleeding wounds. How I wished I could have witnessed that fight!

The Elephant

The Elephant

Just in case you haven't been following me lately, I just got back from South Africa.  I've been posting some images of the "big five" (see previous posts).  Also part of the "big five" is the Elephant - the largest of the land mammals.  They eat about 375 pounds of foliage a day and that takes up at least 14 hours of the day - it's no wonder why every time we saw one they were eating.

We came across this Elephant just before sunset on a game drive.  I had faith in our guide Barney, who was fearless and determined to give us the best experience ever.  No surprises here as he veered off the road (which is just beyond the Elephant here), around a grouping of trees (and even over some trees!) and right up next to it.  The Elephants seemed to be more a little more timid than anything we had come across before but when we turned our engine off and just sat and watched it continued on with its meal.  Being only about 20 feet away I really got a taste of what a massive and magnificent creature it really is.

You may notice that one of the tusks is angled up.  Barney pointed out that this is just a defect from birth or shortly after.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

The Buffalo

The Buffalo

Here's another from the "big five".  The Buffalo.  We stumbled upon this Buffalo while on an afternoon drive.  It was resting in some grass not far from the road and our guide (the one with eyes like a hawk) spotted what no one else saw until we were on top of it.  We circled in front of it and parked a mere 10 feet away for a good view and some interesting information.

If you look closely at its nose and mouth you can see some bloody tissue hanging.  Our guide explained that this is the result of a Lion attack.  It obviously was the victor in the attack but our guide pointed out that he is probably miserable and in a lot of pain - not an animal you want to mess with.  The Lion or Lions were trying to suffocate the Buffalo by going for the snout.  The battle scars are most likely from the lions teeth as it tried to wrap around the Buffalo's nose and mouth.

An adult Buffalo can reach 1,000 to 2,000 pounds and are said to be the most aggressive of the big five.  An injured Buffalo has been known to double back on its hunter and attack him.  A large herd of Buffalo have been known to collectively drive of predators from attacking their calves.  It is not uncommon for them to send Lions scurrying up trees.  I'm glad this was a peaceful meeting.

Thanks for visiting and stay tuned for more!

Pride of Africa

Pride of Africa

Here's the most recent image from my safari last week. This is number two of the "big five"; the Lion (see my previous post about the leopard).

We got into the Ngala Game Reserve camp midday after a gorgeous drive where we viewed plenty of Giraffe on the side of the road.  On our first game drive we found lions!  We left camp around 4PM with no idea of what to expect. After a little while of driving deeper into the reserve we came to a sudden stop and our tracker jumped off his seat (which is situated on the hood of the vehicle) and into the passenger seat.  We were all wondering what would prompt him to get in the vehicle when our guide pointed across some grass ahead and said, "See that white spot, that is a Lion lying belly up."

I think there was a bit of a communal gasp as we drove towards them.  Sure enough what our untrained eye couldn't see from the road we found up close and personal. There were four Lions lounging in the grass.  We got closer and closer as I scrambled to get my camera in position.  Soon enough the driver got us within about ten feet of them.  I think that raised the heart rates of everyone in the vehicle - I know it raised mine! 

The Lions seemed unaffected by our close intrusion.  At first they kept a close eye on us as we drove up but when the engine turned off, which happened every time we stopped to admire the wildlife, they just relaxed and rolled around stretching in the grass.  Fear and excitement made for a good adrenaline rush.  We sat for a few minutes and snapped away as the Lions seemed to pose for us.

There were three females and one male and our guide estimated not older than three years old.  He said that they have never seen these particular Lions before and that they were not a part of local pride.  Their bellies were full and after a while we noticed that a nearby tree had several White-backed Vultures perched in it.  No doubt a carcass was close by.

We drove on and at sunset stopped in a clearing.  At first I think the consensus was that their was more wildlife but then our guide jumped out of the truck and set up a little table and served us cocktails and wine...right in the middle of the "bush"!  We got to watch the sunset over the African savanna with a glass of wine in hand not knowing what creatures lurked beyond the trees.  What an experience!

Briana Quinceanera

Briana is 15!  She celebrated her birthday with a traditional Quinceanera bash.  We started at Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church and then on to the Double Tree in San Pedro.  Here's some highlights...

Happy Birthday Briana!