Capturing the Moment

  On each game drive here in the Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve, the wildlife seemed to show up almost on cue. Famous for its leopard sightings, it did not disappoint. We ended up seeing seven different leopards, including a tiny three month old cub. We came across lions lazing in giant boulders in the middle of the river, white rhinos grazing peacefully with their young, and gorgeous birds at every turn...even above our dining table! Greg found a leopard tortoise cruising past our rooms at Kirkman's Camp, which we all thought was just the best. And then an actually leopard decided to cruise through our camp as well, making us stop in our tracks on our way back from dinner. It was a good reminder that we are in the middle of the wild.

  Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa is renowned for having one of the best safari experiences in the world. It is situated in the southwest corner of Kruger National Park, and share a 50 kilometer unfenced border. The reserve it especially famous for leopard sightings, due to the leopards being habituated to safari vehicles, making more intimate sightings possible. I was hoping that our time here would provide some good leopard sightings, but we also needed to find a predator that we hadn't seen yet, the wild dog.

Hungry European Bee Eater Grey Headed Kingfisher Bird Photography in Kruger National Park  The bird life in Africa is amazing. It is enough to turn anyone into a budding birder. Beautiful bee eaters, colorful rollers, king fishers, sun birds, and all kinds of birds-of-prey abound in places like Kruger National Park. Armed with a new Canon 100-400mm L series lens I was ready to capture all the action.   There are two methods for getting bird photography in Kruger. You can drive around, cover some distance, and keep an eye out for colorful streaks across the road, or the silhouettes of larger birds up in the trees, but you need to really hone in your bird scanning if you are going to do this on the move. Another method is to find birding hotspots and stay in one place. Several blinds have been setup around the park overlooking ponds. Africa is the kind of place that you can sit and watch one big tree and see dozens of different bird species. Rare sighting of a...

Finding Africa's Big 5    If you are looking for Africa's "Big 5" then Kruger National Park should be your destination. For those not in the know the Big Five is a term left over from colonial hunting days in Africa for the five animals that if a hunter shot but didn't kill, the animal could charge and kill the hunter. This elite group of potentially deadly animals include elephants, rhino, leopard, lion, and cape buffalo. Now the term is thrown around more by enthusiastic wildlife watchers in safari vehicles trying to shoot a photo of the Big 5.  African Elephant   Even though these animal sightings are heavily sought after, to the point of camps having recent sightings boards up with moveable magnets for each animals, it can still be quite a challenge to see them all. If you are in a place like Kruger National Park in South Africa and get quite lucky then it is possible to see them all in a day, but the longer you stay in the park the better your ...

  Finding the Mythical Sable Antelope    The sable antelope ( hippotragus niger ), is one of the rarest, and hardest to find antelope in Africa. Until this past trip into Kruger National Park in South Africa I had only spotted 2 in all of my Africa travels; one in the desolate Katavi National Park in Tanzania and one in the heavily wooded region of Pretoriaskop in Kruger National Park.  Regal Sable Antelope When I was growing up my family spent all of our free time on a privately owned island off the coast of Georgia which the Bronx Zoo used as an off-site breeding area for incredibly rare and endangered animals. Some of these breeding programs went so well that animals were moved from here back into the wild all over Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Surrounded by exotic animals like lemurs, zebra, and Arabian oryx was a magical experience for a young future biologist like me. But of all of these wonderful creatures there was always one that capture my...

Pattern of a Cape Giraffe   It is spring time here in Kruger National Park in South Africa which means it's a busy time, for both animals and tourists. However with all the back roads and sheer size of the park you can stay and watch an animal for a while without seeing anyone else. However, when you do see a few cars stopped along the road up ahead of you there is a good chance that there may be something special lurking close by. Sheer power of a young male lion It is their road first and foremost    Even though you have to stay in your car for obvious safety reasons, and you have to stay on the roads (it is more strict here than Kenya), there are so many animals here in Kruger that close encounters still happen naturally. Take a look at these close encounters that happened in one 24hr period spent in the park a few days ago. Smallest baby ever Rough skin of an African elephant   We had a pride of lions pop out of the river valley a few fe...

Lilac Breasted Roller at rest Yellow-billed Hornbill Glossy Starling   Africa is a birders paradise. After spending one night in Kruger National Park near Joburg, South Africa I have already lost count as to how many different bird species we have seen. Here are some of the ones I was lucky enough to snap good pictures of, but there were many many more around. I think if you just stop for awhile and watch one big tree you will end up seeing dozens of bird species...maybe more. You will see every color of the rainbow in beautiful patterns. Then a bird like the lilac breasted roller takes flight and you see more colors than you thought could exist on a single bird. Birds of prey abound from hawks, to eagles, to owls, and even the pigeons can be brilliant green. Roller in mid flight It is a virtual birds-of-prey bonanza here in South Africa Vultures hovering above a lion kill Ponds are a great place to look for birds African Spoonbill