Aat & Elly Stories 1 to 20 *

[aat]

Thanks RP... feels better now -O

*** NEW Stories ***
This is not a day to day TR, all stories are based on sightings during our last trip from november 26th 2011 till december 14th 2011.

Story 8 – All about Cheetah’s

Welcome on board again… hope you are not getting borred with the stories
This time I like to take you with me for some nice cheetah sightings. All in two days
Alltough there are not many left we so far have been lucky to see them during our trips to kruger.

Let’s start with this one… somewhere along the S28 (between Crocodile Bridge and Lower Sabie) we saw something in the field… stopped for a better look and yesss… male cheetah.
First impression we got…

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He was a bit at a distance but using a bit of zooming I could get him a bit closer
After a while (20 minutes) he was standing up

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he was a bit lurking around…mainly laying down and “sleeping”

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With a friendly look at us

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So we left him after some time…no action …lazy Cheetah !

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Thinking about other Cheetah sightings in that area … we did not see male cheetah’s that often….
Next day lots of wonderful sightings and late afternoon we decided to drive the S28 again..why not… this road has been very nice for us over the years.
We were just saying to each other …should be fun to see this Cheetah again..but this almost never happens…
A few minutes later….hahahahaha….. there he was again…now a bit closer to the road.

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Cheetah’s are the favorites of my wife Elly…she always get thrilled to see one and I heard her lovely heart pounding …. I told her… you are lucky my dear… another present for your birthday trip.

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The Cheetah was alert… he was listening and looking around… what did he hear or smell ?

A small herd of ellies ….that’s what he heard

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Not very relaxed anymore…. But a nice lovely look at us

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With all the noice made by the ellies he moved a bit…

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But lazy as cats can be…(most of the time) he found another place and decided to lay down again

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So end of the Male stories… But…. Where males are the females can’t be far away…so let’s jump in the car again and continue the Cheetah surprizes….

Why not taking the S28 again….

Sssstttttttttttt some movement in the grass… a cat… more cats… lions? No Cheetah’s …

Stopped the car…window down…. Cheetah’s smelling something ?

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Mhhh must be a good smell there…. Axe for men or Chanel no 5 ??

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How many Cheetah’s ….

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Two..?

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No…Three ?

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Number will be cleared later….
Difficulty was the high grass and bush to “shoot” them better….so just waiting for right opportunities to capture them…
They were all moving …walking..stalking…smelling…
Please be visible for us…

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A bit further it was getting better… getting the feeling they would like to cross the road … at least we were hoping …

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Yessss…they came closer and closer…. mhhhhh

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Then…. Close to the road… and as they learned from mother…. Look right…look left….look right… (based on experiences with fast driving blinking machines on their roads)
The only good thing here is that they were posing a while before crossing the road.

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As is should be…the youngsters were following mom…

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Ehhhhh ? what do I see in the mirror..? Another Cheetah… so nr 4.. did not see this one so far…but we like these kind of surprizes

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Final shots before they moved away in the grass and bush at the other side of the road.

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Thanks for joining ! The idea is to show you what we have seen…

Today 24th of february is my birthday …cheers with a virtual glass of bubbles , milk or beer


Next story could be about several Lion prides with cubs …

Aat & Elly


Many other pictures of last en other trips:
My Wildlife Photography Site
http://www.awv-photography.com

[aat]

*** NEW Stories ***
This is not a day to day TR, all stories are based on sightings during our last trip from november 26th 2011 till december 14th 2011.

Story 9 – Elly’s birthday.. what a day !

Hi all…. This story is about Elly’s birthday in kruger december 10th 2011. Starting with a little rain but nice presents given by the animals… what a day it was !
Being spoiled already with great sightings of all kind of animals, including rare and beautiful ones every day is different and who knows….

Waking up very early… giving 50 kisses to my beloved wife and ready for celebrating her birthday. It was a bit rainy when we left Satara and decided to go to have breakfast near Lugmag dam (along S36).
Following the main road towards Orpen, then turning left to the S36.
No much activity so far but suddenly some movement in the grass… a large herd of Buffalo, packed together and still sleeping…
We stopped to make some pictures since they started to sing HB for Elly ….

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Following the S36 again… still raining a bit…grey sky…
Our plan to have breakfast at Nhlanguleni picnic spot was not that good idea with this weather…so we moved on to Lugmag dam a few km’s ahead. It has a nice spot with good view at the dam…. Coming closer we saw some hyena’s crossing the road …for a drink ?
Yessssssssssssssssss…… wowwwww….. just parking the car with a great view on the dam and … look at this …our first view on this scene.

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A lion pride having breakfast too… we could recognize they were eating a waterbock

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The hyena’s were interested (hungry) too

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Looking around now and we counted about 9 hyena’s and 10 lions
Celebrating a birthday with this scene as present… something to dream about but now reality
Getting out sandwiches, milk etc…and in the mean time enjoying this views

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Busy , busy with feeding … sometimes relaxeing, drinking some water…looking around, the lions did their thing… so lovely to watch all this

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Lions were aware of the hyena’s around.

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Some of the hyena’s did not like to wait that long and tried to get closer and closer to the lions..

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As we all know lions and hyena’s are not that big friends so one of the lionesses did not really like the approaching hyena’s and decided to give a warning…followed by her youngsters… learning how to do this…

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Mother came closer and made some real warning noises , hyena’s did not feel well with the situation and moved back…



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After a while the hyena’s tried again, but the cups learned the lessons given by mother and came closer with an arrogant face….

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The 4 hyena’s moved backwards again….
A bit later one of them started their well known “crying - howling” followed by the others…one by one… what a great sound…was impressing but not really for the lions…
They got p****-off by them and started to go after them once more.

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Hyena’s gone again so time for breakfast and drinking again

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and a last view of them before moving on…

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We arrived just before 07:00 and left this scene around 8:40, one of the best breakfast’s we ever had in kruger

We followed the S36 and went left to the S33… still talking about the scene we just left when we saw this beautiful male lion drinking…

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Telling Elly… the animals do give you a nice presents… knowing she loves male lions…

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Watching him for a while when he was drinking… then he got back on his feet and crossed the road in front of us with a lovely look at Elly…. HB he said

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We followed the S33 and turned left to the main road towards Satara but why not taking the S86..a small loop and somehowe I felt we would see something there….
And yesss…. Another nice present for my princess…. A nice leopard in a tree..

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Only once he seems to say HB to Elly and that was it… he layed down his head and did not move it anymore….

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I told Elly we have seen 3 of the big 5 now so Big 5 should be possible this special day…
We went back to Satara for a coffee and another surprise

(The day before I went to the restaurant and asked if they would and could make a nice cake. A nice lady from the kitchen came and said…no problem…what do you like… I asked her for a nice cake with text and she was smiling… sure…no problem…I will make it and)

So back in Satara I told Elly I had to go to the shop to buy some things… picked up the cake and went back…. Handed over the big box and….. this was the cake

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After lunch , cake and drinks we took another ride late afternoon…since we had to find elephants and rhino… normally you see elephants but when you need them they are not there…

Driving the S40 , close to timbavati picnic spot we found a rhino… (nr 4)
Close to the road so could make a nice portrait

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Still no elephants… could not believe to have 4 out of 5 and not finding elephants…
Following my 6th sense…. going to the S90…. And finally there they are… a nice herd

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Birthday mission completed…. Big 5 as birthday present… what a day !

Evening with a nice braai… a full moon …good wine what else do you need … think I started again with 50 kisses but no pics of this and rest of evening….

Thanks for taking time to read this story…

Next story could be about the Picasso sequel…

Aat & Elly


Many other pictures of last en other trips:
My Wildlife Photography Site
http://www.awv-photography.com

[aat]

*** NEW Stories ***
This is not a day to day TR, all stories are based on sightings during our last trip from november 26th 2011 till december 14th 2011.

Story 10 – We are in DANGER !

Normally I like to share happy stories with you, share pictures of sightings about beauty of nature & wildlife….
This story is about animals in danger. Yes…. In danger again ! Many years ago a group of heroes protected the rhino’s and by all kind of protection and programs the number of rhino’s increased again. We humans almost killed all of them… we humans also did what we had to do and we could bring them back in nice numbers….

Did we learn ???? No… we did not learn of the past… we are killing them in big numbers again. In whole of africa and, in some Asian countries rhino’s are killed for their horns.

Are we humans doing something about it ? Anti poaching teams are active yes… can we stop it ? I really hope so…. But the numbers of rhino’s killed over the last few years and the number of rhino’s killed just this year does not give much hope.

Yessss… we all think about governments failing to protect them, about people like park members , management and many others being involved just for what we humans created long time ago…MONEY !!

Taking away the joy of these wonderful creatures, taking away their lifes, taking away their babies , their mothers…. Just for getting rich and the stupid thoughts that rhino horn is something special to heal or feel a “better” man.

The economic growth in a specific country does increase the “request” for more and more rhino horn….
The governments of so many countries just hesitate and / or refuse to say something that to the government of that specific country… afraid to loose production orders or selling their goods… all about Money again….

I feel shame … anger… frustration and disappointment

Can we do something ?
Anything to help is welcome … helping anti poaching organizations yes… and one thing I did as individual… writing letters and sending emails to ambassees of that specific country and your own government… to get this killing stopped.

I was looking for a subject for a new story and looking at my pictures I saw these wonderful rhino’s. While looking at them I got these feelings I mentioned before so I really like to show these great animals with a big history and I really hope a Future !!

Found these rhino’s somewhere in Kruger , hope they are still alive

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Why killing us ? we never did anything to you

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Please … my mother is important for me, I need her for many years…

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We are black rhino’s … even more rare then our white relatives … leave us alone… look at us, make photo’s but don’t shoot us !

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We are peacefull … we just like grazing and life … please be peacefull to us

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Sorry… I feel sad , just heard some family members have been killed…so I a laying down and crying

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I don’t know where to go to be safe … so I am in the water …may be a bit more safe ?

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We are always together… family and friends…. Aren’t we just beautiful ?

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Hi…. It’s so nice to meet you , please tell the bad ones our horns are just hairy things and not a medicine.. pleaseeee.

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I am strong… I am big… am I strong enough ?

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Hellooooo…. I am still a baby and love my mother so much… following her all the time…. Please don’t hurt her

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I am posing with lots of mud on my body… almost like a statue … I hope you do not have to look at me just as a statue but alive….

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A rhino family … amazing to see this , 8 in total … sleeping, socializing and always peacefull
I hope this family is still there …. Look at them and you think How is it possible that we humans do or allow others to kill them.

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I feel happy with my family

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I love my family

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I feel so safe with my mother and father , brothers and sisters

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Please confirm and tell me my family and I don’t have to be afraid of you …………..

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Thanks for reading and sorry if this story is a different one then the others but as wildlife lover my heart was speaking this time


Aat & Elly


Many other pictures of last en other trips:
My Wildlife Photography Site
http://www.awv-photography.com

[aat]

@ All - Thanks all for the nice comments

You know.... when we were looking at the group of rhino's ... thoughts were going through my mind about how sick and respectless some humans can be to kill these rhino's

How sick this world is for money , stock prices... getting bonusses (even if they are responsible for financial crisis) ... and the rich ones to get anything you can get for money...using poor people in countries to collect ivory, horns, birds etc..... the sickness of governments who do not stand for their own country but licking heels of chinese to get an order or cheap production rules.....

This is the world we live in.... you buy an Apple I pad , produced in China by kids (8 to 12 years old) .... many of these children commit suicide ... owner of Chinese company get rich and to proof he can afford all.... he orders rhino horn ... chinese dealers on the way in africa ... pursueding poor african guys to poach and deliver..... what a sick world !!

[aat]

*** NEW Stories ***
This is not a day to day TR, all stories are based on sightings during our last trip from november 26th 2011 till december 14th 2011.

Story 11 – Picasso (the sequel …)


Hi all,
For some previous story was a moving one. If you write and think from the heart with emotion it is good to see that it reflects in the story

And now…? Something completely different.

A little flash-back…..

In previous stories (SP) I introduced Picasso and friends. They are Painted Dogs , I do prefer this name upon the name African Wilddogs. In story 36 (SP) we met the Painted Dogs again.
For the ones who missed previous stories here’s Picasso (I first met him along the S40 in october 2010)


Well, after narrating many stories myself, it’s time now for Picasso to tell this story.….

Heyyyyyyyyyyy all, nice to see you again, last time I saw you was May 2011 so I am 6 months older and wiser…( I hope)

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What happened in the mean time? My family is increasing, some seperated as usual with the Painted Dogs.
Today I like to introduce some family members in the south of kruger. My uncle’s dad went south ages ago and raised a nice pack.

So let’s go to part I of this story and I like to show you some family members.

Aat showed me the pictures of my family.
This is my cousin Leonardo da Vinci , handsome and succesfull.

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I see they were a bit lazy, think they had a good meal

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Leonardo … nice to see you again. It’s to far travelling to meet you but greets from us

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And down they are again, so a few more impressions of them before we go to part II of this story

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Sleep well family…bye for now

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Before I tell you more about our family here some information and facts about us Painted Dogs. Good for you to know more when you meet us in Kruger

Once distributed widely across most of Africa, we (Lycaon pictus) have been persecuted by Man to the edge of extinction. The best estimate is that fewer than 5000 Painted Dogs now exist in the wild, and many packs no longer have viable breeding populations. They are dying out. !!
The Painted Dog has been the focus of a major long-term study programme in the Kruger National Park since 1989, sponsored by the Endangered Wildlife Trust.
The Kruger National Park contains the only viable South African population of Painted Dogs. Information and knowledge gained from this study has been used to improve management strategies for the species.

This population has fluctuated significantly during this time ranging from less than 200 animals to approximately 400. Impala, the major prey species of the Painted Dog provide adequate food for adults and their pups.
The Painted Dog is a highly social species that lives in packs. Normally only the alpha male and female breed and other pack members help to raise the pups. The packs inhabit large areas of 400 – 900 square kilometers in the Kruger National Park. Attempts are being made to improve the Painted Dog population in South Africa by introducing the dogs into other reserves and to managing these sub-populations as a single meta-population. Some examples are introducing them in Shamwari, Hluwe (KN) and (recently) Tembe Elephant park.

Fast facts

Ø The Painted Dog is South Africa’s most endangered large carnivore.
Ø The total Painted (Wild) Dog population in Africa is only between 3000 – 5000 individuals.
Ø Painted Dogs are considered to be extinct in 23 countries in Africa.
Ø Painted Dogs are particularly susceptible to snares and road kills.

In natural areas the lion is the Painted Dog’s main enemy and competitor.

A nice lesson ?
Ok, I continue with part II.
Aat & Elly met us some different times more north in Kruger and last time he found the big den… location… maybe he will tell you , but we a regularly at that location and from there we move to the S36 area, Satara area etc… the den is a secret place near…. Ehhhhh…

We were sleeping after a nice day when we heard a vehicle coming, only one and for third time on a row we saw Aat and Elly. As usual they made pictures of us.

I was still a bit sleeping and relaxing

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Sometimes we are together… family and friends…. Aren’t we just beautiful with our Painted skin ? Some impressions of our pack. This time we were over twenty all together, spread over the place.

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It is so nice to find some shadow

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My brother Van Gogh , he really is an artist

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One of my cousins , named Matisse… he is a beauty

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My older brother Degas , one of the best hunters in our family.

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Some more pack members , as said spread all over the place. We socialize a lot… laying down together , sniffling exchanging stories of the day etcetera

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I feel happy with my family , look at all the different designs we have and yes I am happy with the name Painted Dogs…much better then wild dogs… you also say Leopard, Cheetah and Lion and not wild leopards, wild cheetah , wild lion isn’t it ?

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A portrait of Matisse, another cousin

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and not to forget… Rembrandt .

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Well, Aat and Elly had to leave to be on time in Satara, two hours walking for us… so goodbye and maybe till next time. Still sleepy …greetssss

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Thanks for being with us again and hope you liked this story… let us know


Aat & Elly


Many other pictures of last en other trips:
My Wildlife Photography Site
http://www.awv-photography.com

[aat]

*** NEW Stories ***
This is not a day to day TR, all stories are based on sightings during our last trip from november 26th 2011 till december 14th 2011.

Story 12 – Happy Easter with SABLE

First of all a happy easter !!

Remember story 01 about the beautiful SABLE along the S36 ?

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Well, like most or all of you we were really happy to see a Sable during a trip.
But luck was with us during Elly’s birthday trip…
It was another day and not very early or late afternoon, but around 8:00 in the morning when we were driving our beloved S36.
Just complaining about the road condition… last part of S36 was a real washboard when we saw something laying in the grass a bit protected by some bush.
Forget the complaining part…. One can turn into another mood and getting exited as soon as you see beautiful antelopes and not just antelopes …no Sable !
This time not just one but a whole group … counted 18

First look and shot….

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About 50 meters ahead a Sable was watching the area , like you see Impala doing same thing… a group and some watchers….at the lookout positions for danger…

Here’s the watcher…

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Back to the group and believe me…heart pounding and hoping they are not disappearing into the bush. Sable are shy and prefer the thicker bush…
But no, they were relaxed pfffffffffffff
This male , just have a look , no words needed I think

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and as portrait

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It was difficult to make pictures because of the bush between us and them and I did not want to start the car to move forward or backward…afraid they would move away. So a bit of patience and hoping they showed themselves
It worked so some impressions of them

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mhhhhh lucky with this shot

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Just behind some branches but to nice to skip…

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In south-african language (afrikaans) their name is SWARTWITPENS (swart = black , wit = white)
Here you can see why they became this name…

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These two were curious who was taking pictures of them… lovely posing

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Heart still pounding with this sighting but getting more relaxed… another one getting curious

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Wowwww… what a beauties and just for ourselves. No noise , other cars , just them, bush and nothing to disturb this scene…

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The females with the youngsters were a bit more shy and because of the bush and branches more difficult to capture… but as good as possible …here some impressions of other members of the group

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and with two younger ones

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Moving a bit forward…. Some more memebers were visible.
Most of them were standing up , before they were laying down in the grass and almost impossible to capture them…

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Another 3 of this group

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A last shot before they were moving away into the thick bush…

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We are happy to share this special and wonderful sighting with you and thanks again for spending some time for this story…. More to come ? yess … think some cats will be performing next story


Aat & Elly


Many other pictures of last en other trips:
My Wildlife Photography Site
http://www.awv-photography.com

[aat]

*** NEW Stories ***
This is not a day to day TR, all stories are based on sightings during our last trip from november 26th 2011 till december 14th 2011.

Story 13 – It’s a males …world….

You know this song by J Brown? It’s a man’s world… :whistle: :whistle:

I think I said in one of the other stories about Lions we have seen a lot of them in 2 ½ week in Kruger… more than 70 in total.

This story is about the Male Lions we have seen. Remarkable we have seen most of them walking, on a mission and just a few laying down, on their own, with their pride or together, in good condition and one in bad shape… I think all together a good overview of the different way’s you can meet them…..

Ready to join us and go through Kruger on the Male Lion Mission ?

Let’s start on the main road from Crocodile Bridge towards Lower Sabie…. It’s 5 o’clock in the morning and first glimpse of the sun… we just came from a small dirtroad and after a few meters on the main road this guy came towards us… :big_eyes:

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So, stopping engine off , camera and action… :cam:

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You can see he did not go the the hairdresser for some time but still impressing

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One day later… good reason to go to Skukuza for money-refill… ( why do petrol stations still do not accept credit cards … aren’t we in 2012…? ). On the way back, just out of nothing lions on the main road , just coming out of the bush…. Nice bonus. :dance:

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Second male was not very succesfull with the girls he was in love with I guess… look at his face… a fight about who should do the housekeeping ?? :hmz: :hmz:

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and in portrait

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Ready for next one ?
This is about male lions on a mission… we are on the H10 coming from Satara to the south… it’s about 6 o’clock in the morning and suddenly on the right side a male lion appeared…not just that but he started a nice roaring act… :roll:

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It was clear he was on a mission… no time to look left / right for crossing the road no …straight forward so now at the left side… walking…walking…and roaring…

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We “walked” with him in the car and….. suddenly about a hundred meters ahead another male … also on a mission… walking roaring…. Fffffwwwwuuuuwwww. :lol: :lol:

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Difficult to get good pics when they are walking fast… so stopping sometimes and trying to capture them well

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Both males walked away from the road distance was growing and growing… and another surprise …a third male further away but too far to make a picture….
Mmmmhhhh we were looking at each other… looks like a lion day… knowing we have seen a pride earlier with some beautiful cups… more about these kind of sightings in another story…

Since it was still early we decided to go to Crocodile Bridge for breakfast and coffee… (best coffee in kruger …)
Just finished our breakfast someone told us she had seen two male lions !! near the S28 ..so what can you do ? In the car and go…. Just a few hundred meters on the S28 and yesss , there they are…. Friends or brothers….whatever…they are beautiful and still just 9 o’clock in the morning our third lion sighting that day :) :)

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Pretty if they stand up to pose for you … thanks guy !

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Last impression of both

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Enough or continue with more ??

Let’s move and skip two days…. After some great sightings we took the S33 (between Tshokwane and Satara) and we met this really beautiful young male , naming him Mr Pretty

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and ladies for you …. A portrait of him

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Next day…. Again very early and going down from Satara towards Tshokwane… we met this male 5 o’clock in the morning…. Looks like he had a good meal… :big_eyes:

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turning to the H11 we met this guy , bit lazy and sleepy …but looking with pride eyes to his wife and children…. More about that in another story

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Very much in contrast with the well feeded male earlier we also saw this poor guy… sick or old or hungry … he was limping so maybe couldn’t get a meal anymore…
As said…I will show you the males in all kind of situations and this is part of life too… was not a nice view and you feel tears coming up , saying ohhh nooo… :?

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Last day of our trip…. A pride hided in the high grass near a bridge…. Just this one was visible … lovely goodbye from Kruger when you are on the way to the gate… :thumbs_up:

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Ok…. Please leave the vehicle … tour has come to an end , hope you enjoyed it

Will there be another story ? :hmz: :hmz:


Aat & Elly


Many other pictures of last en other trips:
My Wildlife Photography Site
http://www.awv-photography.com

[aat]

*** NEW Stories ***
This is not a day to day TR, all stories are based on sightings during our last trip from november 26th 2011 till december 14th 2011.

Story 14 – Cubs..cubs and cubs

My previous story was about Male lions…. Next to fighting each other and being lazy , sometimes hunting and mainly sleeping and eating they have another hobby… chasing lionesses to take care of the future…
The result is Cubs, Cubs and Cubs….. well, we were lucky to see many lions during our trip and this time a lot of cubs in different parts of Kruger.

Ready to jump in the car for a ride ? //\0--

Let’s start this story with some nice cubs along the H5… coming around a corner and see… lions along the road. I was busy to capture some lionesses and suddenly a few curious cubs came out of the bush to see what was happening…. They just stayed a few seconds before getting back into the ticker bush…
Next to mother

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and nr 2 appearing : :D

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Leaving the H5 and moving to the S28…. Some lionesses in the higher grass with 2 cubs
Sometimes you are lucky with the location / position, this time they did not really move and were sleeping..sleeping and sleeping… just a few moments the cubs were visible.
The picture shows one cub close to moms with a lovely expression at her face, the other cub almost on his/her back sleeping…

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and… not a very good picture but shows you the lovely eyes of the cub

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One day later… on the main road between Skukuza and Lower Sabie we met a pride coming out of the bush …walking on the main road for about a kilometer and disappeared in the bush again

I am still wondering if this is the same mother of yesterday along the S28 with the collar and the two cubs :hmz:
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and the little angel :roll:

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and a last view

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You still like watching cubs ?
For next story within this story we move on towards Mopani.
Ok… it’s late afternoon, Elly decided to stay in Mopani camp and I decided to do a drive to “hunt” tuskers…. Some reading my stories know they have my special attention… :rtm:

Passing Tihongonyeni waterhole (new version) …no tuskers… mhhhh , so taking the old main road trying out my luck there…. no way…. Getting later and later, 16:15 and decided to go back… then suddenly at the right side of the road… a lion ? :big_eyes: mmmhhh no.? yes.. ! Lions are not that common here … at least not for us… have seen them a few times but not that often. Nobody around , just me and them… stopped the car , opened the window and camera ready…
What happended was special. First I saw a lioness walking through the grass

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At the right side of here I just could see two cubs walking away and hiding in the grass.. being invisible for me.
The lioness was also hiding a bit… her head just a bit visible

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At that moment I was happy to see the lions but a bit sad I almost could not see them… so nothing else to do and started talking to the lioness… saying stupid things like “hello… where are your babies… , please come closer and show your cubs…, will skip all other words :redface: :redface:

After some time, 20 minutes later moms moved a bit towards me and was making some sounds…calling ?
Yessssss…. Did my talking help, :hmz: I will never know, but it looked like mom trusted the situation and called her cubs to show them to me.. :dance: :dance: Proud mothers like to show their babies isn’t it..? The cub was still looking unsure… :doh:


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And then a lovely show started…. :lol:
Looking at this picture I am moved again… remembering this special moments..

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Proud mother and curious child… :k

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Moms taking care doing a cat-wash… My feelings at that moment… was watching them saying ohhhhh and wowwww to myself…. Such a private show … only possible in the north I guess… :whistle: :whistle:

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The cub was so curious… looking at me almost all the time… maybe first “vehicle / humans” for the cub ? :hmz:

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About 5 minutes later , just when I was looking around for the other cub nr 2 showed up :dance:

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Both cubs were exploiring the area around their mother and she was looking at me with eyes like… aren’t they lovely ? I answered Yes… they are ! :thumbs_up:

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Cub back to mother… still looking curious… what’s that clicking I hear…? :cam:

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The other cub laying in the grass a few meters from mom was curious too… so two staring cubs… I really was enjoying this sighting sooooo much… 8) 8)

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And finally…all 3 together for a few seconds

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Then suddenly the lioness decided to move on and crossed the “old main road” in front of me

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and followed by her cubs… this one gave me last curious look :D

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Like cubs normally do… playing a bit…

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A last view on them before they moved into the thick bush at the other side of the road…

When I moved on I was impressed for a long time… the lioness showing her cubs because she thought it was safe… , I felt happy and lucky and thinking… the lioness could disappear to the other side into the high grass and hide…but she did not…



Well…. Thank you for being with us again… I don’t want to make the story too long so will show more cubs in another story to come

Just a note:
I can see many people are reading the stories and like to say to the ones who don’t know my special interest for the tuskers of kruger they are free to ask for ID’ing the tuskers they have seen during their trip(s).
Link to my tusker website is shown down here and at the Mammals forum there is a special thread about the Big Tuskers…

Bye and see you next story….

Aat & Elly


Many other pictures of last en other trips:
My Wildlife Photography Site
http://www.awv-photography.com

[aat]

*** NEW Stories ***
This is not a day to day TR, all stories are based on sightings during our last trip from november 26th 2011 till december 14th 2011.

Story 15 – What a Beauty….

The story of Elly’s birthday trip has not ended yet… After cheetah’s, many lions, tuskers, sable, roan, eland, tsessebe’s, african wilddogs and even two black rhino’s she got to find the Leopard…did she?

Day 4 of the trip… driving from Crocodile Bridge to Afsaal for a breakfast… we saw many animals inclusding some lions. After breakfast we could not really decided what road to take. So by 6th sense we took the small dirtroad H2-2 and then left to the S114 towards Skukuza.
Maybe you recognize… driving and telling each other “not much on or near the road here” and “we never have seen much here near this road” then suddenly something was moving in a tree at the right side of the road, close to “renoster koppies dam”.
Stopping the car for a better look and yessss…. The spotted cat… a leopard enjoying a nap in the tree.

First view…

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approaching this beautiful cat a bit more…

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It’s always difficult to find the right position spotting a leopard in a tree… branches, leafs taking away a good view and in what position is he/she in the tree.
Only one car coming from opposite position so moving a bit forward finding a better spot..
Waiting …waiting… come on dear lovely cat… lift your head…please…

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This one was really sleepy so a final shot

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Allthough we enjoyed watching this leopard there was not much action so after some time we left the location and moved on to Skukuza for a nice coffee

10 days later…. We were staying in Satara. One of these lazy days…not getting up early… enjoying a late breakfast and a bit of swimming… it’s holiday so what…..?
After lunch we decided to go for a drive… leaving Satara, taking the H6 and then right the long S37…. Going to find Cheetah’s … well, no cheetah at all, we found a promising (tusker) bull , a lazy Jackal a nice group of Kudu’s. Lazy day it was, so going for an icecream at Tshokwane and going back to Satara… there was a road sign for the S86… I don’t know why but decided to go for this small loop…you never know…
It’s a nice little road… and coming around one of the corners… huhhhhhhhhhhh..?????
Elly…look…no….yess…. just a few meters near the road our second Leopard.
Turning of the engine..taking position and hoping…hoping the leopard did not disappear…
First view …

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Wowww…. Sitting there not moving …not paying any attention…

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Then enjoying the sighting… what a nice surprise…and with this great background

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Zooming in…

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A shot…just how we were looking at this beautiful cat

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Pfffff heartpounding with some ohhhhhh’sss… and ahhhh’sss , big smile’s on our faces…
Lucky again…. Just saying..”another great present Elly” and taking another picture….

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Mmmm breathtaking these kind of sightings….
Please do not move… like to make a portrait of you….



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Just after the click…. The leopard started to move and we expected this was our last good view at the cat…
But no… leopard decided to go through some bush and taking position on a branch…(what else ???)
** the S86 is along a riverbed so the position is strategic , a good overview on the whole riverbed for the leoapard…

First this beauty was laying down this way ….

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But was not happy with this so turned around and offered us another great view with riverbed as background

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and

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A last kind of “did you capture me well now ?”

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Then head down…looking away from us and started a nice sleep…..

Both of us laughing… lazy day today but a great day as well….

Next day december 10th Elly’s birthday…, well I wrote a story about that day earlier… with big 5 as present…. The leopard we saw was same as this one and almost at same position / location.

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Hope you liked the Leopard story, bye for now and next story will be a short one about a nice friendly family in Kruger….

Aat & Elly


Many other pictures of last en other trips:
My Wildlife Photography Site
http://www.awv-photography.com

[Bushcraft]

Wow, some fantastic leopard sightings and awesome pics :D