My 100th posting, celebrating 900+ days on safari

It's taken me a while to decide how to celebrate my 100th blog posting.

First I thought to emulate a blog buddy of mine by publishing a selection from my photos that are numbered #100 (too restrictive & not many good ones).

Then I tried selecting every 100th of all the ones I've taken whilst on safari (way too many.....!!)

And finally the method that struck a nice balance between the first 2 - a selection of photos & memories of each 100th day on safari!

It's ended up being quite a lengthy posting, but it's also quite a nice outline of my guiding life for the last, almost 7, years so I hope you make it through to the end.......


100th day on safari (Spring 2008)

Most safaris that start/end in Johannesburg include a side trip along the edge of the Mpumalanga escarpment, aka The Panorama. With some tour operators this is on the first day, for others the last day and on some different tours this is done en route between Kruger and a private game reserve.

My 100th day on safari was the last day of a 5 Day Kruger "Classic" and we did the Panorama on the way back to Jo'burg.

It was springtime and the Common Sugar bush was in full flower along the mountains.....

(Clients:- Ronnie, Nina & Peggy from the USA)






200th day on safari (Mid summer 2008/09)

The first day of another 5 Day Kruger Classic marked my 200th on safari. I don't always have my camera ready on the first day but on this day I managed to capture this European Roller waiting to spot a tasty insect.

(I might add that on this particular trip I managed to get the minibus stuck in a muddy hole on a very remote road north of Letaba camp). It took me a few hours to get a ride back to camp and the tow service back to pull us out. I don't think Craig & Marcel will ever forget that little adventure in the depths of Africa - no photos thank goodness!).






300th day on safari (Late winter 2009)

Slender mongoose

The south west section of Kruger is where I spent my 300th day on safari with Lucia and Andrea from Italy.

We had some great sightings but the highlights were the Slender Mongoose posing (very unusual) for us on the road and the small elephant herd that came to drink right next to the bird hide at Lake Panic.







400th d.o.s. (Late summer 2010)

I was very lucky with the first safari company I worked for, in that many of the safaris I did also visited northern Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve.
My 400th day was spent doing a morning game drive in Kruger National Park and riding along as a passenger on the afternoon game drive in Sabi Sand PGR.

Martial Eagle with Monitor Lizard kill

These are two of the highlights of that day (with my clients Krikkor & Alean from Canada).

A beautiful Sabi Sand leopard

Day 500 !! (Late winter 2010)

I wish I had been counting the days at the time so I could have celebrated my half millennium on safari a little more "vigorously", but it was still a very special day - if not specifically planned that way!

Blue wildebeest

I had my brother and nephew from the UK on safari and it was such a pleasure to be able to share my passion with close family.

Nile crocodile

Note:-
My first 499 days on safari were done as a full-time employee of the first safari company I worked for.
Then I went free lance.
Freelancing in 2011 was mostly as a Dive Master in Southern Mozambique - which I loved - but was not quite as fulfilling as safari work.
So early in 2012 I started seriously looking for work in Kruger again. Life is definitely not as hectic now as it was in my first 3 years as a guide so the days are not racking up quite as fast - but I am definitely having more fun!

Day 600 (Autumn 2012)

For much of 2012 the safaris I did were based in Guernsey PGR from where we did day trips into Kruger via the Orpen Gate. Although the days were long it was a great opportunity to explore and get familiar with this amazing part of Kruger.

Day 600 was the first day of a 5 Day Tour with Agata and Zbigniew from Poland. It was a stunningly beautiful, clear, sunny day on the Panorama and I had a great time with my camera........

Pilgrims Rest

Insect life in the Cloud Forest

Upstream from Lisbon Falls

Full moon over Guernsey Nature Reserve

Day 700 (Mid summer 2012/13)

By early 2013 I was spending more time back in the south of Kruger, where mid summer is hot, sticky, and lushly vibrant with colours of green, blue, grey, scarlet, yellow......

Amanda & Rachel from the USA had joined me for a quick 3 day safari and despite all the rain and thick bush we managed to find the "Big 5" in the first 2 days. So on Day 3 (my 700th) we relaxed, stopped at Lake Panic Bird Hide and drove leisurely out on Doispane Road (one of my favourite routes).....

Giant African land snail

Grey Heron

looking west towards the mountains

Day 800 (Spring 2013)

October is usually very hot and very dry, but sometimes the rains start early and then the animal sightings become very unpredictable. Day 800 was the first full day in Kruger for me and my 6 clients (Eric, Steve & Elvira from USA, and Sina, Andrea and Antonia from Germany) and we struggled to find many of the big animals but we did have some special encounters.......

White Rhino

Hamerkop

Boomslang in roadside tree

 And finally.... Day 900 (Late winter 2014)

 And so we come to my 900th day on safari. That was only a few weeks ago and typical for this time of the year it was one day amongst many that we had great lion sightings.....
The grass is still quite long in many places this year (perhaps due to the late rains in March?) so I have not been getting very good "photographic" views of the animals from where I sit in the drivers seat of the open safari vehicle, but here are a couple of the shots I did manage to get.
(Clients:- Nerijus, Sigita, Jurgita & Steffani via Luxembourg & USA)

a rather bemused looking, young, Spotted Hyena

Wary Nyala

So that winds up what is probably one of my longest posts. Fitting I hope for the 100th one!?

It may take a bit longer to get to 200 as I am not posting quite as often as I did in the early years, but then we never really know what's going to happen tomorrow do we?

I hope you continue to tune in to read my posts and enjoy the photos. I especially thank all of you for your interest and support, especially those of you who take the time to leave comments.

A Safari Photo Update (2)

A Klipspringer silhouette

As promised last week here are some more of my favourite photos from the last few months.

It was a time of transition:-

 late winter through into spring;

hot windy days in August to cold drizzly days in September;

snakes and lizards shaking off the torpor of winter;

birds busy building nests;

bare branches against smoky skies;

bright flowers splash against naked earth;

Nile Crocodile

Black Crake

 Busy birds at Lake Panic

  

Grey herons nesting

A very rare sighting of the African Rock Python, and a Rock Monitor Lizard standing proud....

A pattern of impala, and the exquisite Impala Lily.

 And we had some wonderful sightings of the larger predators:-

a mating pair of lion;
a pride of lion basking in the late afternoon sun;
two hyena cubs enjoying a cool damp morning; and

a lively, young cheetah family;

I probably won't be on safari again until late October, so I may entertain you with older stories and photos over the next couple of weeks......

Sunset through the Marula trees

When the going gets tough.....

Summer in the African bush can be tough, especially for those who shudder in the presence of creepy crawlies.

In sweltering, sticky heat, the beetles, spiders, mosquitoes and reptiles are all making the most of summer before the rains depart.

Of course, in these modern times we have it way easier than our forebears did, back a hundred years and more.

Air-conditioning, bug spray, medicines and comfortable vehicles to move around in, can make the whole experience seem quite effortless, until....

Mozambican Spitting Cobra

...you sit down on the toilet, only to look up and see a snake wound around a rafter;

 

...cobwebs cling to your face and hands as you walk up the footpath every morning;

Golden Orb Web spider

...an enormous dung beetle collides with your face on the game drive;

 

 ...another beetle catches in your hair under the lights during dinner;

...just as you sit down to eat dinner, the arrival of the stink bugs make the plagues of Egypt look pathetic;

...during some dry days between rain storms, the ants come pouring out in their millions (you should see me dancing the “ant-dance” whilst I'm trying to sort out the vehicles before a drive!!).

A colourful grasshopper

Fortunately for my guests and me, we are only in the real “hot zone” for a few days and for the other animals we get to see at this time of the year, every spider, dung beetle and snake is worth it!

If you are keen on birds, summer is definitely the time of year to be in the bush. Apart from all our locally breeding species we have thousands of summer visitors escaping the winters of the northern hemisphere. In late summer, they are to be seen everywhere as they feed intensively to build up fat stores for their long flight home.

European Roller

Southern Carmine Bee-eaters

The grass is long, the bush thick and morning dew drenches the vegetation. Many animals, including the predators prefer the open road and path ways early on a summers day.

So good sightings of lion, leopard, wild dog, hyena, rhino and elephant can be had........

More difficult to find at this time of the year are the giraffe, buffalo, wildebeest and the more solitary antelope.

To make up for this though, are all the great tortoise, lizard and other reptile sightings.

I won't even start on about the wild flowers, sprinkled everywhere in the golden green grass......

So, the following photos are just a small sampling of some of the great experiences we've had on safari over the last four weeks.

Enjoy!

 

Kruger meanders - the eastern plains

The "chinese lantern" flowers of the Sickle Bush

Day 3 cont.. (click here to go back to the first part of Day 3)  


After breakfast at Olifants Camp I headed south again - along the eastern side of the central plains.

Lonely roads, miles of nothing, but with a few great sightings....

Ammocharis

A few more of the beautiful flowers that appear during the summer.

Marsh Lily "Crinum"

Four different types of vulture on this small carcase (a steenbok I thought). The very large Lappet-faced vulture is using it's wings aggressively to get a space in amongst the White-backed vultures. The vulture with the bluish head and pale eye on the left is a Cape Vulture - normally found in the mountains & this was my first sighting of one in Kruger. The smaller vulture with thin beak in the foreground is the Hooded Vulture, not getting much of a look in with all the larger birds around!

 A Kori Bustard keeping the zebra and wildebeest company.
The open savannah around Satara is a good place to look for these birds - the heaviest bird that can fly!

Purple Roller

Blue Wildebeest

The Leopard Tortoise like most of our reptiles disappears from view for the winter, and within hours of the first rain falling they suddenly are everywhere. This was quite a little fella - they can grow up to about 20kg, not that I have ever seen one that big!

A cool oasis marks the end of the open plains

African Rock Python

This was an exciting find! Only about 2 meters long, but so close to the road. I obviously interrupted it's planned crossing and once 2 more vehicles stopped to look, it whipped around and disappeared into the bushes. We don't see snakes very often and this was only the third python I have seen in 3 years in Kruger. Isn't it beautiful?

Violet-backed Starling

This little bird is in his breeding plumage. 

I don't see them often and they are usually difficult to photograph. 

This one was very obliging.

Sunset at Satara Camp

And a very welcome sight at the end of a very very long day..........

Click here to continue to Day 4