Africa revisited -

We are slowly walking along this Elephant path
when suddenly this chap steps out from the brush.
He shows us his displeasure at our intrusion
with a couple of trumpet blasts, a raised trunk,
pointing his tusks at us and flapping his ears.
Ant speaks to him with a quiet voice, saying:
"yeah, you're a good boy, sure you are, good boy"
It may be a coincidence, or Ant's soothing tones
might influence him.
The Elephant slowly turns around and walks back
from where he came.

White Backed Vultures love to sit on a high perch,
surveying the countryside for miles around them.
They can smell carrion from long distances.
This reminds me of the vulture
who took a flight with Air Canada.
Under his wings he caried three dead rabbits.
At the gate the flight attendant tells him:
"Sorry, Sir, only two carrions
per passenger.

One of my favourite "Vulture Shots"

Those very very shy Warthogs.
Most of the time, they see you
and they're gone in a flash.

After a good meal, if you don't have a serviette
or a handkerchief, you gotta lick your chops.

Some favourites - to be viewed LARGE !!!

This adult male Impala slowly walked away
and looked at us over his shoulder
as if to say:
"The clicking of your camera bothers me,
so go away and leave me alone."

A flock of "White faced Ducks"
gathers amid the blooms of the water plant
which covers the whole of "Green Pool"
in Mana Pools.

The "African Jacana" also called "Lilly Trotter"
edquipped with wide spread, long toes,
quickly moves from Lilly Pad to Lilly Pad.

He and a submerged Hippo seem to get
along quite well.

That's the way it was

This "Toyota Land Cruiser" got us everywhere.
Up steep inclines and precariously down again.
Only Ant's supreme driving skills allowed us
to enjoy all of it in quiet confidence.

They are called "Mosy Tents"
of course, short for mosquito tent.
You could lie on your back and look at the starlit sky
and marvel at the "Southern Cross".
Of course, a Lion or a Hyena could also see you.
None paid us a visit... those unfriendly creatures.

A "Baobab Tree" in the sunset.
The Natives call it the "Upside down Tree".
There are many fables but also interesting facts
about this tree. If you push me, I'll tell them to you.
Someday !!!

The scarf around my neck is not for decoration.
Made wet and wrapped around your neck
it efficiently cools the blood running up the cartoids, making
your whole body feel cool.

Just a "water flower"
looking much more beautiful in nature than
on this picture.
What else do you want to know from
Bertstravels ???

The Cheetah and the Impala

These Cheetahs are not easy to spot.
You'd think that their black dotted fur would be easy to see.
well, you'd be wrong.
It is incredible how they blend in with their surroundings.
We saw this cat take down an adult Impala.
One short, incredibly fast burst of speed and the Impala went down.
This action happened so fast,
that I only got one shot with my long lens away...
too late.
Then the Cheetah dragged the Imp into the shadow of a bush.
For a long while she just sat there, looking in every direction.
It was clear that she'd seen us, but obviously did not
consider us a danger.
Most of her attention was directed away from us.
After a while, I could not believe our luck,
the cat dragged the gazelle from under the bush
and into the sun light.
Then she began to eat.
Nervously, at first, then a little more certain.
My trigger finger found little rest.

 

 

The Cheetah is licking her chops
in anticipation of a good meal.

Now, go back to the top
and view these images in the large format.
How often do I have to tell you that???

Last Day of the "Wagner" journey

I'm sitting in the lobby of a very nice hotel in the City of Leipzig, Germany.
Although the computer told me that I had entered the wrong security word, the connection to my e-mail and my Blog was established without any problem whatever.
Day before yesterday we were in Dresden and heard a wonderful concert in the "Frauenkirche".
The story of this church and the whole downtown Dresden is worth hearing about. I read abgout it a long time ago and one really must try to sort the wheat from the chuff.
Maybe I will take the time and write about Dresden and the very last days of World War 2 some other day.

Yesterday we witnessed a very mediocre performance of "Die Meistersinger of Nürenberg".
It amounted to about 4.5 hours of Wagner's great music performed and sung in a rather lackluster manner.
If today's performance of "Parcifal" is presented equally amateurishly, I will be glad to get back to Bleiburg as soon as possible, so that I may continue work on my show "Safari Zimbabwe 2013".

I am not alone in my very critical opinion of this, yesterday's performance. some true Wagner aficionados  shared my dismay and expressed their disappointment even more vociferously.
In both cities, Dresden and Leipzig, we took guided tours. These were most interesting and thereby it will not all be for nought.

I've been thinking about my show about my recent Safari and came up with a few good ideas, how to make it even better.
Guess who can hardly wait to get back to my computer to work some more on this show.

Bertstravels... that's who...

Richard Wagner

There will be no entry on this Blog for a little over a week.

Christin and I are joining a tour which follows the "foot prints" of the great German composer, Richard Wagner. ( He of "The Flying Dutchman", The "Nibelungen Cycle" , "Parcifal", "The Twilight of the Gods" and many more Operas, which, on average, last about 4 to 5 hours.
This voyage will take us to Dresden, Leipzig and several other places. I'll check in again when we return. I have many more fascinating pictures to show you.
Greetings from a wagnerian
Bertstravels.

Kanibal Bugs

There are not only Lions and Elephants and Giraffes in Africa. There are also "ugly bugs"...

Over there, said Ant, pointing to two trees standing close together. There is the embankment of the Save river, a nice place for lunch. Jumping out of our Toyota Cruiser, (well, maybe I didn't "jump", because at 81 you get out of a high riding vehicle with caution and deliberation ) we explored the immediate area for an even space to set up our 'lunch table'.

No, Ant said, this is probably not the right place. He pointed to the ground and there were hundreds of these beetles. Accidentally I stepped on one or two of them. What do you know,  injured he became the immediate victim of his brethren. 
The closest beetle to the injured one, lost no time in starting to devour his still living mate. 

I don't know why these beetles fill me with revulsion, almost bordering on fear. I look at them and see only an eating machine. Completely mindless, possessing a brain with only one aim: ...eat...eat...eat...

I know that Lions also experience no empathy with their victim. A Cheetah will kill an Impala without a second thought. This I can understand and accept. But when a beetle starts gnawing on his brother who is half dead, I somehow and for some reason draw the line.

We found another place for a quick lunch and then proceeded to look for the shallow to cross the river.

A few days later we witnessed a Cheetah slay an Impala. I remember this with a profound emotion, but not with revulsion or fear. Ant told me the name of these beetles. I don't remember it. Maybe I just don't want to remember it.

That's all about those bugs from
Bertstravels

Kanibals

 

 

 

 

 

Birds, Birds, Birds

The Lilac Breasted Roller.
Unless you view these in large format
you will never appreciate the colours.

Vulture

The "Hammerkop" builds the largest
nest of any bird in Africa.
And he builds a new one each and every year.

The African Harrier Hawk

Yellowbilled Hornbill

Swainson Spurfowl

Maribu Stork

The Big Puzzle

a Hippo yawning and
a morning bath
to be taken only in very shallow water,
since Crocs prefer to hunt in deep water

 

Which is the Hippo ?

 

Photography often means "Patience"

It was mid afternoon when we arrived at the edge of a deep river bed. We decided to pitch our camp right at the edge on top of the embankment. It did not take long to have our "mosy-tents" erected and before preparing our evening meal,  we built a perfunctory blind, so we might be protected from view of anything appearing up-river. A bush gave us natural protection from the sight line of any appearing animals from the down river direction. The long lens (80 to 400 mm ) on the tri-pod, the second camera with the 18-200mm
"walk about lens" at the ready, I settled down for what might be an unrewarded wait. It took no time, however, when, out of the corner of my eye I noted a movement coming from the down-river direction.

I swing my camera around and quickly find the focus on a family of Elephants, who have come for a drink in a low lying area of this almost dry river bed. The Matriarch, the female lead elephant, first slowly approaches the water, and without first drinking, she turns to the rest of her family as if to say: " come on, the water is clean and the coast is clear"... As if by magic, the rest of the family appears. They take a drink, then mill around as if they had come for a little social "coffee-clatch"... all of a sudden, in an almost panic they dash away, around the bend from whence they had arrived.

I turn to Ant, my guide, to express my regret about their sudden disappearance, when I note that he silently is pointing up-river. This is the direction from which we are protected by our hastily erected blind.
Up there, also near a low lying and still water carrying spot of the river bed, a small herd of Cape Buffalo has appeared. They drink silently... 20, 30, 50 of them. Each making way for the later arrivals and returning in the direction from where they came. It is a little like in a Subway Station... people coming and going in every direction.

Slowly, but too fast for my liking, daylight is fading and photography becomes more and more difficult.
I want "just one more shot".. I turn up the ISO to 3200 and get a few more images, which might be a little grainy. But better a little grainy image than none at all.  ... so says
Bertstravels...

A long wait rewarded....

behind a make shift blind the photographer
waits patiently.

at one end of the almost dry river bed
a small herd of elephants appear, to find
a puddle to quench their thirst.

 

upriver, a similar small puddle attracts a family
of Cape Buffalo

Not much daylight left...

and then the brilliant sunset.

 

Stalking a Pride of Lions

There are guides and there are "GUIDES"
Well, Anthony Kashula is a GUIDE. He not only takes you from place A to place B, but he shows you everything there is to see on the route.
We are slowly driving along a sandy path (you cannot call it a road) when Ant leans out our Toyota Cruiser, studying the ground. He stops the vehicle and we get out: Ant examines the ground:  "There" he says, "there were two, four, five, six lions who crossed this path. One, a fairly big male, the others either smaller males or females." Ant looks a me. "Should we follow them?"
I have never followed a Pride of Lions on foot before, but, there is always a first time. "Yes, let's" I say. 
I grab my three cameras, the long lens on the tri-pod, Ant takes his rifle, Just in case, and off we are.
In the beginning it's fairly simple to follow. The tracks are clearly visible in the sand. But after a while they become harder and harder to read. the ground gets hard, rocky, and overgrown with a tough grass.
Ant finds an imprint here and there, until there is nothing more to be seen. Ant looks around and from the position of the last visible tracks he concludes that "They must have headed in about this direction".
Should we follow some more? Well, we had gone about a half hour and it would be a shame to give up now.
So we head into the general direction indicated by Ant. Not more than 15 minutes later, Ant stops abruptly:
"There", he whispers, "under this tree"....  he points and  I follow his outstretched hand with my eyes. And there they are.... 4 of them lying under a bush, and another three just a few meters off in a clearing.
The male lies hidden behind the bush... but females all around. And real Beauties they are.
I took many many many pictures and I will show you some below. I've got lots more where those came from.
The Lions, of course, had noticed us at once. Likely long before we noticed them. They stared at us. Even from the distance I can see their eyes burning holes through us.
Then, one of the Lionesses, her tail twitching, slowly gets up. Ant suggests a slow but certain retreat. The twitching tail means that she is nervous because of our presence.
Never taking our eyes of this wonderful group of beautiful animals, we slowly back away.
In turn, the Lions get up and slowly, slowly they disappear into the dense bush and we loose sight of them.
Ant suggests that, if we circle around the tall grass and, describing a wide semi-circle, we might see them again. Just as he suggested, they re-appeared, further away, but still in photo range....
I'll post those images later.
In the meantime, just telling you about this sighting, makes cold shivers run down the spine of
Bertstravels.

The Lions of Mana Pool

Best viewed in LARGE FORMAT