by Lufthansa Flyer | Nov 23, 2014 | Featured, Photography, Trip Reports |
I’m going to use Part III of my Safari Trip report to introduce to you Tlangisa and her cubs. Tlangisa is one of several female leopards that calls the Sabi Sand region home who earlier this year had given birth to a pair of cubs. Normally, this is a fairly non-descript event. What makes this special is the fact that both cubs have survived their early ‘childhood’ and are now moving towards ‘adulthood’. As you can imagine, there is a high mortality rate among newborn critters born in the wild and the fact that Tlangisa had protected both of her offspring successfully is actually quite an accomplishment. So much so, that the guides and rangers rate her among the best Leopards that they have ever seen as far has her ability to raise her cubs.
When we came across Tlangisa and her cubs, we spent over an hour tracking them as they moved through thick Grasslands. On occasion it looked as though they were hunting something specific but it turned out that they were scouring the area looking for opportunity. At one point they isolated a Scrub Hare, but it managed to get away from one of the cubs who was practicing his hunting skills.
This created a great opportunity for me to capture them in action. With them moving from point to point, it gave me a lot of places and positions to snap off several dozen shots of which some are my favorite from the entire trip.
Hopefully you enjoy these shots as much as I do!
Tlangisa (left) and her cub apparently see something of interest.
Tlangisa strikes a phenomenal pose. Leopards can be told apart by their distinctive ‘Necklaces’ and unique spot patterns on their heads.
One of the cubs scouring for opportunity….
I would love to know what she was thinking at this very moment….Was I too big for lunch?
This shot of one of the cubs is one of my top 3 favorite photos from among the 8,000 pictures that I took that week…..
Tlangisa walks by, fairly disinterested in us.
One of the cubs taking a brief break.
The temptation to bring one home was quite strong!
Safari Trip Report Index:
Part I: Cheetah vs. Wild Dogs vs. Wart Hog
Part II: A Leopard & Her Dinner
by Lufthansa Flyer | Nov 21, 2014 | Featured, Photography, Trip Reports |
In part two of this multi-part series covering my recent trip to the Dulini Private Game Reserve in the Sabi Sands region of South Africa, I’ll share the images that I was fortunate to capture showing a Leopard and her prey. We found this Leopard, known to the locals as Xikavi with her prized Impala that she hunted successfully, nestled safely in a tree. Leopards will typically ‘tree’ the carcass of their victim in order to protect themselves and the meat from opportunistic parasites such as Hyenas and Wild Dogs. Since Hyenas and Dogs hunt and travel in packs, a Leopard would be no match and would be risking her own life in protecting the carcass. You’ll see below how a Hyena stands ready to benefit from any scraps that would fall from the tree.
Fair Warning…..The images below are quite candid and show in detail how a Leopard feasts on the carcass and they may not be for everyone. These images were caught at last light using a Nikon D800 and a Sigma 150-500 (which proved to be a brilliant combo for the Safari). Fortunately the camera’s bells and whistles really helped maximize the moment. For you pixel-peepers, I did not do much with noise reduction in order to save time and the get photos ready for this post.
I leave the captions to you…..
The opportunistic Hyena is waiting for any scraps…you’ll notice a small bit behind her left shoulder…..
Click here to see Part I: Cheetah vs. Wild Dogs vs. Wart Hog
by Lufthansa Flyer | Nov 18, 2014 | Featured, Travel, Trip Reports |
It has been a few weeks since returning from a fantastic Safari trip to South Africa and in that time I’ve been trying to get through the 8000 photos that came back with me, hence the delay with any trip reports.
We stayed with the ‘Dulini Lodge’ within the Sabi Sands Game Area and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about our hosts. This intimate Lodge, with only 6 ‘Chalets’ and a limit of 12 guests was brilliant in every aspect of our stay. From wonderful staff (4:1 Staff to Guest Ratio) to fantastic culinary delights along with unbelievable access to the region’s wildlife, we simply had a brilliant time. Another big advantage over other Lodges in the area is the fact that they limit the amount of people in a Safari vehicle to only 6, while other lodges pack in 9 or 12 guests.
I’ll go into far more detail about the Lodge and our hosts in upcoming posts since I’m not quite done with the Lodge photos. In the mean time I’ll share with you what we saw on our game drives and walks. Seeing these beautiful animals in their natural environment was quite a transformative experience and certainly created another perspective for us to appreciate. In fact, we’ve already reserved our dates for a return visit in 2015.
Throughout these reports, you’ll notice my pictures will have 2 unique watermarks. One is my ‘Aeroshots’ version which I use for my plane spotting efforts while the other will be a ‘Dulini’ watermark. The reason for this is that I have given some of my photos to the Lodge so that they can use it for their marketing efforts and I had put their watermark on the photo instead of an ‘AeroShots’ watermark. However, all the photos that you’ll see came through my lenses.
To learn more about the Lodge and the Dulini experience, you can visit them on www.Dulini.com, follow them on twitter, @DuliniLodge, or on Facebook: Dulini Private Game Reserve. You’ll see a lot more of my photos on their Twitter timeline and under the hashtag of #DuliniMoments.
The first set of photos involve a fantastic exchange between a Cheetah and a pack of Wild Dogs. The Cheetah and Dogs are not typically prey for each other however they are both territorial and in this rare sighting the Dogs were driving the Cheetah out of an area where the Dogs had discovered a Wart Hog den. At the end of this first set of photos, you’ll see the Wart Hog get flushed out of his Den by the Dogs. The Hog would survive the challenge.
Guests from another Lodge had a fantastic front row seat to the exchange.
You’ll notice the fence in the background. This was captured at the very boundary of the reserve and the fence is there to protect the cattle that belongs to a nearby village. The Sabi-Sands reserve itself is well over 250 square miles in size.
Cats and Dogs being Cats and Dogs.
The Cheetah and her speed were no match for the challenge from the Dogs.
After chasing the Cheetah out of the area, the Dogs would focus on the Wart Hog that they discovered in a nearby Den. In watching the dogs, you can actually see their strategy of surrounding the Den play out. Fortunately for the Hog he would live to fight another day….I think!
Wart Hog is discovered in an abandoned Termite Hill
I didn’t think Pigs can move this fast! Apologies for the blurred shot….A lot was going on and this caught us by surprise.
Running for his life at this point…..
You wonder what is going through is mind at this moment…..
Coming Next: A Leopard guards his dinner…….
