New and Old

Not been updating for a very long while, and no excuse for that.

Going to try and fill you in with everything that has happen over the last few months, hopefully is would be a VERY long update, So not going to beat around the bush, lets get started.

The most popular individuals would always be the predators, but for the start of this update we will start on all species, starting with the Elles:
 
The last few months we have been very fortunate to see quite a lot of Very young babies in varies herds, and these little ones always seems to provide a lot of laughter.
Take this little male for instance, we approached the herd to get better view of the babies, little did I know what was in line for us. The baby elephant decided that he would be the one to protect His mom, so he did what mom does when she's upset, and that is showing signs of aggression.
He first started rocking onto his hind legs and followed up with a charge, combined with a trump. Threw the hole commotion, my attention was more fixated on mom,  just to make sure she was relaxed with us being there, while the little ones was mucking about.
By now he realizes that we were not moving away and that he's not as close to his mom as he was, he turns and bolts back to the safety of moms legs and as he gets there, trumpets, turns and runs strait back towards us, but a simular aged baby elephant got in his way and reseved the brunt of his tantrum.

Continuous headbutting, climbing and pushing was at the order of the day. We eventually had to leave after this entertainment and as we left, the little male gave us a last charge, just to say "better not come back"

An interesting notion is a possibility of twins on the reserve. I took some of the staff at the lodge too have a look at some elephant close to the lodge. The herd was fairly big with at least 5 very small babies, all accounted for by a big mom, except one. By spending time with this little one, he moved to a big female with a baby (same height and age) and stayed together permanently. So this is very rare occurrence in elephants, but it happens.

One thing that makes the bush in Africa so special is the sunsets/sunrises, with its beautiful colors
On misty/foggy mornings, I normally look at the sun with binoculars, just as the sun peeks up above the horizon to the east, the sun would still be deep red in color and the fog/mist would also "block the rays".  NOW WHY would I do want to do that?
For a opportunity to maybe see SUNSPOTS. Sun what????
a Sunspot.
"Sunspots are regions on the solar surface that appear dark because they are cooler than the surrounding photosphere, typically by about 1500 K (thus, they are still at a temperature of about 4500 K, but this is cool compared to the rest of the photosphere). They are only dark in a relative sense; a sunspot removed from the bright background of the Sun would glow quite brightly. Sunspots develop and persist for periods ranging from hours to months, and are carried around the surface of the Sun by its rotation (a fact known to Galileo)."
To be able to see these wonders with your own eyes, is something which would not easily be forgotten.


Moving on; animals that we don't see that often, Cheetahs, has moved into the Western Sands on a more frequent basis. Having these speedsters with us, means it ads extra value to the drives.
A young male and his sister has left the company of there mother and most likely looking to establish there own territory in the west, HOPEFULLY!!!!!
2 other cheetahs has also been seen in the wast, but these are males walking separately.
Spending time with these cats you would be able to see activity not often see cheetahs do, like climbing trees, and to see a full chase and kill.
To be honest, the trees are semi pushed over and the cheetahs basically run up the tree. This is done to have a better view of there surroundings so they can plan there attack. Termite mounds are used for the same purpose.  

Cheetahs has over time modified there behavior to be active during the day, "preventing" loss of there meal to other bigger and stronger predators, like lions, leopard and hyenas. But that's not always the case. 


After the heavy rains we had in summer, the sand river fulled up and there would be no way to cross for game viewing to the north of the river.

After about 4 months it was able to cross the river and explore "new frontiers", as this area was left unviewed for more tan 5 months.  
Time to see what Thlangisha (the playful one) was up to. This leopard female is one of the nicest leopards to follow, for she will climb trees on a regular basis just for the fun of climbing.
After a lot of attempts from various guides, she eventually was found, but there was something different about her, she was lactating? She has cubs, how many? and where are they?, so many questions and this would make the area north of the river a hotspot for the next few months. A few weeks passed and still no cubs, and the the call came over the radio, CUBS, 2 of them.
The den site was established and we started to make our way there.  2 Month old little bundle of joy. The den site will consistently be changed to keep the little ones safe and den site odorless. So, welcome to the 2 new ones.
As all ways, the leopard dynamics in the Sabi Sands is out of this world. Dawone male has injured himself AGAIN, serious limp on the left front leg and even at times not even putting pressure on it, and that may be why Njaleti (stars) leopard male is starting to take over Dawone's northern territory.
As mentioned before, Njaleti is a worthy "replacement" and is becoming a big favorite among some of the guides in the Sabi Sands, including me.
His been seen often with Xicavi (river bush willow) leopard female or just strolling down the road.

video clip:
Njaleti taking down a big impala male in                  front of  Michelle and I
          NEVER A DULL MOMENT

Now for the bulk of the update.

Maybe the last 2 of the Selati Males

The lion dynamics over the last 3-4 months was very intense. It all started with the males from the northeast (Majingilaans) that came to the west and came into contact with one of the Selatis (Male lion of the west). He had to fight off 4 Majingi lions at the same time and haven't been seen since the incident, the next morning the second Selati male had to swim a very strong current across the sand river to save its own life. Is this going to been a total takeover?, both female prides still have sub adults with them and the youngsters would be in danger it the takeover take place. 



The Majingis left the west and returned to the Northeast and the dynamics could return to normal, so we thought.
After a few weeks they were back and it doesn't look like they are leaving soon.
The females with the sub adults are never in the same place for  long, constantly on the move

HOPEFULLY your still out there !!!

                                                    Video Clip: The New BLOODS. 
                                                                     Majingilaans

There 4 males has recently killed a buffalo cow and her calf. The carcass not even fully consumed jet and they were seen north of the reserve following pride of females. Showing the intent of these males.

The wild dogs has also been visiting the western part of the sands and by the look of the Alpha and Beta females, denning is very high on the priority list. 

Well, I think that I've covert all the bases, but if something pops up, I'll update.

PHOTOSHOP:

Even with my graphic work I'm so behind, but will share the latest wallpaper I did. This was a 2 step proses, but a very long and precise one. 

1. chose a picture which does not have a very "busy"  background, not going to need it and will make life a lot more easier when getting to the point of deleting the smaller texture you don't want

2. Now desaturat the pic and bump up the contrast so that there is a difference in the outline of your object and the background.

3. Now use the curve tool and divide even more between black and white, it is at this point were you decide which part of the pic gets deleted, the black or the white.

This step takes the longest.

4. Use the magic wand tool to select the color choice, and pres delete, if you only have one layer, the deleted area will appear as checkerboard.

Once your satisfied that all the chosen color has been deleted, overlay the broken image onto a background of you choice and modify until happy. 

REMEMBER: Photoshop basics is all about layer work, master that and the program becomes more enjoyable. 

                                                           HOPE YOU ENJOYED !!!!!!!!!!!!

 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path"

PSALM 119:105

Hey there, I haven't been blogging as regularly as I would like to, but will try to make more time for it. Now lets continue with what this blog is all about, the stories about what happens in my World.

 Here we go !!!!!

I'll start this blog with Elephants, and yes even though they are huge and eat almost 300Kg a day, sitting with them a bit, you can see behavior which a lot of us only read about.
Lucky for me, I viewed some of these behavior on various occasions, swimming as well sleeping. This time of the year it gets very hot very early in the morning and during one of these mornings I followed a herd of elephants on there way to a waterhole, thinking that they where going to dink water.
At the waters edge, all of them placed there trunks in the water and used water to cool themselves down and drink water. But then one adult walked forward and disappeared under water. Not long after that all of them followed, big ones and the small ones. The swimming/playing or cooling down took a good 45 min before they left the water and moved off into the bush. On a different occasion we sat with a Matriarch which blocked our path. At first I didn't understand what she was going to do, but when another female did the same if became clear to me that the females was keeping us away from the little ones, Why?
It was time for a midday nap. (watch clip with sound) At first one calf went down at moms feet and not long after that more young ones joined the opportunity to sleep while the adults keeps guard.


Before I get to the Predators, lets just point out another Heavy weight Pachyderm (thick skinned), Hippopotamus. One of the new arrivals for the seasons, with mom always close by to keep a close eye on youngster. At this young age the little calf can fall pray to large crocodiles.


    
The Shimungwes (southern female lions) tend to be more on the move the last few months, and tend to move more south towards the south-eastern corner of the Reserve. The cubs are are almost 1 year of age and can keep up with the adults. The cubs will always make time to play, no matter the situation.
But as soon as they see what the body language is of the females, paying interest to a possible pray source, the cubs stop everything and keep out of site until everything is over and the females call them or come and fetch them.   

Wild dogs cover very large areas VERY QUICKLY. So when these dogs are spotted on drive, every one once to see them before they move out of the area again, but this season the Dog decided that it was time to den in the western sector of the reserve. This would mean that the dog would now be seen on a daily basis, which meant it would take pressure off to tray and see them when ever.
At first the den is closed for viewing purposes, to give the animals time to settle in and not to put pressure on the pups.
  

Now the pups, 6 of them, are developing there pattens. The little ones are born black with the tail developing a white tip. Every dog has there own unique pattern.
Another advantage of having assess to a den site is to see the behavior of the adults when coming back to the den site after a hunting excursion.
Dogs are very sufficient hunters and eat very quickly, after which they trot back to the members that stayed behind at the den site, that looked after the pups.
Once back at the den everybody, including the pups make a very high pitched sound at the side of the mouth of those that came back from the hunt, this stimulates them to regurgitate thunks of undigested meat so that everybody can enjoy in the meal provided. This means that the hunting party needs to hunt a lot more frequently than any other predator.            

My time at Sabi Sands I have seen my fare share of leopards, but there is no end to number of new ones coming into the area, Mother Nature seas to it that there is a constant flow of a healthy gene pool.
This young male was seen in the central part of the reserve, smack bang in the middle of Dawone's (Territorial Leopard Male) territory.

Hlaba Nkunzi's girl is getting to the point now where she has to count the day, for mom and Dawone has spend time together and means that Hlaba Nkunzi is going into estrus, this means that mom will tel the little one that its time to move on her own and from this point there will be aggression between them on a permanent basis. Even to the point that they would fight over territory if it comes to it and even death.

Another animal which we don't see that often is the elusive Cheetah.
Well the female from the Eastern sector decided to come and see what the western side looks like and stayed almost 1 week. One overcast morning I responded to go and look at her and her sub-adults, and got a lot more than what I hoped for.
As we got to the area the 3 of them was sitting on top of a termite mound, we sat for about 10 min, when she spotted impalas and immediately stood up and started to creep closer to them.The sub-adults stayed back and off she went and at first it looked like she went to quickly, but she didn't. She brought down a adult impala and after a few minutes she released the grip on the neck and whent to call the sub-adults.

As they were enjoying the meal mom provided, a hyena rocked up in the area after he heard the commotion. The interaction between these 2 species was very interesting as the hyena was out numbered and had to wait for the mom to leave before he could intimidate the sub-adults. At first the sub-adults chased the hyena off, but persistence on behave of the hyena paid off and the cheetahs moved off the kill and left the area.      

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

A small bit on Photoshop in this post.

A wile back I did n few postcards for my brothers business, as he was looking for something different to leave for his guests, so I made this postcard. 

All my pics and graphic work contains a mark in its minute form, to authenticate my work, can't be to careful now a days. The most time consuming was the text, with the gradient layer over everything to give it the effect that I was looking for.

 

  After everything was done, after I rasterize the text layer I realized that I spelled malaria wrong. I had to repositioned the text so that the extra l was hidden, after wards it looked grate.

 Well, there you have a few days out of my "life"

Hope you enjoyed it    

CHEERS ......

  "Faith in God includes FAITH in His Timing"

 Habakkuk 2:3

    

Hey there, nice to have you back reading, and for those reading for the first time, welcome.

The temperature is starting to heat up significantly, and by being in winter, the area is fairly dry, thus checking water holes can be a good place to  find animals that we normally not see that often. Now what do I mean. The Sabi Sands is world renowned for their leopards, high density. But also for a hing density of apecks predators. Thus seeing  more of the predators than we see Giraffe for instance. GIRAFFES hvae a few intresiting aspeckts to talk about and definitly a lot more exiting to watch, than n lion sleeping.
Giraffes ruminate, eats the cud, multipal stomachs, show what is the big deal, cows have the same, Yes, but when giraffe ruminate, you can see the movement of the food going up and down, like a elevator. This giraffe surprised us at one of the waterholes, while we were watching hippos. She approached the water but quickly chanced direction because of a crocodile that entered the water on the opposite bank

Now the next bit, is on the cats, differences and little bit of behavior.
First have a look at the spotted cats. Differences in the spot pattern, and the characteristic markings. Tear mark for cheetahs,  which removes glare off the cheek to provide better sight during the day, as they hunt in day light. The only "line" on a leopard would be on the chest, the pattern of the line differs from leopard to leopard.  Now looking at lions, they have white patches below the eye, which in tern allow more light to enter the eye as they hunt at night.

As all of the Leopards have names one the reserve, we know which ones we find, just by territory or spot count (few spots on both sides of the nose). This young leopard is the youngster of Metsi, a very relaxed female. But the little one not that much, so getting n picture of the little one adds on to my profile for leopards.  
The cub "settled" down and started moving around n bit more. Not long after that, mom got agitated, flew up and displayed aggressive behavior, but why?

A hyena approached to close for comfort and Metsi would do what she needs to do to protect her cub. The cub disappeared into long grass. The hyena lost interest en left the area. Metsi started contact calling to join up with cub and moved off.  

On to some photoshop: Here I took a photo of one of my little ones. Did a bit of color correction and decided to put a puzzle layer on the original.
After that I started to remove puzzle tiles one by one, given the illusion that the puzzle is being worked on.
To finish off, I used her name as a water mark across the photo



That's it for now, pls let me know if you would like to see something else, I would like everybody to enjoy the blog, so pls, suggestions is welcome.

 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

Phil 4:13

Well lets get started.
Before I get started with the pics, I just want to explain the 2 new icons on the right side of the blog, just below my profile.

These are QR Codes. Fancy name for a bar-code, but can contain a lot more info, like pictures, websites ext. I have made these to provide those of you that would like to get more info from me or want to have a more private chat, regarding photos or if you would like to contribute to my blog.

To use these codes, your phone or tablet/ipad need a app that can be used to scan the codes.
If you like, have a look at the following site (http://scan.me), this app is compatible for iphones as well as tables and android phones.
Now move the phone forward and back until the code is scanned. That's it

I have pleased bottle capes at each code to give more an idea of what you would see, yellow has a @ sigh on, which indicates email and the blue one would be for LinkedIn. Please let me know if you have any trouble with these codes.

Now lets get back to business, I have decided to place 2 of the same photo, so that I could show the difference in position of the subject. When I finished working on the top one, it looked OK, but to "busy"  for me, everybody has the right to there opinion. So, to many branches and twigs, which takes the attention away from the cub.

The Lions on this page is the Ottewa Females with there cubs, at about 3-4 months of age. As these cubs are younger than the Xhimungwe prides cubs, we tend to be a little more patient with them, meaning that we would give distance between them and the vehicles. If they decide to come closer, not a problem, but we don't want to get to close to them and frighten them off, it has to be on there own accord.

The cub on the left decided that it was time to hone his skills in climbing trees, starting small is a start!!!





After all the playful behavior, the cubs (8) became more relaxed with our presence and started to come out more into the open areas. With a lot of luck on my side, the 1 cub moved closer to us and I was able to get this pic, of the cub looking at us with one of the adults in the background

Hlaba Nkunzi 's cub is getting big now. Moving with mom where ever she goes. We were on the way to go follow up on Hlaba Nkunzi during the morning drive. She was seen in a area the previous night, with her cub as well as a carcass.

So we are heading strait there. As we get into the area where she was found, nothing was there, no carcass and no leopard, but Erick quickly pointed towards a tree on the northern bank of the dry riverbed. I then moved the vehicle to a better spot so we could have a better view of that leopard in the tree. On the northern bank the hole story unfolded. Hlaba Nkunzi was at be base of the tree, keeping a close eye on a Spotted Hyena, which came back for what ever remains was left of the carcass. Hlaba's cub was the leopard up the tree and had a good elevated view of the Hyena.
Not long after the Hyena left, the cub came out of the tree and disappeared with mom down the dry riverbed. 

The photo on the right is one of my favorite images that I made using Photoshop, as this image was made as I started to learn this program, it took me a bit of time to do, but very happy with the result.
As I use the program more and more, the faster and better I get, halving the time on images and doing more advance techniques, which I hope to show you on coming blog entries.

Well, that's all folks, until next time

CHEERS

"If you ask anyhing in My name, I will do it"

John 14:14

Following up on Male leopard tracks in the area south of the Sand river, it could only have been Dawone.
And as usual, he is always up to something and this time he had company,  Xhicavi. This female lets you word hard to find her, but if she is with Dawone or any other male she's fairly relaxed.
Seeing these cat together like this, is special because leopards are solitary animals and only seen together when mating, fighting or a female with cubs. 

The Selati Males have over powered the most well known coalition of male lions, Mapogo's, that controlled the Sands for a long time, more than a year a go. And to show that they are here to stay, they have increased the numbers of both the Xhimungwe lionesses(6 cubs), as well as the Ottowa lionesses(8 cubs). 

Tai Dam male is a upcoming leopard, northeast of the Sand river.
Very relaxed but because of the vegetation in the north, we don't see him that often.
 

Nice to have cubs in the system again and it is nice to see the cubs growing up.
This is one of the Xhimungwe cubs. The cubs are now off milk and on meat. Imprinting is very obvious at this stage of the lives.
Imprinting is the behavior of young animals playing, jumping, mimicking adults. All of these are learning behavior, which would serve as basic survival skills.    

For those that read the blog, please participate in giving feedback, or advice of anything

Good/Best Times

I will add some of the work I do using Photoshop, again, if you have any requests or advice, please feel free to do so.

Thanks for reading

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock

Isaiah 26:4

Long over due

I haven't been on the blog for a long time. It has taken me a while to rethink the blog and what changes to make so that it is still interesting, but contains more pics and less text.

The blog would also be done in English to cater for a larger group of people. The layout of the blog would contain photo's with a small story below, inspirational quotes and some of the graphic photo work I do. Movie clips would also be included. Hope that it would be enjoined by those that read the blog from the beginning.   

 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

 and the flame shall not consume you

Isaiah 43:2 

Ek was lank laas op die blog, besig met n paar verandering.

Watch this space!

"Kom na my toe, almal wat uitgeput en oorlaai is, en Ek sal julle rus gee" 

Matt 11:28 

Seen wense

"Kies die lewe, sodat jy en jou nageslag kan lewe. Om die Here jou God lief te he, Hom te gehoorsaam en Hom aan te hang, sal vir jou lewe gee"

Deuteronomium 30: 19-20

n Geseende kersfees aan almal en ek wens julle almal al die beste toe.

GEBED:

"Hoor my gebed, Here, luister tog na my smeking.

U is getrou en regverdig, antwoord my tog!

n Vyand vervolg my,

hy trap my in die grond, hy hou my gevange in die donker.

Ek is soos iemand wat lankal dood is.

Ek het alle moed verloor, ek is verslae.

Ek strek my hande uit in gebed na U toe,

laat my elke more U liefde ondervind, want in U stel ek my vertroue.

Wys my die pad wat ek moet loop,

want my hoop is op U gevestig.

     Red my van my vyande, Here, want ek skuil by U.

Leer my om U wil te doen, want U is my God!

Laat U goeie Gees my op n gelyk pad lei.

Ter wille van U Naam, Here, laat my lewe.

U is regverdig, red my uit die nood" 

 AMEN 

Psalm 143: 1,3-4,6,8-11 

NET KOLLE WAAR JY KYK

Die laaste ruk is dit maar stil hier by ons, net genoeg gaste vir een voertuig en gelukkig vir my het ek gaste ingekry net voor ek weer op af dae gaan. Die weer hier by ons is ook baie swaar die afgelope week en kan verseker wees dat daar donderstorms in die laat middag sal vorm.

Die luiperde was redelik besig gewees, maar hier in die Sands is dit niks nuts nie. Kom ek begin by die wat ek nog nie gesien het nie en wat nog vreemd aan julle sal wees, ja, luiperde wat ek vir die eerste keer sien, dit wys net die spesie digtheid van luiperde hier, ONGELOOFLIK.

Een van my gaste, suid Afrikaner, het in 20 jaar nog nie n luiperd gesien nie en het sterk aan gedring op een, het aan hom verduidelik dat niks n “guarantee” is nie. Dit hang van 3 goed af:

1.      Wat Moeder natuur vir ons sal gee

2.      Baie geluk

3.      Nog meer geduld

Nou met die gedagte dat daar luiperd gekry moet word, is dit duidelik dat daar nie veel tyd gespandeur kan word aan die ander aspekte van die bos nie, aangesien dit sy laaste drive is. Fokus is op die katte en aangesien ons nog nie die leeus gesien het nie, het ek begin opvolg op spore wat Ronnie gesien het, en nie lank daarna nie, kry ons die 3 mannetjies uitgestrek in n oop area, en ja, doen wat net hulle kan – SLAAP!!!

Ek het besluit om n vroe koffie breuk te neem, sodat ons die res van die oggend kan opvolg, vir enige luiperd spore. Soos gewoonlik, is moeder natuur behulpsaam en een van die ander gidse spoor toe n luiperd op. 

Klaar met koffie en reguit soontoe. Die was een van die luiperdmannetjies wat ek nog nie gesien het nie, hy is so 3,5 jaar oud en waord TAI DAM MADDODA genoem. Rustig uitgestrek in n rivierloop, het hy toegekyk hoe voertuig na voertuig km en gaan, asof hy die een is wat na ons kyk, en nie asnders om nie. Met 3 jong luiperde in die area (TAI dam, NJALETI, MASHEMBANE), verkies ek maar nogsteeds vir Day1, maar wie weet, oor tyd gaan een van die jong mannetjies hulsef vestig en die ou knape vervang.

Cool, luiperd gesien en kan nou weer normaliseer en kyk na kleiner goed soos voels, insekte of even verkleurmannetjies. Maar net jy nie vir iets soek nie, kry jy dit, en daar voor ons in die pad loop nog n luiperd, n wyfie en glo dit of nie, ek het haar ook nog nie gesien nie. Maar sy is n beauty, en van al die wyfies, staan sy uit bo almal, donker van kleur op haar kop, ook  so 3,5 jaar oud, en word Thlangisa (playful) genoem.

Het so bietjie langer by haar gebly, aangesien sy gebied gemetk het en na so ruk het sy besluit dat sy nou genoeg geloop het en dat dit tyd was om in n boom op te hardloop en n bietjie te rus. 

Vir in gas wat in 20 jaar nog nie luiperd gesien het nie, 2 op een rut te sien, is nogal besonders.

Hlaba Nkunzi is ook tussen al die luiperde gesien en stel ook nie teleur nie.  Sy het haar kleintjie geskuif en gelukkig kon ons naby genoeg wees onm die klein ding te sien, het dit genoem in vorige blog, maar hier is die foto van die kleintjie, upclose.

Hlaba het n kill gehad naby een van die lodges en ek het toe besluit om te gaan kyk of sy daar is, die gidse van dai lodge was klaar daaar en het deur gegee dat daar baie vleis oor was, maar dat sy nie daar was nie, maak nie saak nie, ek wil gaan kyk. Met ons aankoms by die kill, wat in n boom was, was sy nie daar nie, nie eers vars spore nie en ne sons begin uit beweeg se Ronnie vir my om die kar aft e sit en te wag, hy het haar gesien en sy was oppad na haar kos toe. Voor sy by ons kon uitkom, het ek die kar so geplaas dat ons haar kon sien opgaan in die boom sonder enige obstriksies, soos take ens.

Eers het dit gelyk of sy verby gaan loop, maar 1-2-3, en sy is in die boom en by haar impala. Hier het sy rond beweeg en die karkas geskuif, n rukkie gerus en weer seker gemaak die karkas is vas en sal nie val nie. Daarna het sy weer die boom afgehardloop en in die koele gaan le.

Het dit al voorheen gese, en se dit weer: Daar is niks beter as on enige dier dop te hou terwyl hulle iets doen nie, gedra en bewegin is beter as eninige slaapende leeu.

Groet vir eers!!!

 

Soek julle krag in die Here en in sy groot mag. Trek die volle wapenrusting aan wat God julle gee, sodat julle op julle pos kan bly ondanks die listige aanslae van die duiwel.

Efesiers 6: 10-11