Sometimes the most unexpected sightings happen at night…and I am not talking about selfies in the bathroom mirror at the Pridelands camp. But, in a way, it does qualify. Join my meanderings as I wander around the campsite and surrounds
This might look rather haphazard, but it was an effective spiderweb that I discovered close to my tent. It lasted the entire 4 days of my visit, and who knows, without human or animal intervention it might last indefinitely.
Fun fact: Like snakes, spiders are not poisonous…they are venomous. And there is a difference. The species are therefore venomous or non-venomous.
This is the spider it belonged to. A juvenile black button spider. (With thanks to Rhodes Bezuidenhout in helping with identification)
Interesting fact: It has an easily identifiable red marking on the underside of the abdomen that is absent in the adult.
Another night-time visitor to my tent. An Eastern Olive Toad caught in the light of my torch.
Fun fact: the difference between Frogs and Toads? The easiest method for quick identification? Frogs have moist slimy skin, while the skin of a toad is dry bumpy skin.
Hard to identify the scorpion apart from that it is from the Scorpionidae Family, large pincers and a small tail. (pincers used mainly for hunting) Will inflict a painful sting but not as bad as the Buthidae family which have small pincers and a large tail. (The stinger is the preferred method of hunting, injecting venom into their prey). Information supplied by Rhodes Bezuidenhout.
Interesting fact: All scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet light. Their blue-green glow comes from a substance found in the hyaline layer, a thin, tough coating in a part of its exoskeleton called the cuticle. During the day, it is a protection against sunlight.
I feel like there should be an organization for soup ‘addicts’. If there is not one currently, then I will start the movement. I can enjoy a hot soup no matter what the weather! This delicious vegetable soup was served with freshly baked cornbread for lunch on an extremely warm summer afternoon.
It is very difficult NOT to inject a moment of ‘cute’ into any wildlife posting…And when there are young ellies around, not featuring an image is an impossibility. Hence, this picture. There were several breeding herds that utilized the waterhole near the camp as their personal playground.
The Pridelands camp, like all the other EcoTraining camps, is unfenced, thus allowing human/animal interactions to take place in a more natural manner. The elephant breeding herd that had slaked their thirst at the waterhole and the females and youngsters had wandered off leaving the bulls to enjoy some of the vegetation in camp.
A place for a moment of quiet contemplation on an overcast and drizzly morning.
If it was not the various elephant herds using the water to cool off and drink, then it was the students trying to emulate them. The one thing that this student did NOT do, was to rub his rear on the tree branch outside the classroom tent that the bulls had been using!
Evening settles like a mantle over the camp. With wispy clouds in the sky, the sun slowly starts to disappear below the western horizon. The day to night transition in the bush can come very quickly and sometimes almost unexpectedly. It is therefore always good to have a torch on hand in the latter part of the day!
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