This will be the final 2024 post from Travel & Things.
Normal publishing will be resumed on 13th January 2025.
Stay safe and enjoy this time of the year with those who mean the most to you.
Thank you for your continued support.
Bundox has several properties guests can visit to enjoy authentic safari experiences. One of my favourite camps in their portfolio is River Lodge, and this is why: https://travelandthings.co.za/2024/01/bundox-river-lodge-northern-balule-private-game-reserve/
Just a happy hippo. Making the ears do all the work.
Remember when we were children and we did not listen to our parents, we were often asked “What are ears for”?
Well, obviously, this hippo knows the answer to THAT question…
The first leopard sighting of the trip. This particular individual was lying on the branch of a Jackalberry tree and was not in the mood to go anywhere.
Except to peer down disdainfully on the humans in the vehicles that had encircled the base of the tree.
Walking around the edge of the pool where the hippo lay submerged was this Groundscraper Thrush…a first for me.
Did you know?
The Groundscraper Thrush is a bird primarily found in South Africa, known for its habit of foraging on the ground by “scraping” through leaf litter to find insects, hence its name.
The species name “litsitsirupa” originates from a Setswana word that mimics the bird’s call.
Caught in the soft evening light, this giraffe stares serenely out over all it surveys…
Could you imagine describing a giraffe to someone who had never seen one?
They would NOT believe a word that you said…
It might go something like this.
“Imagine a horse that decided to play a prank on evolution and stretched its neck out like a slinky—only the joke got out of hand. Now it towers over everything, looking like it’s trying to peek into heaven. Its legs are so long and spindly that it walks like it just learned how to use stilts, and its neck seems so implausibly long you’d swear it’s a special effect.
Its fur is patterned like it fell asleep under a net at a paintball game, and it has these little horns on its head—technically called ossicones—that look like antennae trying to tune into the savanna’s gossip. Its tongue? Oh, that’s a whole other thing: it’s as long and dexterous as a frog’s and somehow purple, making it look like it’s been taste-testing grape soda.
This creature is an expert in eating leaves from treetops, but watching it try to drink water is a slapstick comedy routine—it has to awkwardly splay its legs like a toddler attempting yoga just to reach the ground. Despite its goofy proportions, the giraffe is incredibly graceful and majestic—like a fashion model in an absurdly avant-garde outfit“.
A female waterbuck. It almost looks like the offspring of a horse and an antelope.
With the lack of rain comes the veld fires. However desolate this vista looks, the green will return as soon as the first rains arrive.
There is a sad tale that accompanies the following series of images of this hyena female and her cub.
We first found the pair near their den in the early evening while we were heading back to camp after an afternoon game drive.
Mom having a ‘word’ with her youngster.
Hyena cubs can be exhausting as they can be extremely inquisitive and will push the boundaries of a parent’s patience.
Mom had decided to cross the road to have some alone time before collecting the cub and heading back to their den for the night…
This was the final image I took of the cub.
It turned out to be a prophetic shot as it was the last time the cub was seen alive.
When we returned to the den the following morning, the female was wandering around the the cub was nowhere to be seen.
What we did find was the tracks of a large lion and we concluded that the cub might have been killed during the night or in the early hours of the morning.
I do not have a definitive answer, but deep down I did not hold out much hope.
Nature can be cruel, and lions are opportunistic killers.
The feud between hyenas and lions is well documented.
Nothing like a good scratch. This was NOT the lion that might have caused the demise of the hyena cub.
Cute? Indeed!
Same leopard as at the beginning of this post. It remained here for the longest time.
Good night from Africa, vast and free,
Where the earth hums its timeless melody.
Beneath the stars, the world takes flight,
Into the arms of a tranquil night.
Travel is the proud winner of this prestigious award from the digital British lifestyle magazine Luxlife. The award is in the category Best Travel & Experiences Blog 2024 – South Africa.
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“Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?”
Edgar Bergen
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