The sun’s golden orb lifts itself gently over the horizon, casting a bright, amber glow across the land. The air is still cool, holding onto the night’s last whispers, yet the dawn’s warmth slowly unfurls like a tender embrace.
The earth awakens in a hush—long shadows stretch across the plains, the silhouettes of acacia trees standing like ancient sentinels against the unfolding light. A gentle mist lingers, kissed by the sun’s first rays, turning to gold before dissolving into the air.
In the distance, a lion’s deep, resonant vocalization rolls across the landscape, interspersed by the soft stirrings of birdsong, as if nature itself is exhaling in quiet reverence for the new day.
The world is bathed in a promise of renewal, of endless possibility, as the African sun rises in all its majesty, painting the sky with fire and light.
Coming home to the den or going out on a morning foray? I will never know.
Hyena, despite how the Lion King portrayed them, it is one of the bushveld’s clean up crew without whom various diseases could be spread.
Despite their fearsome bite force, they make good parents and their clans, which are matriarchal driven, are social.
Hyena are one of the few land predators that can reduce bones to splinters as a result of their incredible bite force.
The list looks like this with us puny humans bringing up the rear.
Hyena: 4500 Newtons
Lion: 1760 Newtons
Tiger: 4450 Newtons
Leopard: 621 Newtons
Crocodile: 16414 Newtons
Great White: 18216 Newtons
Humans: 100-150 Newtons.
Who cannot love a face like this?
Young hyenas often fall prey to resident lion prides as there is an ongoing feud between lions and hyenas. Epic fights have occurred where both hyena clans and lion prides emerged battered and bruised.
The lions usually target the matriarch and her direct family members, thus throwing the clan into disarray.
Despite me having been going to the bush since 1966, a sighting like this STILL gets my adrenaline pumping.
Leopards are special and so secretive that every sighting is treated with gratitude and thanks.
The apex species on the Big 5 list…for me anyway.
Buffalo exhude a vibe that says “Give us a wide berth, you have been warned”.
Bumping into a herd of this species while out on a bush walk can be a heart-stopping experience.
That being said, the experienced guides at Africa on Foot make certain that guests have an immersive experience without being in danger.
Out on patrol… these two brothers were part of a small pride that were following the buffalo herd.
Lions can be extremely patient and in this instance it paid off…
And this was the result. A buffalo calf at the back of the herd finally became a meal.
It took the lions a while as they had to fend off the buffalo who were not keen to give up one of their own without putting up resistance.
A communal spider web in the early morning light.
When on a drive or a walk, this is one of the things that I tend to look out for.
When the colony of spiders emerges to forage for food, it is a spectacular sight and one that many guests either ignore or do not notice.
FYI: Communal spider nests, or social spider colonies, come in a variety of sizes, with some species having colonies of hundreds or even thousands of individuals.
Another misunderstood animal or an animal designed by a committee?
Supposedly, when the species was first seen, people thought that it had been constructed with leftover parts.
It has the face of a horse, the horns of a buffalo, the sloping back of a hyena, stripes of a zebra…and the brain of a guinea fowl
Vast herds run for no apparent reason, and will suddenly come to a halt all staring in the direction of the perceived threat.
Lions are often covered in ticks that do not seem to affect them.
However, insistent flies will cause them to move.
Open wide. This young male is trying to emulate the older members of the pod who exhibit this behaviour to proclaim dominance.
How many South Africans remember the Chomp chocolate adverts where a large hippo is saying “Wider, wider” to a young hippo before eating the chocolate itself?
And this is the advert I was referring to… first flighted back in the late 1970s, early 1980s.
It was a huge success, but the actual chocolate bars were not nearly the size as depicted in the ad.
It was smaller than the Australian Tim Tam.
You try describing a giraffe to someone who has never seen one!
Impala tend to be overlooked as they are so plentiful.
But take a moment and look closely and you WILL see the innate beauty in each animal in a herd.
The symbol of the Lowveld?
A Lilac-breasted Roller in the morning sun.
Did you know? This particular member of the Roller species showcases a vibrant array of 8 colours that includes green, white, black, yellow, turquoise, dark blue, reddish-brown, and, lilac.
Elephants are water-dependent and often become playful around water.
One of the ‘tricks’ learned by guides is to spot chameleons hidden in foliage.
This Flap-necked chameleon was one of several that we found when returning from an evening drive.
As the African sun disappears below the horizon, the sky ignites in a blaze of crimson, gold, and deep indigo, casting an ethereal glow over the landscape.
At the heart of this fiery canvas stands a weathered leadwood tree, its twisted, skeletal branches reaching skyward like the outstretched fingers of an ancient sentinel. Stripped of leaves but not of presence, it stands defiant against time, its gnarled form silhouetted against the molten sky.
The dying light paints like a silhouette against the fading orange glow, while the land around it begins to surrender to the encroaching twilight.
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