Africa 22

#GVIfans   Today was a day for Waterbucks some days we see everything on the reserve while on others it seems like the creatures take in turns to appear. It allows us to get valuable photo opportunities and to sharpen our photographic skills. Waterbucks appear to be solitary animals you do not really observe them in herds but more of groups of up to 4 of by themselves. They are a long haired antelope that moves around permanent water sources as they need constant moisture due to having more sweat glands than most antelope. They are dusty grey in colour with a white ring surrounding their back end and a nose that looks like it been dipped in white paint. They are also called the African reindeer with a shiny heart shaped black nose.    

  #GVIfans   It was a Sunday afternoon and optional drive but Amelie's first drive. The rest of the group said no thank you to the drive, they were all tooo tired, so it was just Amelies, Adam, Aimee and I. Tonights drive was amazing we started by heading northwards we were heading round a bend and towards an open area and stumbled into the elephants. We got to see a few of the herd as they headed towards the river. We got to see a majestic female with an aged and distinguished looked about her. Along with Phumbe one of our big bull elephants he has slightly smaller tusks than Flipe but greater in body size. We even got to see tin tiny it was sooo cute smaller than the adults tail. It only reached the knee of the mature female and was smaller than her cousin next to her who was about 12 months old. The size differences were incredible to capture, we were on awe of tiny tiny's size thinking she will be as big as her aunt someday. They gradually walked off to the river as we wa...

  #GVIfans   So today was quite a quiet drive looking at tracks and birds. We then went through twin rock open area where we spotted KFC our cheetah girl. She was frolicking on a warm sand patch, she looked like a kitten rolling over in the sand legs flexed up in the air. She didn't care that we were even there just acting like a home cat enjoy the pure sunshine. She looked majestic like a queen and extremely relaxed as she rose and continued on her way. The rest of the drive was very smooth as, we don't get to see KFC like that or as close every day so we enjoy the rewards receive.   Below:- Black Sparrow hawk     Above: Hippo tracks Above:- KFC the female cheetah   This afternoons drive we were also rewarded with a special sighting of KFC sitting underneath a Black Monkey Orange tree. She was looking cozy in the little shade patch hiding from the sun bearing down. We were able to walk towards her little hide away and take photos from about 3 metres a...

#GVIfans We started the day super early at 4:15AM to go to Kruger. We had a driver and were riding in a roofed safari vehicle. The trip to the Kruger gate took about 1.5hours and then didn't get into the park until after 8am. We started by seeing a spotted hyena suckling her young on the roadside. She was relaxed and observed her surrounds. A specific pup was curious and came exploring our vehicle. In total we saw 4 mischievous pups. As time went on another hyena family member appeared mum got up and greeted mum and the pups followed.  attached is a giraffe video https://youtu.be/hU7wQ5eG_5A We then went ahead and came across elephants grazing, It was a large herd with mixed ages. Some females had calves that were shorter than the tall grass, this made it extremely hard to get a clear photo. A young male tried to stare our vehicle down as we had propped just before he decided to cross the road, so he thought we were in his way. It was staying a clear warn day with hardly any cloud ...

  #GVIfans We go to town weekly although the groups rotate, so I personally I go to town every two weeks. Town is a very busy day we leave the GVI base at 7 or 7:30am depending upon what the plan is for the day. The day is very full on the first day we started with 4 hrs at a reptile house, there we received an informative lecture on reptiles mainly focusing on snakes and the different types of toxins. We then had a stroll around the park and had a look at the different reptiles which included various, snakes, lizards, turtles, and a couple of crocs. The demonstrator then showed us how the black mamba snake eats and explained how snake moulting works. When snakes undergo moulting their eyes change to a blue tint, there appetite decreases, and they shed a few days later. They are very vulnerable at this stage. We then go for lunch at the marula bar just out of town. The food was very nice. We then get the groceries and snacks we need for the following week. By now it's about 3:30 ...

 #GVIfans We had a lecture on conservation going over the population of animal’s om Karongwe and how they manage the populations so the animals don't breed out of control. Zoe also went over the biomes part of South Africa, there are surprisingly 9 biomes just in South Africa. We looked at different conservation groups and how they work and what their key focus is on.   A tricky concept of hunting came up, there are four styles of hunting Trophy Is an organised hunt with a specific target within a species or herd and the person hunting can take part of the animal back with them once it has been taxidermized. Game This hunt is based upon the quality of the game meat Canned Animals bred in an enclosure to be released to be hunted Culling The animals are killed because the population is getting to big and reducing the productivity of the reserve overall.   I have completed a z...