May 31, 2013

The last seed to leave 'home'

The afternoon sun adds touches of gold. One wonders what killed the insect?

Swan Plant, Balloon Plant, Cotton-bush, Oscar, Hairy Balls, Giant Swan Milkweed  - a plant with many names!

May 30. 2013

Although this little bird tried to escape into the branches as soon as it saw me, I still managed to zoom in and get this shot of its beautiful colouring. Pretty little thing with inquisitive eyes.

May 29, 2013

Enjoying the view
“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” 
― Robert Lynd

May 28, 2013

Playing peek-a-boo on the chair back in the kitchen

May 27, 2013

This is the egg sac of a Brown Widow Spider.

Although only about 8mm in size, I can imagine how many baby Spiders are in one egg sac.

The macro shot reveals that the inhabitants had already left home.

The tiny hole cannot be seen with the naked eye.
The blog reached 17,000 views today! Thank you to all who visit.
You are my inspiration to continue with the daily posts!

May 26, 2013

Triumph and Defeat

 (Bad photos due to extremely harsh afternoon sun, but today's post is more about the story they tell)

 Licking his wounds, the old male sits at a distance never taking his eyes
off the youngster who has taken over the troop.

A piece of skin from a torn eyelid dangles under his brow.
It must have been a gruesome confrontation - will this be the old male's last fight?

 Even though out of focus, the pain can clearly be seen in the old mans face.

The driver of a nearby game viewing vehicle tells me that he found this guys teeth in the road.

The insert shows the old male in January this year - as we knew him - with his one fang missing.
I also posted a photograph of him on March 23, 2012. You can see the posts by clicking on the date.

The photo below shows the damage done to his eye. 

Staring at the old man from within the family group is the culprit.

(He does look a bit sorry for the old man, doesn't he?)

They were literally staring at one another all the time that I was sitting there.

May 25, 2013

Today I took the iCar to introduce her to my favourite place:

the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.  

She took the gravel roads, ditches and dongas in her stride.

Not bad for a city girl!

Can you also hear the Buffalo saying "NICE car!" ???

 As we rounded the corner we found Nyala ewes crossing the road and 

three Elephants in the distance on the river bank. 

 Zoomed in closer: Two wet ones and one dry one!

I then spotted a Rhino in the rear-view mirror and turned the car around to get a closer shot.

The Rhino was walking quite fast and it was rather amusing to see the bird trying to keep up the pace!

  It was no longer amusing when I found that I had missed the Elephants' entrance into the river.... :(

Elephants romp around in water with sheer childlike enjoyment.

Unfortunately they had already started to move in behind the trees and 

after a short while I could no longer see them.

Finally, this is what it looks like "AtMaggiezTree" now - very dry.

Other sightings include Giraffes, Zebras, Warthogs, Baboon and a Crocodile.

I will post more photos of our visit during the week.

May 24, 2013

Happiness is...

Taking ownership of my new Hyundai i10 at 12:30 pm today!

A truly great moment for me because I have never owned a brand new car!

This photo was taken with my iPhone by Deborah from Tangawisi Motors in Richards Bay.

Wonderful service all round - thank you for making this experience extra special ♥

For now this beautiful little toy will be referred to as my "iCar" 

A better name, anybody? Suggestions welcome!

Looking at the next photo taken by my colleague, Karlien:
Does the word INSTALLMENT spring to mind??? 
 Ha Ha!  I just love candid shots !;)

May 23, 2013

Woolly necked Storks lazing in the late afternoon sun.

May 22, 2013

The moon is so beautiful tonight

May 21, 2013

Taken in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park on Saturday.

These Yellow-billed Kites were scouring the area for something to eat.

It was interesting to see how these to stayed together during flight.

May 20, 2013

A beautiful green eye was watching me....

May 19, 2013

The beautiful Strelitzias have been in bloom for a while.

The flower version of a Crested Crane?

May 18, 2013

Any idea what type of bird this is?

We took the Picanto on a last quick drive to the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park at 3pm.

What a drive it turned out to be!

Because we had not had lunch, we were going to stop at the shop to get something to eat in the Park.

Once in the Park we realised that we forgot to stop at the shop.

Hunger drove us up to Hilltop Camp to order something to eat in the car on the way back.

Driving back, only about 8 km from the exit gate we came across a herd of elephants making their way up the hill towards us. There was no possibility that the elephants could leave the road.  Although it was nearly 5pm I was not taking chances. We had no choice but to turn back past Hilltop to take the Sivivaneni gravel road and work our way around over hills and valleys back to the exit, which was now over 30 km away! Sun sets around 5.30pm and it was quite dark by the time we turned off the tar and on to the gravel road. This road is not for easy travel and it was getting darker and I was rather nervous by this time!  Next thing: the fuel warning light comes on and now I am more than nervous, It was cold and windy and we did not bring anything warm to wear. What if we run out of fuel?

At Isivavaneni we were thrilled to spot a night drive vehicle ahead of us. At least we were not 'alone in the wilderness'! Our joy was short-lived because the vehicle had stopped and as we approached we realised there was another herd of  elephants in the road! We backed off a safe distance and stopped. What were we to do? 

Just then the game viewing vehicle reversed, turned at the viewpoint and came in next to us.

I explained our situation to him and he said to stay behind him while he made his way back towards the elephants. Stay behind him I did - I was literally hiding behind him! The elephants had been feeding and broken branches were strewn across the road. The last to cross the road was a cow and her baby. It was quite scary to see the cow stop, turn and look at the vehicle while she waited for the baby to cross!

At last we could move on, staying close to the vehicle in front.

We reached the gate just after 6pm and for some reason the guards decided to search our vehicle. I suppose they were just doing their job, but what could two old (-ish!) ladies be hiding in a Picanto??

The search held us up and we missed the opportunity to thank the driver of the other vehicle for his assistance. Thank you, whoever you are - for helping us!

Our worries were not over - we still had to drive into town. Luckily people with whom we had chatted earlier came through the gate and stopped next to us, offering to travel behind us into town.

The little Picanto very bravely brought us safely home - on the last fumes left in the tank, no doubt.

(Thank you Tracey and Alec from The Fever Tree Guest House in Hluhluwe)

May 17, 2013

Today I sold my Kia Picanto, aka my "Mini SUV"

I am thankful for the 32,000 hassle-free kilometers I spent behind the wheel 

as well as the countless happy hours we spent exploring the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park, but

most of all for the times we conquered rough terrain to get

my dear old "fisher-woman" Mommy as close to the water's edge as possible!

This is my favourite photo of all times

 (edges blurred to focus on the best car  I have ever owned ....to date, that is)

African skies and the little Kia perfectly reflected in the eye of a Zebra.

Next week I take delivery of my very first brand new car:

Hyundai i10- I trust you are going to treat me as well as your predecessor!

I look forward to our meeting!

May 16, 2013

Strange product spotted in our local grocery store this afternoon.

At that price, no wonder the shelf was empty! 

Not my usual type of photo, but I just couldn't resist posting it ..... ;)

May 15, 2013

A beautiful splash of colour provided by a Malachite Kingfisher. 

May 14, 2013

High in the sky and perfectly illuminated by the late afternoon sun.

Perhaps a wedding party flying in...... or leaving? ;)

May 13, 2013

    Experiencing PC problems - Windows is making me wonder whether it is time to change to Ubuntu.

Birds don't seem to eat these berries. Poisonous, perhaps?

May 12, 2013

Taken last week in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park, and saved especially for Mothers Day.

"There is no love like a Mother's love"

May 11, 2013

 Not much to look at ..... until I zoomed in!

May 9, 2013

Munch munch .... ☺

May 8, 2013

This beautiful Long-crested Eagle had it's eye on something in the grass.

It soon swooped down and sat with outspread wings for a short while before taking off.

Poor thing probably missed the target and had to go without lunch

May 7, 2013

This photo tells it's own story ...

Is it about the spider that once lived here?

Or is it perhaps shouting out that Winter is approaching?

May 6, 2013

The photo below was named  "Crawling out the Woodwork" (29 January 2013)

Here is a closer view from the other side:

Black Collared Barbet beaks are clearly very powerful!

May 5, 2013

The focus really seems to be on eyes this month!

The Glossy Starling has amazing eyes!

May 4, 2013

Apologies for the late posting. 

We end up quite 'powerless' on Saturday night, Unexpected electricity cut.

It was a misty grey day - not too good for photography!

Despite the cold we were fortunate enough to see three of the "Big 5"

The Old Man and the Crow

 Clearly a very old Buffalo bull that carries the scars of many battles!

Considering the state his left ear, I named him Vincent.

 We saw a number of Elephants in the distance against a hill.

Quite  a disappointment, because we had seen the signs in the road for quite a while and were anticipating a closer encounter!

About 2km down the road this guy was peeping from behind a bush quite close to the road. 

Magnificent animals! My heart bleeds when I think about the rate that they are being slaughtered.

There were three in the group - the only Rhinos we spotted in 4 hours!

Atmaggieztree

As usual, I take a photo at this spot whenever I visit the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park

It is clear that Winter is setting in. Soon the grass will be completely dry and sadly the air will be thick and grey with smoke from runaway fires that sweep through the area.

( By typing  Atmaggieztree into the search button at the top of this page you will see all the photos taken at this spot through time)

May 3, 2013

All eyes on the Game Reserve!!

We will be visiting the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park tomorrow - have not been there since 13 April.

This photo was taken on the day that I posted "Zebras Games"

I dedicate this to my dear sister who is spending the night en route to London to spend time with her beautiful twin granddaughters.
Enjoy every single Granny-moment!

May 2, 2013

Not the crispest photos, but this little bird was so intent on striking the right pose that 

I decided to post them anyway!

May 1, 2013

This has to be the most colourful Damsel Fly I have ever seen! 

How I wish I had the opportunity to take more photos of it. Unfortunately this one will have to do.

At first I thought it was a Dragon Fly because of the not-so-slender abdomen.

Then eyes that are set to the sides and the fact that the wings are held together changed my mind.