As a wildlife photographer one of the most important things I can do is to immerse myself in the environment I want to photograph. This immersion gives me a sense of its uniqueness, its inter-connections and the story it has to offer. Photography is about the creative management of light but also about conscious selection of  subject and composition to illumenate the story. Given enough time, when immersed in a scene it will reveal its story.

“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.”
~Ansel Adams

One the stories revealed in the next three images of an impala ram is of Geophagy. This is the consumption of soil-like substrates such as clay and chalk. Geophagy is commonly observed  in the bushveld, with many wildlife species. Researchers have found it is more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously thought and have observed geophagia in more than 200 species of animals, from parrots to bats, many types of antelope, baboons to elephants, and gorillas to chimpanzees.

This impala ram was eating the soil from the white bank on one side of elephant valley. This is a wide gully formed by storm water and years of wildlife coming down to drink from the river. The whiteness of the soil suggests it is limestone-based. We often see impala, baboon, kudu and elephants eating the soil from this steep white bank at Elephant Valley. This is a favourite game viewing site by boat and is about two kilometres north of Chobe Game Lodge, between Kasane and Serondela. We also regularly see Sable Antelope down in Elephant Valley but they are skittish and I have never seen them eating the white soil.

A common explanation for why animals eat dirt is that the soil contains minerals, such as calcium, sodium and iron, which support energy production and other vital biological processes. An animal’s need for these minerals changes with the seasons, with age and with overall health which may explain why geophagia is especially common when an animal’s diet does not provide enough minerals or when the challenges of the environment demand extra energy.

“A provocative composition must lead you to look beyond, illuminating unanswered questions.”

~Mike Haworth

Also the idea that, in most cases, eating dirt is probably a way to get rid of toxins could explain why people and animals so often prefer clay-like soils to other kinds of earth. Negatively charged clay molecules easily bind to positively charged toxins in the stomach and gut—preventing those toxins from entering the bloodstream by ferrying them through the intestines and out of the body. Detoxification might also explain why some indigenous peoples prepare meals of potatoes and acorns with clay—these foods are bitter because they contain small amounts of toxins. ( Source: Would You Like a Side of Dirt with That? by Philip T. B. Starks, Brittany L. Slabach in Scientific American 1 June 2012)

The next three images are of kudu. This is one of Africa’s most gracious and handsome antelopes. The males carry magnificent spiraled horns, big ears with bluish- grey coats with light vertical white stripes. The bulls also have large manes running along their throat to their chest. It is part of the Tragelaphinae family, which defines spiral horned antelope. There are two types of kudu in Africa, the Greater and Lesser Kudu.  Adult males of the Greater Kudu are generally 35% taller and double the body weight of a Lesser Kudu (Lesser Kudu are not found in southern Africa). Bulls keep growing with age reaching a maximum body size at around 12 years of age. 

“Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk.”

~ Edward Weston

This lone mature kudu bull was wandering downstream along the bank of the Chobe river. It was late afternoon and it was surprising that he used such a narrow walkway between the river and the adjacent thick bush, which provided good ambush cover for large predators. He had a magnificent set of horns making 2 1/2 graceful twists. The spiral horn of kudu males have been known to grow as long as 72 inches. Unlike the sable, the kudu seldom uses its horns in defense against predators. Dominance is usually quickly and peacefully determined by a size and posture, where using a lateral display where one male stands sideways in front of the other and makes himself look as large as possible. These large horns are also not a problem in thick wooded bush because the kudu just lifts up his chin up and lays the horns against his back, moving easily through dense bush.

“If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it.”

~ Jay Maisel

The angle of light was not ideal given the sun was directly behind this kudu bull, so this image was not taken for its photographic quality but rather to show you that antelope would rather drink from a small pool next to the river than directly from the river. Presumably this is because of the threat of attack from crocodiles. I have often seen sable do the same thing down at Elephant Valley.

Kudu bulls reach adult maturity at around 4 years of age.  A young kudu bull’s horns will have their first twist by around 2 years of age. The females usually do not have horns and are much smaller than the males. Kudu are browsers so feed mainly on the leaves of trees and bushes.  This small family group of two females were just downstream of elephant valley and were also eating the white soil from the same limestone ridge, although it was a much more dangerous place to feed as there was no easy escape route.

We were also fortunate enough to also see Puku. This is a medium-sized antelope, which resembles the lechwe, but the puku lacks the lechwe’s brown foreleg markings, and is smaller than a lechwe. The Puku is found mainly in wet grasslands in southern Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zambia. A limited number can be seen in northern Botswana in the Chobe area.

Puku breed year round but are more sexually active after the first heavy rains of the wet season. This is a gregarious antelope and territorial males are polygynous and herd females into their territories. The social system is centralised on adult males maintaining and defending territories which accord them breading opportunities amongst wondering female herds. Territorial males maintain their territories throughout the year. ( source: Animal Diversity Web)

Puku males make a set of unique shrill whistles to communicate, either to warn other males to stay away or to protect their territory. Solitary males emit 3 to 4 whistles to warn other males to keep away. This whistle is also used as a way to advertise to females. Territorial and bachelor males can be identified by glandular secretions on the neck. Territorial males excrete more hormones from their neck than bachelor males. Territorial males use their glandular secretions to spread their scent over their territory. Neck patches only appear between the months of May and November.

“Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.”
~Ansel Adams

Puku are crepuscular, so are active in the early morning and late afternoon. They seem to prefer open grass area near a river or swamp but not wide wet flood plains like the lechwe. 

“Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees.”
~Paul Strand

The beginning of winter signals the start of the impala rut. During the rut, the impala rams’ testosterone levels start skyrocketing and they begin to fight for territory and dominance over female herds. The dominant males will fight off any competition, forcing the losers into bachelor herds. The noise of the rutting males can be heard for long distances as the winners proclaim their territories with snorts and growls. The victorious males then take charge of their herds of females and attempt to mate with as many as possible. They never mate with the same female more than once.

“Photography gives us the ability to freeze light, time, uniqueness, mood, emotion and wonder with a frame.”

~Mike Haworth

We were on the river in late April which was the build up to the full moon at the end of April. Impala begin rutting with the moon waxing around its First Quarter stage in late April. This is a time when you will hear the males “roaring” and see many fights with territorial males chasing rivals out of their territories.

“I think life is too short not to be doing something which you really believe in.”
~Steve McCurry

The natural intelligence in nature determines that impala tend to rut mainly by moonlight, making them less vulnerable to predation. Consequently, the most intense part of the rut phase is when the moon is full. The intensity diminishes as the moon wanes into its Third Quarter phase, when the night stalkers again have the advantage. 

The three week rut takes place at this time of the year so that the ewes synchronise their lambing shortly after the onset of the summer rains, approximately six to seven months later. Synchronised birthing determines that enough lambs survive, despite heavy predation, for the population to be sustained.

What always surprises me when on the Chobe river is that there is always something happening even when all looks quiet. The change in temperature, length of day and river levels have a profound influence on the “who, what and where” of the wildlife activity. A superficial look might give the impression that little is happening. A closer, quieter, more attentive look reveals nature’s more fascinating rhythms. You need to see for yourself how the landscape changes when this river comes down in flood, Rivers become lakes and grasslands become swamps. It is also the time of the year when it is still warm and the boat trip back to the lodge after an afternoon’s shooting usually provides dazzling, dramatic sunsets.

“The great photographers of life – like Diane Arbus and Walker Evans and Robert Frank – all must have had some special quality: a personality of nurturing and non-judgment that frees the subjects to reveal their most intimate reality. It really is what makes a great photographer, every bit as much as understanding composition and lighting.”

~Caleb Deschanel

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

This last trip to Chobe was unusual for a number of reasons. There is always a great variety of birds along the river but there were fewer birds than we normally see. This was partly due to the autumn season, where many of the migrants had already left. It could also be because the river was flooding which only suits certain species. Besides its prolific bird life, the Chobe National Park is known for its exceptionally large population of elephants. The estimates  vary between 60,000 and 120,000. During the dry season vast herds are drawn to the river to slake their thirst. By contrast on this trip there were noticeably few elephants, probably because there was enough water inland after the good rains and the elephants did not need to walk the extra distance to the Chobe river for that life saving drink of water. That said, there were still many giants patrolling Chobe’s banks.

“I have never seen a river that I could not love. Moving water…has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and associations. It has a thousand colors and a thousand shapes, yet it follows laws so definite that the tiniest streamlet is an exact replica of a great river.”

~ Roderick Haig Brown

The river was unusually high because of exceptional rains upstream. The Chobe is a big river even in the dry season. When flooding, the river bursts its banks, spreading over onto the grass floodplain, such that the river looks like a lake. Water deep enough on the floodplain allows access by boat to areas which you would normally not see.

“Travel is more than the seeing the sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent in the ideas of living.”

~Miriam Beard

Elephants just love water. It is their life saver, especially in winter and spring, but the buoyancy it gives their massive bodies seems to lighten their mood, inspiring them to play by rolling and diving under the water, and putting those large front legs on each other’s back and generally expressing their sheer joy of being in this wonderful, cool supportive medium.

A depth of field challenge. We have a large elephant, face on, playing in the water. The distance of its trunk to eyes was around three metres. It is easy to be beguiled by the spectacle of these wonderful creatures playing in the water in front of you such that you forget the root technical aspects of photography. 

“Real happiness comes from having an unassailable connection to the deep state of unbounded awareness at our core. This state of being is our own inner joy that expresses the exuberance and wonder of being alive at this moment; it is our own self-luminous essence made conscious of itself.”
~Deepak Chopra

That trunk is for drinking and for splashing.

Rejoicing in the fluidity and buoyancy. You can imagine what a wonderful feeling it must be to have the buoyancy in the water when you see these enormous animals playing with abandon.

It is easy to wander after your meal ticket on dry land, but this Cattle Egret just had to ride out the excursion into the water.

Buffaloes have a number of hangers-on. Cattle Egrets like to walk along side the browsing buffalo, when it is on dry land, as it can catch the insects stirred up by the buffalo’s hooves. A literal hanger-on, this Red-billed Oxpecker, was grooming its host for mites and dead skin. Looking at this buffalo’s eyes, it appeared to be in a trance in the warm morning sun while munching on the water-lily stems.

I have often marveled at a buffalo bull’s boss and at times the colouration on the boss looks as if it has gold flake inlays. Don’t be fooled these are serious weapons which they use ruthlessly. After what a buffalo’s horn did to Dereck and Beverley Joubert, I have even more respect for these powerful but unpredictable herbivores.

If the buffalo is considered one of the most dangerous animals in the bush, especially in long grass and when wounded, then the hippo takes the prize in and around water. Given a respectful distance, and reasonably deep water, this female seemed to be content to munch on hippo grass in the middle of the flooded waters. Eyes half closed just munching.

When food is abundant in the flooded waters these female hippos do not have to risk going onto land after sunset to forage. This helps when you have a very small calf to nurse.

This was an unusual sighting. I have never seen a hippo calf resting on its mothers back in the deep water. This youngster’s mother seemed quite at ease and did not sink so she probably was standing on the riverbed.

The hippo grass can be quite long especially when intertwined with water-lily stems. Steadily, this hippo munched and sucked in the grass as if it was extra long spaghetti. It was quite a mouthful and took quite a while to draw it all in.

“Life has a way of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or everything happen at once.”

~Paulo Coelho

This hippo female decided that we were too close. We were minding our own business and slowly but steadily moving past her, giving the pod a respectful berth. She must have had a calf we did not see but suddenly she charged us. A hippo charge is deceptively fast even in deep water. They are quick on land despite their bulk but also quicker than you expect in water.

You can see from the eyes that this female was not in the mood for play. Our guide made sure we were not in any danger. When a hippo comes for the boat it is usually with the intention of turning it over or biting it. The aluminium railings on the side of the boat are but spaghetti to these massively powerful river horses. The guides know only too well that the bow wave created by the charging hippo is usually four to five metres behind the animal – so don’t be fooled!! In deep water, the hippo runs underwater and bounces off the river bottom with enough force to have its head and neck burst well above the water.

When the young hippos in a pod are playing they can create some quite dramatic displays.

“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”

~Khalil Gibran
You can see from the small teeth that these hippos were youngsters and were just sparring in the late afternoon light. 

Even with these self sharpening canines they are very gentle with each other when playing.

There are giants on land and giants in and under the water.

Another giant found in and along the Chobe is the Nile Crocodile. This was a particularly large crocodile, or “flat dog” as we like to call a crocodile. This character did not fuss about the boat passing close by him as he looked to be almost as long as our boat. You can see the size of the “croc” from its massive head. Its eyes were wide open and it just watched us as we passed by.

Drinking tripod. This giraffe splayed its front legs to be able to be able to reach the water for a drink. Some giraffe splay their legs, others bend their front legs, to get low enough to reach the water for a drink. For good reason, this giraffe was very wary when coming down to drink as it was vulnerable to predators in this splayed position, especially when there was thick bush behind it.

“Advice from a Giraffe
Stand tall.
Reach for new heights.
Don’t be afraid to stick your neck out.
Preserve wild places.
Eat fresh greens.
Be head and shoulders above the rest.
Keep your chin up!”

When a giraffe has finished drinking it usually lifts its head and flicks the water from its mouth forming an impressive “S” curve.

About a kilometre upstream of Elephant valley, we found this small family group of elephants quietly drinking in the late afternoon. This is one of those idyllic scenes, quiet and peaceful.

“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.”

~Hermann Hesse

There is always something to see along the Chobe river, perhaps not always what you expect to see, but more often than not better!!

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

Chobe is a wonderland for wildlife photographers. The diversity of landscapes, scenes, flora, mammals, reptiles and birds is astounding. We photograph from a specialised boat operated and guided by CNP Safaris. It has a customised camera support system and the boat is flat bottomed, which makes it very stable shooting platform. We are on the boat every day in the morning from 6h30 to 9h30  and 15h30 to 18h30 in the evening. At this time of the year the river is rising, filled by the good rains as far away as the highlands in Angola. April is early autumn in the southern Hemisphere so the insect activity has diminished and many of the avian migrants have already headed back to their northern climes. While the mobility of the mammal population is dependent on the rains, the avian population is highly seasonal and has much to do with the air temperature which has a profound effect on the density of the insect population. By this time of the year, the cuckoos have moved north, bee-eaters such as carmines and blue-eared have also departed for northern parts. Many of the kingfishers are intra-African migrants and have also moved. The stork diversity has thinned out. A number of the eagles have migrated and so have a number of kite species.

“The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life. . . . The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds — how many human aspirations are realised in their free, holiday-lives — and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!”

~ John Burroughs

Despite a major migration of species north from southern Africa in autumn, there is still an abundance of species which are resident in this part of the world. Thankfully my penchant for raptors is still satisfied even in autumn despite migrants like the Steppe, Lesser Spotted and Wahlberg’s Eagles having moved north. I am not sure where it came from but I think it must have been from my senior school days at Falcon College in Zimbabwe where we had a very active ornithological society, which was focused on raptors and where a number of the schoolboys practiced falconry. It is for this reason I look out for raptors when I go out onto the Chobe river.

“There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.”

~ Robert Lynd

On our first morning we saw this juvenile Martial Eagle perched on a large (fallen) dead tree. It was looking intently at something on the ground. It could have been a guinea fowl or small mammal. You could see it was a juvenile by its white face and neck. The adult has a dark brown head and neck and piercing yellow eyes.

Even from quite a distance you could see it was a Martial Eagle just by its sheer size. This youngster was moving his head around as if trying to get better perspective on its potential quarry. I am not sure why they do this but it could be to get a better sense of its distance to target.

As it heated up during the morning, we would see more raptors climbing into the developing thermals. This was a big raptor but I am not sure what it was. I think it is a juvenile Marsh Harrier but it was soaring and not flying low over the flooded reeds and grasses. It also looked a bit big for a Marsh Harrier. Looking at the shape of its head it looked like a Harrier or Buzzard. Perhaps it was a juvenile Jackal Buzzard. There was no barring on the tail feathers which eliminates quite a few possibilities.

“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.” 

~ William Blake

We were sitting in the boat moored in an inlet watching all the wader activity when our guide pointed to a  juvenile Bateleur Eagle, which we did not see at first, until it moved. It was sitting next to the trunk of a fallen dead tree and was well camouflaged. Only when it moved onto a open dead branch could we easily see it. It sat there for ages intently watching all the goings on around the inlet. As any raptor photographer knows, it can sit there for longer than your patience will last.

A juvenile Bateleur has a greenish facial skin and cere where as a sub-adult has a reddish facial skin and cere.

“Every child is a born naturist. Their eyes are, by nature, open to the glories of the stars, the beauty of the flowers, and the mystery of life.”

~unknown

A Bateleur’s facial skin is also known to change colour depending on its level of excitement. This could have been a female sub-adult judging from the lighter primary feathers compared to those seen in males. The male’s primaries and secondaries are dark. This is one way to identify the sex of a Bateleur when it is perched.

Another sign that this could have been a sub-adult female was the darkened thin trailing edge on the underside of its primary feathers. I know only too well from past experience that as we start to pull out from our position the raptor we had spent the last half an hour watching will often fly and sure enough I was waiting for it. You need high shutter speeds (above 1/5000sec) to handle the moving boat and flying raptor and get the subject pin-sharp.

“The wilderness holds answers to questions man has not yet learned to ask.”

~ Nancy Newhall

A Fish Eagle sunning itself. It may have been hunting earlier that morning and could have been drying its wings.

“Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius.”

~Edward O. Wilson

The Marabou Stork will certainly not get any beauty accolades. Its bald, pinkish head and pinkish-white neck gives it a somewhat hideous look. We nickname these storks “Dr Death” as they usually sit on top of tree in the setting sun with their heads tucked into their shoulders giving them a macabre silhouette, as if guarding the cemetery. You can see from this character’s gular pouch on its neck that it was not excessively hot. Usually this gular punch hanging from its neck gets swollen when it is very hot as it acts as a thermo-regulator. The sac swells and contracts depending on the amount of cooling or heating the stork’s blood needs. 

We regularly see African Harrier-Hawks low gliding from tree to tree along the Chobe river. They forage in canopies of living trees and in dead trees. They have broad wings for slow deliberate flight among the trees. They also use these broad wings for balance when accessing crevices from difficult angles in trees and rocks.

This African Harrier-Hawk was inspecting all the cavities in this dead tree looking for nests. Those double-jointed legs are able to get into most “nooks and crannies”. You will often see drongos and rollers mobbing an African Harrier -Hawk as it makes its way along the river because they know only to well it could raid their nests.

This majestic adult Fish Eagle was perched on a dead tree stump giving it a perfect view across the river. Fish Eagles are primarily perch hunters and will take off from the perch and glide (albeit at speed) down to snatch the unsuspecting fish from the surface of the water. Fish Eagles are also  to hunt anything from jacanas to mongooses, if their main prey is scarce. 

Fish Eagles are highly territorial and can often be seen riding a thermal high above their territory and arching their heads back, while in flight, giving that iconic Fish Eagle call.

There is sexual dimorphism in Fish Eagles, not in their colouring, but the females are noticeably larger than the males. This is usually only evident when they are perched together in a tree. 

When you are on the river, you will usually see Fish Eagles in all seasons but the other raptors are unpredictable except perhaps the African Harrier-Hawk. On some trips you see a Martial and/or Bateleur and other times nothing. That is part of the mystery. When we set out first thing in the morning and afternoon we are all brimming with expectation. The amazing thing about the river is, from my experience, you never see the same animal or bird in the same place doing the same thing, so each outing is completely different, which helps explain why I keep going back to Chobe each year.

“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals… In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”

~Henry Beston

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

The Chobe river offers many moods. Colours best reflect the moods of this river.

“The pale stars were sliding into their places. The whispering of the leaves was almost hushed. All about them it was still and shadowy and sweet. It was that wonderful moment when, for lack of a visible horizon, the not yet darkened world seems infinitely greater—a moment when anything can happen, anything be believed in.”
~ Olivia Howard Dunbar

On our first afternoon, there was plenty of cloud, some of it heavy with moisture. It was warm and unusually there was a rainbow over Kasane. The sun was setting in the west but the magic show was taking place in the east where the setting sun had illuminated the heavy clouds over Kasane. In all the times I have been on the Chobe river while the sun was setting, I have never seen the sky in the east so vividly illuminated in apricots, pinks , mauves, purples and blues. The busy skies hung over what was the still water surface reflecting the pink clouds among the water lilies.. 

The river was so high that we were able to drive directly over Sedudu island. This island was sprinkled with water lilies. Normally in summer the river is one two metres below the level of the island so we are usually able to watch Pied Kingfishers nesting in the bank.

The low light and the moving boat provided an ideal opportunity to play with slow shutter speeds. This is a motion blur designed to show off the colours without  specific shape, perhaps typifying the moodiness of the evening light.

“The stillness of the early morning scene enables me to take in and enjoy many things which pass me by during the bustle of the day. First, there are the scents, which seem even more generous with their offerings than they are in the evening.”
~ Rosemary Verey

The next morning we left the lodge at 6h30. It was light but the sun had not yet risen. The area was infused with soft pastel colours in the still cool air. The next image was taken looking back down river towards the “three sisters” before we reached “Pygmy Geese” Bend.

Early in the morning quietly moving upstream is dream like and exquisitely beautiful. I have often described this time as the closest thing I can imagine to heaven on earth. The stillness, serenity and beautiful soft pastel light together with the sound of a fish eagle calling in the distance is very soothing for the soul.

Further upstream with the sun higher in the sky, we made our way through the vast floating beds of water lilies.

A closer look at the water lilies revealed perfection, and wonderful colours.

“Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest.”

~ Leo Babauta

Selecting isolated water lilies can provide wonderful artistic subjects.

The still surface of the river created sublime backgrounds.

” My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe and my camera is my passport.”

~ Steve McCurry

Further upstream we went up to Puku Flats opposite Savanna Lodge. The area was completely flooded.

For those of you who have been on the river, you will see how high the river level has reached. It was literally a few feet below the lodge.

Another image showing how high the river had risen.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

~ Mark Twain

On our way back downstream from Elephant Valley toward Chobe Game Lodge, we found a small family group of kudu which were licking minerals from the soil.

An hour or so later we were travelling in last light towards Sedudu island. The sun was still relatively high in the sky but the cloud cover was thick making it quite dark.

“You can always make money, you can’t always make memories.”

~unknown

On the homeward journey, in the warm evening light there is usually much chatter and laughter coming from the passing boats.

The evening sky was, on this occasion, set on fire by the setting sun.

As the sun sunk below the horizon, the evening sky darkened and the colours shifted from warm rich oranges and reds towards pinks, purples and blues.

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
~ Marcus Aurelius

Another early morning on the river at sunrise. Looking back towards Kasane ridge, once we had passed “Pygmy Goose” bend, the sun had just begun to peer above the ridge

“We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon.”
~Konrad Adenauer

Dancing lilies 

We were able to take the boat through these vast lily beds which enabled us to see the African Jacana nests and chicks up close.

The intertwined roots of a Jackalberry tree exposed by many years of the river’s water eroding the soil away from the roots’ hold.

On the evening of our second last day. We stopped to take images of the “three sisters”, three Jackalberry trees which have grown on a high sand bank at the east end of Sedudu island. On this particular evening the sky was a riot of clouds and colours.

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky.”
~ Rabindranath Tagore

This is a favourite place for many of the boats to stop and take photographs of the setting sun with the “three sisters” as the point of focus.

This image was taken from our “photographic boat” once we had tied up to the jetty at the lodge. We had to be out of the park by 18h30 but this is often the time of the day which offered the most dramatic scenes.

“Africa is waiting – come!
Since you’ve touched the open sky
And learned to love the rustling grass,
The wild fish-eagles cry.
You’ll always hunger for the bush,
For the lion’s rasping roar,
To camp at last beneath the stars
And to be at peace once more.”
~C. Emily-Dibb

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike