Sabi Sands: February 2010 (Part 3)

This is the 3rd episode of a way overdue trip report from February 2010. If you need to catch up, check out PART 1 and PART 2 before carrying on with this post...

My lovely wife and I had a pleasant afternoon lounging around our room at Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve with its private plunge pool (summer months in the Lowveld are hot and humid). She took this photo of me looking out over the bush...

This photo shows the inside of our luxurious room - what comfort!

Soon enough, after stuffing ourselves with lovely teatime treats, we were off on our afternoon drive as the clouds were building for storms overhead. This photo shows Marius Coetzee driving us around the roads of the Sabi Sands - do yourself a favour and check out his website for some amazing photography...

Our first notable sighting of the afternoon was a journey of Giraffe (that's what a group of them is called) underneath a stunning rainbow (what is it with this trip and rainbows?)...

One of the bulls obliged me by going to stand in the perfect spot - how kind of him!

We then received word of a nice lion sighting, and proceeded there immediately. The Ximungwe pride was relaxing in a riverbed, and the sole surviving cub of that year's litter was playing with his mother. This little one had been dubbed "Supercub" due to the hardships he endured up to then, and the fact that he somehow kept up when the pride was on the move - which they did without consideration of a cub's presence in their midst.

As you can see, it was a fruitful sighting as far as photography goes. The mother was not very impressed with her cub's incessant playfulness, but she bore it like any good patient mother would. Shortly after leaving this sighting the heavens opened up and we got properly drenched!! Thanks goodness for the parkas in the vehicle (which I used to cover my gear which was on loan from Nikon South Africa)!!!

I hope you enjoyed this trip report thus far. More to follow in the 3rd episode...
Have a great week!

Morkel Erasmus

Mother of One

Much has been said about the plight of Southern Africa's black and white rhino population since 2010. I won't rehash it all here. Some days I'm hopeful that a solution will be found, and other days I really fear that it's all going to fade away (rhinos, elephants, lions, all of Africa's natural heritage we hold so dear). There just seems no stopping the greed of man...

I am grateful to have had some opportunities to photograph the critically endangered Black Rhino in recent years. These images might be the only way my children's children get to see these magnificent creatures.

This particular image was taken after sunset at a remote waterhole somewhere between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Just as the sun dipped below the horizon, a cautious mother and her teeny calf emerged like ghosts from the surrounding bush, making their way gregariously towards the life-giving water. She stopped every now and again to survey the area, take in any new scents, and perk her ears towards unfamiliar sounds. She was keenly aware of her surroundings and of the potential danger that could lurk in the shadows...lions in this area have been known to have a go at rhino calves. The sad part is that we as humans hold the biggest threat to her and her young one's survival...

Eventually, they got to the water, and by that time it was too dark for decent photography - so I put the camera down and just enjoyed watching them drink peacefully as the stars started blinking around us...a special and rare moment in Africa!

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0  |  1/160 SS  |  ISO-2500
Exposure Bias +0.3 

The light was very low, so I opted for a slower shutter speed given the pace that they were moving at. I also utilised my Nikkor lens' Vibration Reduction function for better sharpness.

click on the photo to display at optimal sharpness and resolution

Morkel Erasmus