My Month in Pictures: January

I'm backtracking a fair amount here. I started working with Sun Destinations and the myriad of lodges and camps associated with them this month and its kept me pretty busy. I haven't updated my blog in forever!

I've decided to start the classic 'this month in pictures' thing as a means to share some of the moments that were highlights for me, which might not make it as a blog post. So without further ado, here is my January in photographs:

I saw 2018 in at Nambiti Private Game Reserve where I spent a few nights with my extended family. I didn't take too many photographs because I was practicing shooting video on my new camera (the Panasonic Lumix FZ300). However, these were two of my favourites: a big, dark haired male lion and a very young and inquisitive Black-Backed Jackal.

No Place like Nambiti

And we're off to Greater Kruger. I started my new job here on January 5th and started getting to know the locals. Meet the Mbiri Boys: a coalition of two brothers who wreak havoc in the Klaserie/Timbavati reserves. These two have a nasty reputation for killing off all the white lions in the area, and have demonstrated somewhat maniacal tendencies by murdering a lioness directly after mating with her. Despite this, I'm quite fond of these chaps as they made themselves known to me in early Jan, when they woke us up with their roars. Since then I've seen them three or four more times, and it's always a pleasure.

The Biggest of Bois

Sunsets in the low veld are always a sight, the Klaserie is no exception. I nabbed these shots in an open plain while we stopped for drinks with guests, under a giant Marula Tree. Across the way from us was a big herd of elephants enjoying their evening in the warm orange haze. This mother and child caught my attention and had to be captured along with the brilliant orb that fell out of the sky behind them.

Orange Elephants <3

One of the more memorable sightings of January was certainly finding these hyena on a large kudu carcass. I was driving with Africa on Foot guide, Mike Hrusa, when he spotted a particularly fat female wading in the waters of Buffel Dam. He commented that she was either pregnant, or has been gorging herself on meat, which could still be nearby. As it turns out, it was the latter. We stayed with these endearing creatures for a few hours, watching them strip the bones clean.

Breakfast for the Buggers

Towards the end of January, I did a shoot ahead of the launch of Walkers Bush Villa - a new Manor House accommodation in the Timbavati Game Reserve. We came across a male buffalo kill (coincidentally, taken out by the Mbiri Boys). It was late morning, and the lions had grown weary of defending their kill from the tenacious vultures that loomed overhead. They retired to a more peaceful and shady spot in a nearby drainage line, opening the kill up to the relentless raptors. What a sight vultures on a kill are! Just an incredible thing to watch!

The Feathers of War

Anyways, that's my first month in pictures post! Hopefully it's a sign of things to come, because my January was a great start to 2018! I hope yours was too!

#mymonthinpictures #wildlife #travel #blogpost