Fri Nov 23 - All day safari - Bucket List South Africa - CycleBlaze

Fri Nov 23 - All day safari

Today Tim and I went on all day safari into Kruger NP starting at 6AM, we were alone in the truck with our guide Happy.  We were in search of the big 5 which we did see but we hope to get some better photos tomorrow.  The day was cool so that may have impacted on what we saw.  The most interesting sighting of all was a leopard in a tree chowing down on an impala while its mate (we think) stood by wailing, nature can be cruel.  We also saw a baby elephant that had to only be days old.   We got quite close to African buffalo which is consider the most dangerous of the big 5 because it changes without warning.  We also learned that there are the small 5 which includes the leopard turtle and the ugly 5 that include the wart hog, the hyena and the wildebeest.

Our rhino for the day.
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Tim beside our transport for the day for the 2 of us.
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Lilac breasted roller.
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Female lion.
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Giraffe my favourite.
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Leopard turtle part of the small 5.
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A male kudu.
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Wart hogs part of the ugly 5.
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Klipspringer antelope.
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Wildebeest also part of the ugly 5.
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Hyena number 3 of the ugly 5.
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A great shot of the mean African buffalo.
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Zebra.
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A leopard lounging in a tree.
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A very handsome male impala.
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An elephant with a very young baby.
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The damage to this tree was done by an elephant. This will eventually kill the tree.
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I saw this cute lizard at our coffee stop.
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Bill ShaneyfeltNice photo!

It took quite a bit of internet searching, but I think this might be a southern tree agama.

http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_southern_tree_agama.html
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5 years ago
This fluorescent blue bird is a starling.
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Bill ShaneyfeltLooks like a good match with African glossy starling.

https://www.uakron.edu/about_ua/news_media/news_details.dot?newsId=bf7f09bb-61e7-422b-b407-ca1e2985d41f&pageTitle=Research%20News%20Archives&crumbTitle=African%20starlings:%20dashing%20darlings%20of%20the%20bird%20world%20in%20more%20ways%20than%20one
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5 years ago
Hilary JaegerWow, you had a fantastic day on safari! In 3 days we never saw a leopard, and our only Cape Buffalo were lying in tall grass among a copse of trees; no way did we try to get very close, given their reputation. And great photos of interesting birds and lizards, thanks for posting them.
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5 years ago