u/adventu_Rena

I have visited Kruger on many occasions and for many days at a time but never ever got lucky finding Sable antelope.

Then three weeks ago, we stumbled across a herd of one male and five or six females. That was amazing.
The next Sunday we returned to the park but a slightly different area - there he was, a lone and majestic Sable bull.

The photos are not great but the sighting itself was!

Had a good laugh today driving through my German hometown where there was a sign indicating a pothole - and a safety beacon placed right on top of it (should tell you all you need to know about its size). I couldn’t help but imagine these on some South African roads for every pothole, it would probably look like the safety beacon great migration 😂

Just read the rules regarding nesting photos: the nest images were taken at 400mm from a safe distance.

These guys are incredibly funny to watch, their erratic back-and-forth movement when walking is just soo entertaining. It took him about 30 minutes to cross the road - and while doing so, he went from 'green all over' to 'very patterned', a fascinating watch.

Southern Africa is (temporary) home to five species of rollers: the pretty ubiquitous and strikingly colourful Lilac-breasted Roller (my spark bird), the Purple Roller that is much more elusive, temporarily home to the migratory European Roller as well as the Racket-Tailed and the Broad-Billed roller.

In this post I am going to show you three out of these five. While the Lilac has been my constant companion on each and every safari I go on, it hasn't been until this April that I was finally, after years of searching, able to encounter both the Purple Roller and the European Roller (who, in all fairness, should already have left for his journey back north, but due to an unusually wet summer in South Africa, and an abundance of food, they left Kruger National Park much later than they normally would).

This leaves me with the Racket-Tailed (whose habitats in South Africa are very scarce) and the Broad Billed, who is also a very rare sight.

The chase continues - luckily I am privileged enough to go back oftern, so hopefully they won't evade me forever.

Sadly they were quite far away, so not the best photo quality - but alas, better than nothing I guess.

apologies in advance for the many photos - I couldn't really decide which ones to post :)

Dear SA locals, please help :)

I’m buying a house and this is the boma/lapa. It doesn’t have a separate braai area. What can I do to turn this fire pit (is that what you call it?) into a braai? Dig out the sand and fill with wood? Or add a metal insert, then fill with wood? Or just put a grill/grid (? not sure what it’s called) on top?

Hi all!
I hope you might be able to help me, I am looking for a reputable place to purchase this outdoor swing. Lifestylehome, the shop advertising it on Insta, is not a place I would trust with my money, but hopefully you know of a different place to source it from?

These photos show the early onset of the papilloma virus infection.

The same individual has been spotted regularly and the warts have since spread over its entire body. :( it’s not for the faint hearted
Since I’m not allowed to post images that are not my own OC you can find the photos showing this really bad „infestation“ and read more about it in an article from LiveScience.com : https://www.livescience.com/animals/land-mammals/see-heartbreaking-photos-of-bumpy-giraffe-in-south-africa-with-viral-disease-rarely-seen-in-these-tall-animals

If you ever find yourselves in the African bush and hear a sound that is half-whistle and half-croak, look up; you have probably just found an African Green Pigeon.

Easier said than done! I have tried. God knows I have tried, each and every time I have travelled to Southern Africa.
The African Green Pigeon is the bird that always caught my eye while leafing through the safari sightings bird list, only to pull a disappearing act every single time we visited the park . But then, finally, during our latest April trip: there it was, perched in a tree, munching away on fruit.

It is every bit as fabulous as I expected. <3

Want to know more about this feathered gem?

The African Green Pigeon is the "ultimate canopy-dweller", living exclusively in the treetops while keeping a low profile with its olive-green camouflage - just look at the photo, they really are very difficult to spot. You will rarely catch one of these guys on the ground.

They are frutarians, their menu is almost exclusively built around wild figs, though they will happily snack on berries and various tree fruits like the waterberry or the jackalberry ( which, I think, is the very shrub in the photo).

Occasionally, they have even been known to exhibit a bit of a quirky side by engaging in geophagy (which is just a fancy, technical way of saying they will fly down to eat soil or clay for essential minerals).

Red and Yellow is the new black! Meet the Saddle-Billed Stork, a widespread, non-migratory species found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

A few good-to know things about them: They lack a vocal organ and stay completely quiet unless they’re clattering their bills to communicate .

When it comes to dining, they don't mess around . While their staple diet is fish , they are opportunistic eaters that won’t turn their beaks up at crustaceans, frogs, reptiles small mammals or even the occasional young bird . If they catch a particularly hefty fish, they’ll often drag it to the shore to clip off any sharp spines before swallowing it headfirst like the true gourmet they are

For years I have been coming on safari to southern Africa. For years I have seen his cousin, the wonderful Lilac-breasted Roller , but the Purple Roller has always eluded me. Then, finally, during April's trip to Kruger Park, I was lucky enough to spot this beauty <3

It’s not always leopards! We were incredibly lucky to watch all the adults of the Nkuhuma pride along with the two Ndzenga males walk straight by our car and then grabbing a drink by the dam 😍