As soon as I saw this week’s topic, I knew exactly what I would share – the fairy circles of the Sossusvlei desert in Namibia. I was lucky enough to see them from the air, and also from the top of a small dune while out quadding my first evening in the desert. No one had an explanation of how they were formed; nothing grows in them, the are simply barren sand surrounded by scrubby plants.
There’s a Wiki pages with more info about them, in case you are interested: Fairy Circles – Wikipedia
A view of the fairy circles from the top of a dune (taken with my mobile phone). April, 2015A view of the fairy circles from the air. We saw several areas with these on the flight from Windhoek to Sossusvlei. April, 2015
One of my dream wildlife sightings / photo opportunity was to see a leopard in a tree. I’m sure I mentioned it before, but it happened in what I felt was an unlikely place, the Okavango Delta.
I was looking through photos with my Mom yesterday and came across these after not having seen them for awhile, and I thought they would be great to edit in black and white. I still have a lot more shots to get through 🙂
If these are the type of photos you’d like to own, you can find them here:
A group of zebra and tsessbe hang around a termite mound. Okavango Delta, April 2015A group of bronze mannequins enjoy splash baths at the edge of the pool. Phinda Game Reserve, May 2015A group of female impala bunched together, ready to bolt at a moments notice. Okavango Delta, April 2015
I wouldn’t have known that it was International Cheetah Day if I hadn’t come across a post about it on a blog I follow (de Wets Wild, which I would highly recommend if you are interested in South African wildlife).
I’ve been fortunate to spend a fair bit of time with cheetahs now, both during my time with Wildlife Act last year, and this past holiday. I’ve seen a somewhat half-hearted (and unsuccessful) hunt, but I have never seen them going at full speed, except on the wildlife documentaries I’ve seen on TV. Perhaps my time will come to see that in person 🙂
I hope you enjoy my selection of cheetah photos today. TGIF, and have a great day everyone!
An unknown male cheetah was spotted our first evening at Londolozi. 1/320sec, 55.6, ISO4500 May, 2015On the second night at Londolozi, some time with the resident male cheetah. 1/250sec, f6.3, ISO 5000 Londolozi Private Game Reserve, May, 2015Late afternoon grooming time with one of the little ones. 1/250sec, f8.0, ISO 3600 Phinda Private Game Reserve, May 2015One of the cheetah brothers at Phinda, heading for a shady spot as the day warms up. 1/640sec, f8.0, ISO 320 Phinda Private Game Reserve May, 2015No rest for the weary! This mama had her paws full with 3 rambunctious cubs. 1/1000sec, f6.3, ISO 1250