 |
Gotta love being on the water in California...
0
Water. Some animals live in it, some animals bathe in it, but all animals come to the watering hole to drink. The famous hippo yawn is actually a sign of aggression. Either way, it's probably best not to mess with one of them. I've been told by locals that they are not as aggressive as TV has made them out to be, but it's best not to surprise one.
There's an African saying that the elephants always let the warthogs drink first. No one could explain the story behind this, but if you know, please share.
Follow my blog at http://squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates. Also I help lead some great kayaking and outdoors trips with Adventures in Florida. In 2012, we plan to lead an awesome kayak and land safari in Botswana where many of these photos were taken.
Read more
At the watering hole
 |
| Cranky, cranky hippo |
Water. Some animals live in it, some animals bathe in it, but all animals come to the watering hole to drink. The famous hippo yawn is actually a sign of aggression. Either way, it's probably best not to mess with one of them. I've been told by locals that they are not as aggressive as TV has made them out to be, but it's best not to surprise one.
There's an African saying that the elephants always let the warthogs drink first. No one could explain the story behind this, but if you know, please share.
0
Night drives in the Botswana bush are amazing. I can't promise that you'll be lucky enough to see a couple of lions guarding the road, but you will get to see animals behave as if they were a different species. Hippos leave the water, elephants shy away from your lights, lions, well, they don't really care.
Follow my blog at http://www.squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates. Also I help lead some great kayaking and outdoors trips with Adventures in Florida. In 2012, we plan to lead an awesome kayak and land safari in Botswana where many of these photos were taken.
Read more
Night in the bush
 |
| Guardians of the road |
 |
Unlike during the day, elephants will run away from your lights at night |
0
She is alone. She pauses and glares at the light, the one thing betraying her presence. Without it, just a mottled shadow hidden in the folds of darkness. Her muscles are perfect for the hunt always tensed, always ready to strike. Even her tail is coiled, ready to spring forth. She pauses, listens, and moves forward with a purpose. She does not have a pride of lionesses helping her, and can not afford the impatience of the cheetah. She must stalk her prey, maybe for hours, waiting for the perfect moment. For she is the huntress.
Follow my blog at http://www.squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates. Also I help lead some great kayaking and outdoors trips with Adventures in Florida. In 2012, we plan to lead an awesome kayak and land safari in Botswana where many of these photos were taken.
Read more
She is the huntress
She is alone. She pauses and glares at the light, the one thing betraying her presence. Without it, just a mottled shadow hidden in the folds of darkness. Her muscles are perfect for the hunt always tensed, always ready to strike. Even her tail is coiled, ready to spring forth. She pauses, listens, and moves forward with a purpose. She does not have a pride of lionesses helping her, and can not afford the impatience of the cheetah. She must stalk her prey, maybe for hours, waiting for the perfect moment. For she is the huntress.
Follow my blog at http://www.squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates. Also I help lead some great kayaking and outdoors trips with Adventures in Florida. In 2012, we plan to lead an awesome kayak and land safari in Botswana where many of these photos were taken.
0
The brothers lay there, their panting almost at a frenzied pace. The day heat was just beginning, but their level of lethargy must be caused by something more severe. I noticed their bellies were stretched to their limits and they had remaining tint of red on their muzzle. Certainly too big for an impala, but perhaps a kudu. For all I know they could have just have washed down a football sized burrito with four cold beers and the red was a bit of salsa that always seems to get everywhere when you eat Mexican food. Then I realized, these cats were 'food stoned'!
Follow my blog at http://www.squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates.
Read more
Food Stoned
 |
| Nap time at Khwai National Park |
The brothers lay there, their panting almost at a frenzied pace. The day heat was just beginning, but their level of lethargy must be caused by something more severe. I noticed their bellies were stretched to their limits and they had remaining tint of red on their muzzle. Certainly too big for an impala, but perhaps a kudu. For all I know they could have just have washed down a football sized burrito with four cold beers and the red was a bit of salsa that always seems to get everywhere when you eat Mexican food. Then I realized, these cats were 'food stoned'!
Follow my blog at http://www.squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates.
0
In the Bush, you either eat vegetables or you eat meat. However, unlike California, bush vegetables do not consist of processed soy burgers or alfalfa sprouts , but often water grass, dry scrub, or if you're tall enough, leaves from the acacia tree. Meat.....well, meat is everything and anything that's not bigger, faster, or stronger than you.
African wild dogs are one of the exceptions and should be one of the most plentiful carnivores in Africa. They have large litters and an amazing 80% of their hunts end in a kill. They hunt in packs and show brilliant team work (check out the Planet Earth video). However, humans (of course), disease from domestic pets, and other unknown factors have devastated their population down to a few thousand. These dogs are on the hunt and are not too far from the zebra herd shown in my previous blog.
Follow my blog at http://www.squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates.
Read more
Dogs of war
 |
| Wild dog on the hunt |
African wild dogs are one of the exceptions and should be one of the most plentiful carnivores in Africa. They have large litters and an amazing 80% of their hunts end in a kill. They hunt in packs and show brilliant team work (check out the Planet Earth video). However, humans (of course), disease from domestic pets, and other unknown factors have devastated their population down to a few thousand. These dogs are on the hunt and are not too far from the zebra herd shown in my previous blog.
 |
| Pack with young one's on the hunt |
0
There's something about seeing an animal in the wild. Most of us have seen zebras in the zoo, but when you spot them in the bush, it seems like their white stripes glow next to to the depth of blackness. Perhaps it's the high of being on the road that makes everything seem more brilliant.
Read more
White and Black
 |
| One or two? |
 |
| Grazing Zebra with Impala in the background |
0
There is a law of the Okavango Delta in Botswana:
"Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top."
OK, so I mention paddling in Africa, and I get two reactions. One is "Awesome" and the other is, "what about(insert fear here)". Actually, I get that reaction from any trip I take, but it's especially true for my African Paddle.
Hippo's and crocs are the one's you hear about most, and despite what think you know, according to our guide who has spent 40+ years paddling the delta, it's the crocs you need to watch out. He claims that unless you plan to run into a hippo or surprise it, they tend to keep their distances and it was true during our trip. I think their "killer of Africa" reputation comes from people watching too much Nature channel. Crocs, like crocs in Florida and elsewhere, tend to be more aggressive. The "small" difference with the one's in Africa is they can grow to 15 feet long.
Yes, kayaking in the Delta does have it's dangers, and it's probably more dangerous that other places. Anyone who tells you otherwise is being worse than dishonest However, you can fall into the Delta and get eaten by a croc or fall into waters in the Everglades and die of hypothermia. One is just a little quicker. Plus, the locals have been paddling these waters in their wooden morkoro (canoe) longer than anyone reading this blog has been alive. So, to be really honest, if you're gonna head out into the wilderness, bush, delta, outdoors, ocean, whatever you call it, you're gonna take a bigger risk than sitting at your local coffee shop, but less of a risk than crossing the street getting there. Live a little. Paddling the Delta was amazing.
Read more
Law of the Delta
There is a law of the Okavango Delta in Botswana:
"Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top."
OK, so I mention paddling in Africa, and I get two reactions. One is "Awesome" and the other is, "what about
 |
| Despite what you've heard, the Crocs are the more aggressive on the Delta |
Hippo's and crocs are the one's you hear about most, and despite what think you know, according to our guide who has spent 40+ years paddling the delta, it's the crocs you need to watch out. He claims that unless you plan to run into a hippo or surprise it, they tend to keep their distances and it was true during our trip. I think their "killer of Africa" reputation comes from people watching too much Nature channel. Crocs, like crocs in Florida and elsewhere, tend to be more aggressive. The "small" difference with the one's in Africa is they can grow to 15 feet long.
Yes, kayaking in the Delta does have it's dangers, and it's probably more dangerous that other places. Anyone who tells you otherwise is being worse than dishonest However, you can fall into the Delta and get eaten by a croc or fall into waters in the Everglades and die of hypothermia. One is just a little quicker. Plus, the locals have been paddling these waters in their wooden morkoro (canoe) longer than anyone reading this blog has been alive. So, to be really honest, if you're gonna head out into the wilderness, bush, delta, outdoors, ocean, whatever you call it, you're gonna take a bigger risk than sitting at your local coffee shop, but less of a risk than crossing the street getting there. Live a little. Paddling the Delta was amazing.
 |
| Local on a traditional Mokoro Follow my blog at http://www.squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates. Check out the company where I lead kayaking trips all over the world at adventuresinflorida.com. |
0
I suppose the title and picture says it all here. Although elephants make a lot of big poo, it doesn't really smell too much. There's even a company from Asia making elephant poo products. 100% recyclable!
Follow my blog at http://www.squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates. Check out the company where I lead kayaking trips all over the world at adventuresinflorida.com.
Read more
Big elephants make big......
 |
| Elephant poo |
Follow my blog at http://www.squong.blogspot.com where you can subscribe to receive updates. Check out the company where I lead kayaking trips all over the world at adventuresinflorida.com.
1
My kayaking friends and I got an amazing look at a gray whale who has decided to take a break on its way south in the marina where we paddle. Perhaps he was visiting the dolphins and barking seals who have also recently populated the marina. We were wondering why there's been an increase in sea mammals recently....
Read more
Whale of a tale
My kayaking friends and I got an amazing look at a gray whale who has decided to take a break on its way south in the marina where we paddle. Perhaps he was visiting the dolphins and barking seals who have also recently populated the marina. We were wondering why there's been an increase in sea mammals recently....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
