Well, I’m back from the most fabulous experience. I learned such a lot about African wildlife and birds, and that was down to our lovely guides – mostly Ali and Simon. They are both English, and are now loving life in the bush. I’ve always been fascinated by people who ‘up sticks’ and do something … More 3 months at Thanda – done!
One of our duties at Thanda was to help out with conservation there and in the community. I’ve cleared chromolaena, an alien plant that smothers all other plants, litter picked along the road that runs through the reserve, and pulled up onions from the garden in one of the communities that we have a relationship … More Conservation
Well today has been a ‘once in a lifetime’ day! African Impact were involved in a Community Day, which was a bit like one of our Eistedfodds but with extremely loud music, (think rock concert level) a hall packed with about 800 people, and vaguely organised chaos! On our way up to the community (the … More Community Day
Last month I had 6 photographers on the project, and on our very first game drive we had a wonderful sighting of a lone impala at the brow of a hill. It’s very rare to see impala without assorted grasses, twigs and branches either in front or behind them, making any photographs quite ‘busy’ and … More Last month…..
There are so many trees here at Thanda I decided to dedicate one drive each month to photographing them. Here are my efforts. Clicking on a photo brings it up full size. Below is the fever tree. It has the most beautiful pale green bark and really stand out from the others. It’s called a … More Trees, and more trees
All around me is birdsong. When out on a game drive I often just sit and listen when we have stopped. The lodge is full of little sparrows and swallows and they swoop in and out over our heads, perching on windowsills, lamps, chairs and pecking anything that they can. I often have a little … More Birds
2/3rds of my time here is now over – time has flown by! Damien and Francesca have just spent a week here and I’ve dropped them off for their onward journey to Durban Airport. Another of life’s rich experiences also ticked off this morning – being the only white person in a busy petrol station … More Family time 🙂
Mkuze is another reserve about 45 minutes drive from here. There are some hides there, and we spent a few hours at one of them right over a waterhole. Upon arrival somebody had the bright idea of passing the home baked muffins around before we went into the hide, so we sat munching happily for … More Mkuzi
Dawn! Sunrise is just as amazing as sunset. As summer approaches here we are starting our game drives 30 minutes earlier, so now leave at 5.30 a.m. Getting up at 4.30 has its advantages, and last week we couldn’t go out for a couple of days due to rain. I got up on the third … More The early bird catches the……….
For two days this week we were confined to the lodge and grounds within the electric fence so we had a wander round and attempted macro photography. I don’t have a dedicated macro lens, just a setting on my camera, so I can’t fill my frame with an ant. Here are my shots though.
