Ndzilo: Fire
Ndzilo: Fire
I remember the time when I took this photograph so well. The family who had joined me on safari wanted to see this leopard, as well as her recently born cub. We toiled, hard, for a few days trying to find the two of them together. This included an afternoon when Jerry and I tracked on foot for an hour, and found her with the cub, but by the time we got back to our guests and brought the vehicle around; they had vanished.
We eventually saw the two of them together; however, in the interim we were lucky enough to have a few sightings of Ndzilo on her own too.
On this morning it was freezing! We were all bundled up, driving around before the sunrise, trying not to move too much and disturb the warm clothes which clung to our bodies.
We found her resting in the middle of a dirt track, curled up trying to stay warm. As the sun rose behind us, and the fiery light began to lick the vegetation around her, she stood up to meet it, and was embraced by first light of the winter's morning.
I remember the time when I took this photograph so well. The family who had joined me on safari wanted to see this leopard, as well as her recently born cub. We toiled, hard, for a few days trying to find the two of them together. This included an afternoon when Jerry and I tracked on foot for an hour, and found her with the cub, but by the time we got back to our guests and brought the vehicle around; they had vanished.
We eventually saw the two of them together; however, in the interim we were lucky enough to have a few sightings of Ndzilo on her own too.
On this morning it was freezing! We were all bundled up, driving around before the sunrise, trying not to move too much and disturb the warm clothes which clung to our bodies.
We found her resting in the middle of a dirt track, curled up trying to stay warm. As the sun rose behind us, and the fiery light began to lick the vegetation around her, she stood up to meet it, and was embraced by first light of the winter's morning.
Overlooking the Sand River
Ndzilo on the Selati
Overlooking the Sand River
The Sand River was the lifeblood of the concession. All animal life depended on the river in some way. We found Ndzilo walking across some granite boulders within the riverbed, followed her for a while.
I captured this photograph as she paused to watch a herd of impala, which were making there way down the opposite bank of the river for a drink. She watched them drink, and then as they turned and began to meander back toward the trees lining the river, she started her approach.
It all happened so quickly: through the reeds, across the river, through the sand, into the next reed bed, and all the while we were struggling to keep up but also to avoid disturbing her and her quarry. All we got was another 20 second pause until she burst through the reeds straight onto an impala lamb. The resounding explosion of snorting signaled that danger was near but it was too late. She had successfully caught her next meal.
I shared this incredible sighting with my good friend, Matt Smith.
The Sand River was the lifeblood of the concession. All animal life depended on the river in some way. We found Ndzilo walking across some granite boulders within the riverbed, followed her for a while.
I captured this photograph as she paused to watch a herd of impala, which were making there way down the opposite bank of the river for a drink. She watched them drink, and then as they turned and began to meander back toward the trees lining the river, she started her approach.
It all happened so quickly: through the reeds, across the river, through the sand, into the next reed bed, and all the while we were struggling to keep up but also to avoid disturbing her and her quarry. All we got was another 20 second pause until she burst through the reeds straight onto an impala lamb. The resounding explosion of snorting signaled that danger was near but it was too late. She had successfully caught her next meal.
I shared this incredible sighting with my good friend, Matt Smith.
On the Selati
The Selati Railway line is a permanent historical feature on the concession. Completed in 1912, the Selati Railway connected Pretoria, Komatipoort and the gold fields near Tzaneen, and the line ran straight through the Sabi Game Reserve (as it was then known). It was finally decommissioned in the 1970s and the tracks lifted. Vestiges of the once great railway line still remain though, in the form of a bed of dark rocks which snakes through the reserve.
It's hard not be a little romantic about seeing wildlife crossing the old railway line as if there is nothing there.
In the end, nature reclaims everything.
The Selati Railway line is a permanent historical feature on the concession. Completed in 1912, the Selati Railway connected Pretoria, Komatipoort and the gold fields near Tzaneen, and the line ran straight through the Sabi Game Reserve (as it was then known). It was finally decommissioned in the 1970s and the tracks lifted. Vestiges of the once great railway line still remain though, in the form of a bed of dark rocks which snakes through the reserve.
It's hard not be a little romantic about seeing wildlife crossing the old railway line as if there is nothing there.
In the end, nature reclaims everything.