Mom and baby baboon in Kruger National Park, South Africa
One of my favourite animals to watch in the wild are monkeys. I especially enjoy seeing the dynamics within a troop of baboons and I hold a special place for moms and babies.
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South Africa
Trees in Kruger National Park, South Africa
One of my favourite things about the Kruger National Park is the diversity, in animals and landscapes. You can go from finding leopards in the thick bush where they like to hide to finding cheetah in open plains where they like to roam.
Karula a female leopard in South Africa
Meet Karula, the ‘Queen of Djuma’
In May 2015, I spent a night at Elephant Plains Game Lodge in the northern Sabi Sands. I was fortunate to see the female leopard known as Karula during both game drives.
My favourite encounter with Karula happened when we came across her and Tingana (a dominant male leopard in Djuma Game Reserve) on the morning drive. They were on the move. but stopped to mate. We spent 45 minutes following them through the bush.
She was a well-loved leopard in Sabi Sands but sadly, she disappeared without a trace and is assumed to be dead. Those mating sessions I witnessed did not result in cubs for Karula, but in February 2016 she had 2 cubs. They were named Hosana (male leopard) and Xongile (female leopard). Hosana still traverses the Sabi Sands. Sadly, Xongile disappeared without a trace just like her mother.
Photographing Karula
I was able to photograph Karula several times during those sightings, but my favourite moment and photo happened when Karula stood on a termite mound. I captured this image the only moment she looked my way. and had mere seconds to catch it. Fortunately, I was ready. This photo of Karula continues to be one of my treasured images as Karula was the leopard that drew me to the species and WildEarth.
WildEarth / safariLIVE
It was an amazing and surreal experience being in Karula’s presence because I have watched her over the years on safariLIVE by Wild Earth. WildEarth streams a live game drive from South Africa 2 times a day every day to their YouTube channel.
In November/December 2018 I had the opportunity to visit and live with the safariLIVE / WildEarth team and crew for 10 days. You can read about my experience on the WildEarth blog here.
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A giraffe silhouette in South Africa
In May 2015, I spent a few days in the incredible Kruger National Park and captured this giraffe silhouette. It was my last sunset in the South African bush that trip and a shot I had envisioned for a long time.
A Sangoma ceremony in South Africa
It was a weekend of celebration and amaXhosa culture at a Sangoma ceremony. Sangomas are traditional healers in South Africa and are highly revered in their communities. In May 2015, I had the honour of attending a friend’s graduation ceremony at her family home in a small village in the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape. A weekend I won’t soon forget.
Elephant Crossing, Kruger National Park in South Africa
Elephant crossing.
A common scene in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Kruger is one of Africa’s largest game reserves at nearly 2 million hectares in size. It is 360 kilometres from North to south and 65 kilometres from east to west and extends into 2 provinces, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. It is home to diverse landscapes from the plains where the cheetah roam, to rocks and bushes where the leopard hide. You can self-drive from sunrise up to sunset. It is one of my favourite places in the world.