Skywatch Friday - Zebra crossing

This is what one can call a "zebra crossing" against a perfectly bleak sky. This shot as taken at Vukani Loop in the Addo Elephant National Park.

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City lights

The Port Elizabeth beach front at night. Conditions were perfect for night photography, a full moon, no wind and a spring low tide.

Cape Buffalo

The buffalo were grazing very conentedly on the side of the road, competing with each other as they looked for the best patches grass.  For us this was great as it provided some good photo opportunities. There was the occassional "moo," not as strident as the bellow of cattle but a low, gentle almost imperceptable sound that belied their size.

The peaceful mood was suddenly disrupted by a loud scuffle, as these two buffaloes somehow got entangled. The one with its nose pressed in the dirt was trying frantically to lift its head, while the other one was intent on pushing its head down, so that it could move off. It was an interesting tussle, almost like a yo-yo going up and down, but they eventually extricated themselves and resumed their grazing as though nothing had happened.

New life - Cape Buffalo

For a long time the buffalo herds have eluded us, when we did see them they were in the distance, or quickly retreated into the dense bush. We have often come acoss a mean and manky looking old lone bull on the side of the road, who would fix a beady eye on us as if to say, get out the car and let me show you what I am capable of.

Well finally our luck changed when we met a herd with a good sprinkling of calves that were willing to let us photograph them. It was almost like watching a herd of cattle grazing. It was a delight to watch this calf as she pranced along beside her mother, as they headed into the wide open spaces.

New life - Elephant

There are a lot of new elephant calves in Addo at the moment. This one cannot be more than a few days old.

I always find it so amazing how protective the herd is of its calves - it is not only the mothers who takes care of the little ones, but there is always a group of willing helpers. They can often be seen protectively surrounding a little one in open spaces, or gently drawing one back when it tries to leave the safety of the herd.