Chased by a Baboon & Elephant in Africa~

On December 2, 2023December 2, 2023 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Sunsets, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Wild Life312 Comments

Oliphants River Kruger National Park.

Curious Impala.

I never posted photos of the time I was chased by a baboon in South Africa because they were terrible photos taken in poor light conditions.

It all started peacefully enough, until some people started throwing rocks at the baboons because they were raiding campsites. They were raiding campsites because the same people didn’t properly lock up their food.

We were on a safe raised viewing walkway, behind electrified fencing that looked over The Sabie River in South Africa, as dusk fell, and the situation turned south.

Jim had just walked away. I was snapping a few last sunset shots, when a large furious male baboon, leaped the fence in the tree tops, jumped onto the platform in front of me, and ran directly towards me in a rage.

I moved rapidly backwards, not wanting to turn my back and run, clicking off a few shots as I moved away. A man in an adjacent campsite saw the whole thing and was doing jumping jacks and yelling, trying to distract the baboon. You can almost make him out in the upper right of the photo. I very much appreciated this man!

If the baboon had wanted to kill me, he clearly would have. He was thankfully content to raise my blood pressure and chase me away.

We also got charged by a furious male elephant on a prior trip when our game driver pointlessly harrassed him. If you look closely at the photo, you will see a male elephant in musk. He should have been left alone. We had to jump out of the range rover, face the elephant, while the ranger drew his rifle and prepared to shoot, causing the elephant to stop his charge.

Wise elephant. Unwise human.

We have luckily never encountered any similar problems when self driving on our two trips to South Africa most likely because we always respect wild animal’s space. We spent more than an hour waiting at a reasonable distance in our car, while we respected these guy’s space. It was awesome experience and they seemed to appreciate our restraint.

The moral of this story, don’t harrass wild animals, they are bigger and stronger than you.

Cheers to you from the civilized wild ones~

Two heads~

On January 17, 2021January 17, 2021 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Wild Life208 Comments

Giraffes know that two heads,

work better than one.

You can look two ways at the same time,

and one head can prod another along!

Three heads are even better than two,

but prone to disagree about directions.

Compromise must be worked out.

Four heads can be confusing,

but giraffes will usually agree.

I wonder, why can’t we?

Cheers to you for the cooperative giraffes of Kruger National Park.

(Note: This is a reworked post from photos taken in 2015.)

Big Gulps~

On September 29, 2020August 20, 2021 By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS196 Comments

Hungry gull,

in Coeur d’Alene Idaho,

doesn’t believe in catch and release,

and never feels too full to fly!

Yellow billed stork in Kruger National Park catches catfish at Sunset Dam,

and needs a leg up to swallow it whole!

Cheers to you from your feast & fly feathered fowl friends~

Izilwane Zasendle~

On June 24, 2015June 26, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, TRAVEL REVIEWS215 Comments

This Zulu phrase means wild animals. There are about 12,000 white, and 627 black rhinos in Kruger National Park. This one is looking at you for protection!

Leopards in Kruger are rare and rarely seen.

We were very lucky to see this one! The Kruger population is estimated at approximately 1000, although they are hard to count, because they are hard to find.

1,700 lions are thought to live in Kruger.

There are about 37,000 cape buffalo, and yes this one is sleeping. They do that a lot in water holes!

There are only around 300 nyala. This is a male and two females. Quite a sighting of beautiful, shy, creatures! (Late addition: My blogging friend Quiall, see comments, found a baby nyala’s legs in this photo that I didn’t see. Count the legs and you’ll find the baby!)

2000 warthogs,

5000 waterbuck,

over 127,000 impala,

and more than 8,000 kudu call Kruger home. A trip to Kruger is an incredible experience and aids the park’s impressive wildlife conservation efforts.
Estimates, calculated between 2008 and 2009. Read more about Kruger’s animals and conservation efforts at: http://www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com/visitsa/1825-240610-kruger-park#ixzz3duwscq1H
Cheers to you from Kruger’s spectacular izilwane zasendle~