Hluhluwe/Imfolozi - Photos

[Magic Guarri]

Its cats day for me today

Suddenly he was there in the middle of the day! Imfolozi area



Near Sontuli Loop we met a pride of lions and this lioness tried to catch a zebra! That was awesome for us to watch but lucky for the zebra that the lioness didn´t really was hungry

[norms]

.............The fight for survival had begun. The Lioness launched herself onto the Buffalo's back -



She had a grip and tried to sink her teeth into the Buffalo's neck - The bleating sounds of the Buffalo will stay with me forever -



The Lioness was getting the Buffalo into deeper water - The fight was on -





My heart was pounding, adrenalin was pumping and I kept my finger pressed on the shutter button ..............

[norms]

The battle continued .......... This Buffalo was not going to go down without a fight -



The Lioness sank her teeth into the Buffalo's neck



The Buffalo gained the upper hand and shook the Lioness off



But she was not going down without a fight. She lashed out with her front leg and gripped the Buffalo



Now it was the Buffalo's turn to have a go at the Lioness - He positioned those horns and went for her



The Lioness realised that she was in danger of getting injured and tried to flee



I'm out of here she decided - This Buffalo was not ready to die



She thought a hasty retreat would be the right thing to do. The Buffalo gave chase



The Lioness made it safely to the bank, turned around and stared at the Buffalo. She then turned and headed off into the bushes and disappeared from sight. The Buffalo waited a while and then ran off in search of his two companions.



This had to be one of my sightings of a lifetme. We were truly privileged to have witnessed this battle between predator and prey.

[Mel]

We were 2009 two days in Hluhluwe and had some very good rhino and elephant sightings. But the ellies were very aggressive in this part of the park....

[Mel]

We made a morning drive with a guide from the lodge and he told us that the ellies are so agressive because there was much hunting and poaching the years ago. 5 Minutes later the birg herd crossed the road and went totally crazy as they found something in the bush

[Mel]

OK I've made this one smaller:

[Mel]

Thanks Sprocky. I wrestled with the size a bit, but I think I've got it right now. Here are a couple more:

Waterbuck



The Wild Pear Dombeya rotundifolia was out - pink and white, all the way down the road from Hilltops to the plains.A stunning sight in August.

[Mel]

Thanks Lisbeth, iNlovu and Nan

here are some birds from another visit:

Female Common Fiscal




Crowned Eagle




Brown-hooded Kingfisher




Bateleur. There were two of these magnificent birds wading around in the water of the Nzimane river for about twenty minutes. Ten then came out onto the sandy area alongside the river which was pockmarked by pools and stood on the edge of several of these apparently regarding their own reflections with the greatest of interest. (maybe fishing for something? Do they ever do that?). Then a rather noisy vehicle came along and frightened them off.




One of my favourite views, taken near Hilltops camp:

[Mel]

Here are a few pics from last year's visit to Umfolozi. The first is of the view from Mpila camp.





Zebra - close-up and personal





Now I need to check if this works .

Well ,this was not the size I intended, but if you click on them, you will see a bigger pic. Will have to work on this.

[Mel]

Thanks for the welcome back!

White Rhino



Early morning Impala



Warthog