Category: Nature

 

I love experiencing the great outdoors and sharing my photos and stories.

PhotoPOSTcard: Seeing to Infinity and Beyond in Big Bend

Big Bend National Park is not just a beautifully scenic park in the traditional sense with the Rio Grande cutting grand canyons through the desert landscape. The area is also designated an International Dark Sky Park with one of the best, biggest and darkest night skies in the lower 48 states of the US. On a cloudless night during my recent visit, I was able to clearly see the milky way arc from horizon to horizon. Such an amazing sight for someone who lives on the East Coast of the US where I can barely see the big dipper.

Thanks for visiting

Rose

Please note that my visit to the Big Bend area was hosted by Visit Big Bend but all content is my own.

 

PhotoPOSTcard: A Perfect Big Bend Sunset Windows View

One of the easiest and most rewarding trails in Big Bend National Park is the 0.3 mile Windows View Nature trail.  The best and most popular time to walk this easy trail is at sunset – and you can see why. Benches along the paved walkway let you sit and enjoy mother nature’s show.  In this photo, I’ve included a silhouetted of one of the many desert plants in the park, a common sotol with its  mound of spiky leaves and its tall flower stalk.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

Please note that my visit to the Big Bend area was hosted by Visit Big Bend but all content is my own.

 

This is Africa Beyond the Big 5 – The African Safari Animals in Kenya and Tanzania

An African safari should be more than just seeing the BIG 5. The extent of the animal diversity in this part of the planet was amazing. This photo essay shares the great 55 African safari animals that I saw in the many parks I visited on my first Kenya and Tanzania safari adventure.

Continue reading “This is Africa Beyond the Big 5 – The African Safari Animals in Kenya and Tanzania”

PhotoPOSTcard: A Baobab Sunset

We were treated to a spectacular sunset on our last evening on safari in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park. One of the things that made this park unique from the others we had visited was not the animal life, but rather, the plant life – the baobab trees to be specific. The distinctly wide and bulbous shaped tree trunk stores water for the tree so that it can survive drought conditions, thereby its other name “Tree of Life”.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

PhotoPOSTcard: Yes – It’s Hippo Porn

Sex in the jungle. Can’t say I really ever thought much about how hippos procreate – that is, until I saw it happen in the Ngrongoro crater in Tanzania. Hippos are mammals, but spend most of their time in the water so it seems natural that mating should occur there as well. This large group of hippos was hanging out in this, muddy, smelly, swampy watering hole, mostly submerged. All of a sudden, a big male lifted himself up, dragged himself on top of the nearby female, and grunted there for a few minutes, with the smaller female trying to keep her head above water the whole time. Our guide told us that the hippos can stay under water for up to six minutes, but that sometimes females can end up drowning during this “romantic” interlude. Eventually the male rolled off back into the murky mess, only to start all over again a few minutes later.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

PhotoPOSTcard: A Nursing Zebra

We saw many zebras throughout our safari in the various East Africa parks, and many baby animals, but this was the first very young zebra that we saw on the whole 10 day trek. Mom waits patiently as he gets his fill nursing. This was inside the Ngorongoro crater, where the animals do not migrate and have to make do with whatever food is available year round.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

PhotoPOSTcard: No Privacy in the Savanna

It’s World Lion Day today, so I have to share another lion photo from our African safari – this time in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This mating lion couple had gone off quite a distance from the rest of the pride to….well….mate. They were a couple of hundred yards away from the road, and even at that distance it was easy to see how much bigger the male was than his female companion. The lighter colored female blends into the surrounding grass well which makes hunting easier for her. The much darker and bigger male is an imposing sight for his job of protecting the pride.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

PhotoPOSTcard: Survival of the Toughest

As we continued our drive through the Serengeti, we came across a group of vultures and a group of black backed jackals fighting over a fresh kill. In this photo, the vulture intimidates with his large wingspan while the jackal returns the threat with teeth bared. In the end, the jackals  won this round and were able to run off with their dinner.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

PhotoPOSTcard: Here Kitty Kitty

Our game drive leaving the Serengeti National Park passed through Cheetah country. Once again, we were fortunate to see this beautiful cat, and to have a close encounter with this elegant creature. Actually, it ended up being a very, very close encounter. At one point, this cheetah climbed onto the spare tire on the back of our Land Cruiser. Since the top was up, she could just as easily have tried to climb into the car. But fortunately for us, she just continued on her way. With every step, you could see her grace and power. So beautiful.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

PhotoPOSTcard: Our Special Leopard Sightings

Our game drive day in Tanzania’s Serengeti was capped off with a third leopard sighting. Most people count themselves fortunate to see just one leopard. But with luck and an extremely skilled and sharp eyed guide, we caught sight of three separate leopards as they rested in the crook of a tree. Seeing them definitely required sharp eyes and a knowledge of their preferred habitat because they blended in so well with their environment. Driving by a tree, I would easily have assumed that I was seeing a hanging branch and not the tail of a big cat. It was definitely the highlight of our day and one of the many incredible highlights of the whole trip.

Thanks for visiting

Rose