African Nature Explorer & Cultural Safaris

10/07/2018

28/03/2018

They frquently marshers feeding by forming a canopy with the wings shading the water surface attracting the prey in a shade
BLACK HERON (egretta ardesica)

21/11/2017

King of the Jungle

23/10/2017

22/10/2017

The leopard may not be the biggest, but it is the strongest climber of the big cats in Africa. Known for their power and grace leopards are stealthy nocturnal predators with excellent night vision.

21/10/2017

The buffalo have a symbiotic relationship with many African birds such as the Oxpecker. They are often found eating bothersome bugs off the buffalo and will also warn the buffalo when danger is near.

24/09/2017

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Weighing approximately three tons is the Common Hippo. It is the larger of two remaining species of Hippos in the world. From the early times of Egyptian writings, the Hippo has been considered a symbol of strength and fertility in their culture. The fact that the Hippo is so protective of her young is something that they highly respected.
There is plenty of aggression to go around with the Common Hippo herds. They may be very small with just a few members or quite large. Typically, the small herds are the result of a male that recently left a larger herd to start his own. When they are a bachelor male in a herd they don’t get to mate. That is often a desire they have and so they venture off to find a place where they can do so.
The males of a herd often fight among themselves for either mating rights or for space in the water. They are extremely territorial in the water but not when they are on land. In the water they will urinate and defecate in large circles. This is done to show others that the area is theirs and they don’t intend to share it.
They are very vocal animals and use a variety of sounds to communicate with others in their herd. The females and the males stay separated from each other as much as possible. The females with young tend to form sub groups and are even known to help watch out for each other’s young when necessary.
The Common Hippo has a huge appetite so it needs to find lots to consume every night. It can spend about five hours foraging for foods. It will eat a variety of types of plants out there. The average full grown adult will easily consume 150 pounds of food daily. They are well known to ruin large amounts of crops that the African villagers have in place for their own survival.
For the Common Hippo, they can mate any time of the year. You will find that it is more common during the dry seasons. Only the lead male of the herd is able to mate with the females. When they are in estrus they will give off a very strong scent that attracts that male. The mating as well as the birth of the baby Common Hippo will all go on while they are in the water.
It takes about 8 months after conception for the baby to be born. They can weigh from 60 to 100 pounds at birth. A combination of milk from their mother as well as eating plants around two months of age is their diet. The Common Hippo is a great mother and will do all she can to protect her young. When she is in the water it is with her and on land it may be suckling as she moves along to find her own food.

23/09/2017

A Marabou Stork arriving at its roost tree Serengeti National Park
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22/09/2017

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The Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) is a large member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae) found throughout much of Africa, but is absent from the west, where it is replaced by Varanus stellatus. Other common names include the African small-grain lizard, water leguaan or river leguaan (leguan, leguaan, and likkewaan mean monitor lizard in South African English.
Nile monitors can grow to about 120 to 220 cm (3 ft 11 in to 7 ft 3 in) in length, with the largest specimens attaining 244 cm (8 ft). In an average-sized specimen, the snout-to-vent length will be around 50 cm (1 ft 8 in). In body mass, adults have been reported to vary widely, one study claiming only 0.8 to 1.7 kg (1.8 to 3.7 lb), others state weights ranging from 5.9 to 15 kg (13 to 33 lb) in big monitors. Variations may be due to age or environmental conditions. Exceptionally large specimens may scale as much as 20 kg (44 lb), but this species weighs somewhat less on average than the bulkier rock monitor. They have muscular bodies, strong legs, and powerful jaws. Their teeth are sharp and pointed in juvenile animals and become blunt and peg-like in adults. They also possess sharp claws used for climbing, digging, defense, or tearing at their prey. Like all monitors, they have forked tongues, with highly developed olfactory properties. The Nile monitor has quite striking, but variable, skin patterns, as they are greyish-brown above with greenish-yellow barring on the tail and large, greenish-yellow rosette-like spots on their backs with a blackish tiny spot in the middle. Their throats and undersides are an ochre-yellow to a creamy-yellow, often with faint barring.
Their nostrils are placed high on their snouts, indicating these animals are highly aquatic. They are also excellent climbers and quick runners on land. Nile monitors feed on fish, snails, frogs, crocodile eggs and young, snakes, birds, small mammals, insects, and carrion. They are also the second largest reptile in the Nile river.
Nile monitors are native to Africa and the species is distributed throughout the entire central and southern regions of the continent, including Sudan and a portion of central Egypt along the Nile river. They are not found in any of the desert regions of Africa, however, as they thrive around rivers.

22/09/2017

One of the biggest bird on earth, it is capable of running upto 70 kilometers per hour, weighing about 150 Kg's (300lbs). It's only native in Africa. They have no ability to fly since they lack a bone called carina which joins to the fore limbs flexible for flight.
Since they are adapted to live in open grass land where there is a direct sun, they lack plumages on their neck, and thighs to regulate body temperature or for cooling mechanism.

16/09/2017

It lives in semideserts and can often be seen in the heat of the day basking on rocks or kopjes. The male's head, neck, and shoulders are bright red or violet, while the body is dark blue. The female is mostly brown and is difficult to distinguish from female agamas of other species. This lizard is often confused with the red-headed rock agama (Agama agama).

They use nodding of their head sometimes to alert others that they are the owner of the territory, their colors help them during mating season as the one that is more colorful do the mating.

16/09/2017

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The African buffalo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild water buffalo of Asia and its ancestry remains unclear. Syncerus caffer caffer, the Cape buffalo, is the typical subspecies, and the largest one, found in South and East Africa. The adult buffalo's horns are its characteristic feature; they have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield across the top of the head referred to as a "boss". They are widely regarded as very dangerous animals, as they gore and kill over 200 people every year.
The African buffalo is not an ancestor of domestic cattle and is only distantly related to other larger bovines. Owing to its unpredictable nature, which makes it highly dangerous to humans, the African buffalo has never been domesticated, unlike its Asian counterpart, the water buffalo. Other than humans, African Cape buffaloes have few predators aside from lions and large crocodiles, and are capable of defending themselves. Being a member of the big five game, the Cape buffalo is a sought-after trophy in hunting.