SANParks.org Forums

so......................................

i was heading off down the h4-2 towards duke

when i came across..

what seemed to me at the time to be some sort of rehearsal

for a shakespearean tragedy



i arrived just as it had begun and

"the hero was busy dying in the "arms" of the heroine
.
.

.

.


and upon his demise she was to express her sorrow at his passing

and so she began to lament by his side.........."

oh dear !...........
.

.


oh no !!!!
.

.

then she collapsed from fatigue and sorrow by his side........
.

.
.


he looked up as if to say....

"is that it ????????

is that the best that you can do ????????"
.
.

.


then...

it was as though he was reading a script from "terrance and phillip"



or an excerpt from monty python's "i fart in your general direction"


.
.

.
.


he then proceeded to crack up with laughter


.

.

whaahaa haa haaa haaa


.

.

bhuwhaaaaaahaaahaaahaaa

.
.

rolling around in the sand...

with his limbs waving in all directions

in complete mockery of his co-star's thespian talents.....
.
.




so she had to try again .........

as she surely was not a tragedian

and her second attempt was a bit better

if not slightly overdone.......

oh no !!!!!!!!
.

.

oh deary me !!!!!!!!
.

.


oh !!!!!! woe is me !!!!
.

.


oh horror of horrors !!!!!!!!!!
.


.

was that better??? huh???..........
.

so ...............................

i arrived at duke to be greeted by a rather large group of zebra milling about around the water hole.
.
.

.


they were rather skittish

and every now and then a wild kick

and an opportunistic bite would cause a bit of consternation
.
.










.
.
standing still for a group photo....
.

.


i headed back home to see if i could go and drop murphy off and head out again on a luckier route....

i mean........ the sun was shining and now there was very little to photograph

except this snake that seemed to be soaking up the sun, or shuffling off this mortal coil because it never budged despite the kruger morning traffic (any ideas on the identification of the snake?)
.
.

.
.


back on the "black top" i had to stop to witness this pursuit across the road....

i thought it was one of those rutting type pursuits

where the male chases his desired mating target around the savannah .............................





.
.

.
.
the difficulty here is that snails are hermaphrodites ...............

so who is who ???????

or rather, what is what...????

there does have to be coupling and a deposit of sperm needs to happen

for reproduction to occur but who is the recipient and who is the donor ??????

one thing about the snail that is common besides, the gender

is that the shell always twirls to the same right hand direction.....

(reminds me of a cement mixer)
.
.

.


another fascinating thing about the snail is that it breathes through the same orifice that it excretes its body waste from

and that is situated at the front of its body

unlike the african, ..............the african land snail is illegal in the united states of america



i must admit that i felt an affinity with these snails because like me

they only have one foot
.
.

Leachy,

Another stunning episode with exceptional sequence of pics of all.

Zebra pics are all amazing just so beautiful.

WOW Leachy, I have been slack on this one, and just read all 5 pages, and loving it, hilarious and brilliant. Photographs and commentary superb. Just love the sequential photos. Sympathizing with Ermelo-had me in stitches. You had some very special sightings, those lions cubs being the best of all.

LMAO Noel I sincerely hope you laughing in stitches means you too sympathize with my ermelo predicament

LOVE YOUR TR Leachy those ellie pics and commentary is classic

at the ellie operatic drama.

hey trrp-trrrrrrrr

and noel

and sheenaugh-lee

and meandering mouse

thank you for your time taken to comment..

so.........................

i arrived at lower sabie parking area and managed to park in the disability parking under the marula tree at the top of the walkway to the reception and restaurant area.


there was quite a bit of a commotion in the canopy of the marula tree

and after a while.... i managed to get sight of a collard sunbird

trying to appease the hunger pangs of its now rather overgrown and demanding offspring.....

.
.













.
.


the birdbath had a few bathers
.
.

.
.





.
.

Aaawg jitte mommy that is too cute for words leachy

Hi Leachy, i like your version of.......

Quote:

what seemed to me at the time to be some sort of rehearsal for a shakespearean tragedy

Lovely Zebra, Snails and "Bathing" Birdies

thank you sheenaugh-lee ........... "Aaawg jitte"..i see that speak ermelosian as well.......

thanks philip...

so......................................

it has often been said that people living on opposite sides of the rail track

can differ immensely in socio-economic status and therefore in values and behaviour as well...



i witnessed a similar example with two families on either side of the bridge



here is the one family that i encountered on the southern side of the h 10 bridge over the sabie river...

(the south was always rough as a youngster in joeys)

the youngsters had decided it was time to bully one of their siblings by continually ducking him under the water....

a small group managed to get him under so the fattest could climb up on top and keep him down..
.
.




.
.


he manages to get his head up out of the water only to be unceremoniously dumped back under once again...
.
.


.
.


and what always happens during these bullying sessions which causes the most humiliation

is when they start laughing at the poor victim.



as you can see here the one brother seems to be trumpeting with laughter
.
.



.
.


eventually they stop and allow the drenched weakling to get some breathing space......
.
.

.
.


in contrast.........

the family on the northern side (the north was always posh as a youngster in joeys)

was conducting affairs in an almost military manner as they waited in a group at the edge of the water in preparation for a deep level crossing...

notice how orderly the proceedings are followed.... and notice too.... how small some of the members of the family are...

it is rather amazing to see how they all manage across the river

with most of them being totally submerged....... apart from their snorkels....
.
.

Leachy,

Sunbirds feeding pics are very special.

Birds bathing awesome...looks so refreshing, love the water droplets on the pics.

Great sequence of pics of the 2 Ellie tribes .... Just love sitting and watching them when they are in water, looking at all their antics...especially when they trumpet...so..

Ermelosian LOL seriously I thought was speaking afrikaans now I hear its a whole new language besides Ive got to say Im not a true ermeloian I moved here from Tzaneen and that's actually where I learnt to speak the language