Tag: Water

Sheer

Just 13km from Sabie on the R532 road towards Graskop lies Mac Mac Falls, which was named by the Scottish miners who sought their fortune by panning for gold in the 1870s gold rush; they themselves didn’t come up with the name. Apparently, President Thomas Burger was visiting the area in 1873 and was struck by how many of the miners’ names began with “Mac”. On the spot, he named the area Mac Mac – a name that has survived to this day. Mac Mac has twin falls that plunge some 70m into a gorge below. Now a national monument, the waterfall was not always split in two. Gold miners in the area for the gold rush blasted the originally single stream to try and reach the gold-bearing reef over which it drops. Mac Mac tends to revert to one fall during the dry season. Passing the local curio sellers, a steep walk along a cement pathway (with many steps) takes you to the viewing platform. The view platform at the Mac Mac Falls is restricted by palisades, but you still get a great view, just make sure your camera lens points through the palisades.
Info source: http://www.safcol.co.za/what-we-offer/ecotourism/mac-mac-falls/
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The photo was taken during August 2013 at Mac Mac Falls, Sabie, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Sheer

Landscape, Picture of the day, Travel

Basking

The African darter, also known as the snakebird or, slanghals in Afrikaans, is a water-bird that is common throughout sub-Saharan African. It has earned the name snakebird for the way that it swims – it keeps its entire body very low in the water, with only the neck and the head sticking out, giving it the appearance of a swimming snake. The male darter’s body is almost completely glossy black with the exception of the white streaking on the face and body, and the colouration of the neck, which has a warm chestnut hue. The female (like the juvenile birds) is browner than the male with less noticeable white streaks. Both of them have gold-coloured eyes with brown bills. The male’s bill is slightly larger than the female’s. This bill is used to impale fish and is, as a result, strong and sharply pointed. As a water-bird, the African darter can be found around fresh and brackish waters that are surrounded by (or close to) fresh vegetation. Shallow lakes and slow-flowing rivers that are flanked by trees, mangroves and reeds are ideal. They will also be found around swamps, lagoons, and reservoirs, but will avoid marine habitats, generally speaking. They need trees or bushes for their roosting.
Info source: https://www.sa-venues.com/wildlife/birds_african_darter.php
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The photo was taken during September 2017 at Lake Panic Bird Hide, Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Basking

Picture of the day, Wildlife

Unison

With a weight of 6 tons and a height that can reach 3.3 m to the shoulder, the elephant is the largest land animal in the world. Tusks of 90 kg have been recorded, but tusks of older bulls generally weigh 50 to 60 kg. Elephants can live as long as 70 years. With as many as 50 000 muscles, the elephant’s trunk is very sensitive. It is essentially a modified nose, able to detect water underground. Using the finger-like appendages at the tip of the trunk, elephants can pick the smallest flowers and twigs, pick a thorn from their feet and pull out strong reeds or grass. There is a common misunderstanding that the joints between the elephant’s feet and body are its knees. They are, in fact, its wrists. Elephants’ foot bones and hand bones are one and the same and have evolved to suit this four-legged mammal. An elephant’s tusks are actually its upper incisors, growing continuously until the elephant dies at about 60 years of age. They use their tusks for obtaining food, self-defence, and males use it for fighting. An elephant’s skin is about 3 cm thick, although it is rather sensitive. Elephants eat great quantities, and in a day can consume up to 272 kg (600 pounds) of tender shoots, grass and tree bark, drinking up to 200 litres of water in a single session. One elephant deposits about 150 kg (330 pounds) of dung per day, and drops a dollop every 15 minutes.
Info source: http://southafrica.co.za/elephant.html
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The photo was taken during September 2017 at Lake Panic Bird Hide, Kruger National Park Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Unison

Picture of the day, Wildlife