Nightjar Travel

07/06/2017

A sunset surf montage to the backdrop of a rising star from South Africa, Jeremy Loops. Watch this striking reminder of the beautiful moments the Western Cape offers.

30/04/2017

South Africa, taken from the ISS, on Freedom Day, 27 April. Thank you Thomas Pesquet !

Hommage à l’Afrique du sud qui fête aujourd’hui le jour de la Liberté et ses premières élections post-apartheid. Le pays était aux premières loges pour nous voir voler alors que nous passions de l’océan Atlantique à l’océan indien https://flic.kr/p/Tagi86

14/03/2017

Spur-winged Goose Foraging

A Spur-winged Goose grazes in a field of spring flowers. Sometimes it is difficult to understand why, in the course of human history, some geese and ducks have been domesticated and others haven't. However, with regards to the Spur-winged Goose, this may be easier to guess. Some of these geese eat toxic bugs known as blister beetles. The toxin doesn't affect the geese but is stored in their tissues and can be poisonous to people that eat them.

11/03/2017

Tortoise Ambling

This tortoise, known locally as the leopard or mountain tortoise, has the Latin name Stigmochelys pardalis. This comes from the Greek words stigma (marked), chelone (tortoise) and pardalis (spotted). Tortoises are reputed to be slow and meditative, but leopard tortoises can move quite fast, climb a little and even float in water. They are combative in mating season, with males ramming and overturning one another and butting females into submission. Anyone who has seen leopard tortoises mating will learn something about stamina.

07/03/2017

Longhorn Beetle

This bug was photographed at Woodcliffe near Maclear in the South Africa's Eastern Cape province. The long antennae of these kinds of insects have prompted people to refer to them as 'longhorn' beetles. However, there are many beetles of this shape, colour and description and not all of them are equally harmless. Many beetles feed on poisonous plants and build up reserves of toxins in their bodies which they can secrete when threatened.

04/03/2017

Leopard Warning

Leopards earned their place in the famed 'Big Five' by being one of the most difficult and dangerous animals to hunt on foot. This is not only because of the fearsome teeth seen in this photograph but also because of their incredible mobility and the eighteen sharp claws with which they capture and lacerate their prey. They are mostly peaceful creatures but can be somewhat unpredictable if cornered, injured or old and hungry.

28/02/2017

Lechwe Herd

A herd of lechwe surge through the waters of the Okavango Delta. These antelope have special adaptions that make watery habitats easier for them to negotiate - providing some protection from predators. Firstly, their legs are covered with a substance that repels water, and secondly, their especially long hindlegs help them to dash quickly through swampy areas. They are grazers and feed on aquatic grasses.

25/02/2017

Wolwedans Scene

The aching blue of the Wolwedans skies are not often disrupted by clouds, but occasional periods of high rainfall are enough to sustain these hardy camelthorn acacias. The inselbergs seen here are one of four habitats typically found in the arid NamibRand Nature Reserve - along with sand dunes and sand and gravel plains. Despite the harsh conditions there are many creatures that thrive here. This image shows one of these - the Sociable Weaver - and there are also fluctuating populations of oryx, springbok, kudu, Hartman's and Burchell's zebra, giraffe, klipspringer, steenbok, hartebeest and baboon.

21/02/2017

Leopard Clambering

A leopard navigates its way down a tree - off to find a cooler resting place to hide from the noonday sun. Once a leopard lies down in a shaded grassy area its camouflage is so good that it's likely to utterly blend into the scenery, hence the anecdotes about tourists who take photographs of themselves in what seems to empty bush - only to discern later the mottled outline of a leopard lurking in the background of the photograph.

18/02/2017

Zebra Peering

A zebra grazing in long grass takes a break to peer curiously at the photographer. When one has been travelling in African national parks for many years, it is easy to become accustomed to the striking looks of the zebra. Occasionally though, it occurs even to the most avid bushwhackers that these animals are right out of the psychedelic 1960s. Of course, the zebra's stripes are a vital survival tactic and play an important role in 'psyching out' predators, who seemingly cannot easily discern one zebra from another when they herd together.

14/02/2017

Cicada

Cicadas are tinnitus in insect form. They are famed for their intense, piercing 'song' which they produce by vibrating the rib-like tymbals on their abdomens. There are about 150 different kinds of cicadas in South Africa and about 2000 worldwide. Cicadas have an unusually long lifespan for an insect - they stay in nymph form for about 13 to 17 years before venturing above ground.

11/02/2017

Oryx

A herd of very healthy-looking oryx trundles across brittle scrubland. These antelope are at home in arid areas and don't need drinking water, surviving on the moisture they find in roots and tubers. Their Latin name is 'oryx gazella' and it is the large dark-chocolate patch on their rumps that makes them very distinct from 'oryx beisa' - the east African species. 'Oryx gazella' are more commonly known in southern Africa as gemsbok. Male gemsbok are huge and may weigh up to 240kg.