South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

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strikedistance
Posts: 37
Joined: July 8th, 2010, 4:39 pm
Location: Redondo Beach

South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

Post by strikedistance »

I will do this one with a little more narrative. PS: Sorry if the pictures have a little blur to them...I think photobucket did something weird with the resolution...
After breakfast three of us were walking back to the cabins and witnessed this. A Schlegel's Beaked Blind Snake (Rhinotyphlops schlegelii). Very cool looking snake that can get up to 1 meter. 3 feet. The digital pattern was amazing and it was a lot bluer than it the picture.
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After some time the trail looked like this. While everyone was photographing the snake. A walkingstick was also found.
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Well we were off to Tembe Elephant preserve. This was a great experience.
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We were also able to herp on the preserve. We didn't find too much but it was fun and I smelled the musk of a mamba.
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Eastern tiger snake (Telescopus semiannulatus semiannulatus)
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Spotted Bush Snake (Philothamnus semivariegatus)
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Herald Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia)
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And my favorite personal find. I'm in love with geckos.
Van's Thicktailed Gecko (Pachydactylus vansonii)
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ID?
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Went to another spot to herp on foot.
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(Argiope australis) Coolest spider. Had awesome designs in their webs and were very strong.
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We had an armed guard.
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Now you always hear those stories where some idiot mistook a worm for a snake. Well they grow em big in Africa.
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Here are the snakes found on the hike. Only one not photographed was an mfezi.
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Then we were off to a cat sanctuary. They had four species of cat.
African Wild Cat
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Caracal
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Cerval
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and Cheetah
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It was also cool to see wild zebra, impala and buffalo roaming the grounds.
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Night time came fast but before we set off to go cruise and frogging I found some cool insects.
African Moon moth (Agrema memosa) like our Luna moth
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and a huge cricket that would beat our Jerusalem Cricket to crap...
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More toads
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I never had a chance to photograph the 30+ species of beautiful reed, chorus, leaf, tree and many other species of frog we found :( but I did photograph this guy.
Banded Rubber Frog. He was very very neon orange when we found him.
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Now this guy was a beauty!!
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Vervet Monkey on my morning walk before breakfast.
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The next day we went to Saint Lucia Estuary for a boat ride. Almost felt like I was in the Everglades.
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After we got back to camp and ate we went off to look for a cool Chameleon after my pleading to go look for lizards as well as snakes lol
Sorry for the horrible photo.
Setaro's Dwarf Chameleon (Bradypodion setaroi) :)
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The next day was a full game drive in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park. What a great experience. We saw both Black and White Rhino but I could only photograph the white. Along with many other mammals
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The next grouping of photos is from our stay at Kosi Bay. Beautiful place.
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Sorry for the lack of info towards the end. I got lazy. I will post a species list including mammals soon. Hope you like the posts and It was a dream come true. I have been wanting to go to Africa for ever and it finally got to happen.
It was great meeting everyone as well.
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Kent VanSooy
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:51 am
Location: Oceanside

Re: South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

Post by Kent VanSooy »

Great stuff Bruce! But some of those inverts are pretty creepy.... :shock:
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Jeff Lemm
Posts: 411
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:08 pm

Re: South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

Post by Jeff Lemm »

Nice work Bruce, makes me miss it. The id for the little legless lizard could be a type of Acontias - looks like a juvie so tough to say
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dery
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Joined: October 1st, 2011, 12:01 pm
Location: huntsville

Re: South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

Post by dery »

Great post, great finds. :beer:
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snakemastermyke
Posts: 108
Joined: July 15th, 2012, 11:07 pm
Location: So Cal
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Re: South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

Post by snakemastermyke »

Nice stuff Bruce, welcome back. Funny to think back to the good ole days on here... looks like you went on that trip with some really dapper individuals. LOL!
bryceman
Posts: 59
Joined: July 25th, 2010, 10:41 am

Re: South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

Post by bryceman »

Great stuff Bruce!! Looks like you had a top notch experience! Love the picture of the chameleon stretched out hugging the branch. Did you guys find the gaboon or was that a captive?!!!
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strikedistance
Posts: 37
Joined: July 8th, 2010, 4:39 pm
Location: Redondo Beach

Re: South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

Post by strikedistance »

Thanks guys. It was an amazing trip. And Myke this awesome guy set up the entire trip. You should meet him :P
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Jared Cain
Posts: 221
Joined: September 18th, 2012, 7:39 pm
Location: FL/WV

Re: South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

Post by Jared Cain »

Both threads are epic! What a blast it looks like. Bradypodion setaroi is one of my favorite Dwarf Chameleons. They arent the most colorful of the dwarfs but they have a really cool and odd shape to their heads.
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Roki
Posts: 199
Joined: January 23rd, 2012, 10:08 am
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: South Africa 2013!!! Part 2 of 2

Post by Roki »

Incredible post! What an awesome trip. You make me want to get down there.
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