With the new year barely out of the starting blocks, it’s once again time to select the photos which best represent our travels and nature experiences during 2021, plus a few others that appeal to me for various reasons. Despite the ongoing restrictions brought upon all of us by Covid 19, we still managed to travel fairly extensively, although it was limited to the borders of South Africa.
I’m hoping you will find some of my favourite images to your liking – if you do, please take a moment to mention them in the comments at the end of the post.
The Places
It was a revelation to look back over the year’s images and realise that, in fact, we did manage to travel to many places across South Africa. Our longest road trips were those between the two places we call home – Pretoria and Mossel Bay – and the pendulum seems to have swung in favour of the latter town, where we spent slightly more time than in Pretoria for the first time. My bird atlasing activities were somewhat handicapped this past year by other factors – nevertheless I did get out on atlasing trips on a fairly regular basis, mostly in the vicinity of one of the two home bases
Farmlands, Vleesbaai Area near Mossel BayHillside Farm Trompsburg, Free State – where we spent a night on the trip to Mossel BayOne of the dams in The Glades Estate, (where our Pretoria home is)View of Simon’s Town from Penguin Palace B&BKirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in Cape Town – we never visit Cape Town without a visit to these superb gardensBoulders beach, Simon’s Town, site of the famous African Penguin colonyThe Point from the hill, Mossel BaySunday’s River Mouth, Eastern CapeAddo Elephant National Park, Eastern CapeMountain Zebra National Park, Eastern CapeCroft 3, Verlorenkloof, MpumulangaThe view from Robinson Pass, between Mossel Bay and OudtshoornAbbotsbury Guest Farm, near Graaff-Reinet, Eastern CapeAbandoned cottage, Franschhoek, Western CapeCanola fields, Near Wellington, Western CapeHistoric Kerkstraat in Tulbagh, Western CapeKlein Welmoed Guest Farm, Stellenbosch, Western CapeWest Coast National Park (Postberg section)
The Wildlife
2021 stands out for me as the year we did not visit Kruger National Park – I can’t remember when this last happened! Visits to a couple of the smaller Parks partially made up for this but I’m afraid my selection of wildlife photos is poor by comparison to previous years
Reptiles are interesting creatures and I love it when the opportunity to photograph them at reasonably close quarters arises – here are a few examples – unfortunately I have not got around to positively identifying the first two yet
Probable Plated Lizard of some kind, Gouritzmond AreaProbable Sand Lizard, Mountain Zebra NPPuff adder Bitis arietans (Pofadder), Mountain Zebra NP
The Other Stuff
And the rest – photos that don’t fall into a category but have a certain character that appeals to me
Windmill, Hillside Farm TrompsburgGarden Acraea Butterfly, KirstenboschBeach footprints, Nature’s Valley – where the birds go, I am bound to be not far behindDoorknob selfie, Abbotsbury, Graaff-ReinetWaiting our turn to get the vaccine, Mossel BaySaartjie, our daughter’s Border Terrier, enjoying a mid-winter (gas) fire , Mossel BaySurfer, Mossel Bay PointFlowers in Robinson PassKaroo Lambs, Abbotsbury Guest FarmDragon hooter (horn) on 1911 Lorraine-Dietrich Convertible, Franschhoek Motor MuseumSpring flowers, Cape Columbine Nature Reserve (Tietiesbaai)
On one of our recent outings to The Point, just 10 minutes away from our Mossel Bay home, we spotted a rainbow forming over the sea in the distance.
I snapped a shot while driving (very slowly) and hastened to find a spot to capture the rainbow before it disappeared. It did not have the full bow of a ‘proper’ rainbow but formed an almost vertical column disappearing into the low clouds hanging over the sea – quite unusual.
Once satisfied with the images I noticed a number of surfers in the sea – not unusual as this is a favourite surf spot, but the light was so perfect for photography that I could not resist trying my hand at some “surf’s up” images.
Further on we found a parking spot to enjoy our tea and watch the passing birds – the Cape Cormorants are regulars at the Point and once again the light was still good enough to capture a couple in flight, on their way to their roost somewhere further up the coast.
Mossel Bay, like most coastal towns, has many weather moods, from sunny and bright to overcast and stormy
These photos were taken during one of our regular visits to The Point at the western end of the bay, our favourite place for a take-away coffee which we enjoy while sitting in the car and soaking up the calm that the scene brings to us. It also happens to be a great spot for seabird watching, which is dependent on the prevailing winds, ocean currents and tides as to what may pass by, but that is a subject for another day…
These photos are straight from my iphone without any cropping or editing