Scrub Hare #441

Daily painting  #441 pen, ink and watercolour postcard for the postcard art group NFS

The night drive last night was absolutely fantastic!! We had a Zulu game ranger who entertained us with some of his cultures traditional ideas and he had an incredible knowledge of the bush veld and the animals. I know this southern part of the Kruger so well and know every little dirt road but entering the bush at night is such a completely disorientating experience. The intense darkness is almost indescribable other than to say it is claustrophobic as ones eyes just do not adjust at all....the pitch black seems to envelope you and every little sound seems magnified! As one sense is rendered useless, the other senses become intensified so sound and smell overwhelm you!
We shared the vehicle with some American tourists who were visiting South Africa and on their first Safari and first night ride experience. It was great to see their delight in every animal they saw (even Impala), we get so used to seeing some animals that we take seeing them for granted. It was interesting to see hippo feeding at night so far away from the water...they are actually South Africa's most dangerous animals in that they have killed more people per year than any other animal....and they are herbivores...herbivores with a quick temper! We saw prickly porcupines with their quills hanging at all angles like they are having a bad hair day. We saw civet, genet, white tailed mongoose and a range of other nocturnal animals. Sadly we didn't come across a pride of lions lying in the road...they often lie on the road at night because the surface of the road retains some of the heat from the day, and sadly no jackal or wild dog but we did come across 2 packs of hyena! One pack was stalking along the road looking really creepy at night and the second pack were scuttling around an area at the edge of the road in a dip. The ranger told us they had a den on the side of the road and one of the females had just given birth to a litter of pups so they were probably guarding the den. I didn't need any convincing to steer clear. We saw so much and I won't bore you by telling you about each one but I do want to share with you the little Scrub Hare.
It is a common hare and breeds abundantly in the bush as it is very often on the dinner menu of a
large variety of predators. However in an attempt to fend off predators the hare has been blessed with speed and the habit of running in a zig zag pattern to try slow down its larger predators. It has not however been blessed with any cleverness or cunning and last night we landed up with one in front of the Land rover and he clearly thought he was being chased by the largest predator ever! Rather than moving out of the road and into the bush (the vehicle was moving very slowly) it proceeded to hop in front of us in a crazy zig zag pattern thinking it could throw this huge predator off. The rangers top priority is to ensure that all the animals are safe...no shining spot lights directly into their eyes or scaring them for example, so he decided to cut the front vehicle lights and spot lights off. He thought this might scare the Hare less and it would hopefully move off the road and into the bush. The rangers other priority is obviously to keep all of his passengers safe so when he cut the lights to the bellows of one of the American tourists (who was clearly also experiencing the 'bush darkness' for the first time) he almost lost a couple of passengers from sheer fright! He thought better of it (a heart attack in the bush at night at least an hour away from civilization is not a good idea) and he quickly put the lights back on, to the relief of many! We waited for the Hare to move off which of course it did but as I said yesterday the bush teaches you patience...and a whole new respect for the dark! What a hive of activity there is at night, no wonder in the heat of the day most animals are sleeping off the bush party from the night before!
We arrived home at about 11.30 pm with 2 very tired but happy children so today has been a restful day. A chance in the heat of the day to sleep off our bush adventures from the night before.

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Tree squirrel #440

Daily painting #440 pen, ink and watercolour postcard for the postcard art group 

These skittish little creatures always give us a giggle when we see them. They scurry about like the White Rabbit in Alice and Wonderland like they are "late...late for a very important date"!! They live in hollows in trees. They live in large groups for greater protection and secrete a particular scent which they cover their living area with and rub over the tail and bodies of those they live with so that they can be easily identifiable as all having a similar scent. They are very territorial and won't tolerate any other squirrels coming into their living space who don't carry their familiar scent. I am so glad I don't have to share the same body scent as my husband and son when they have playing sport....I think I would also scurry around like I was mad! 

Jokes aside....I am actually writing this post but unable to send it. After the storm the other night I have had a really weak data connection on my laptop and as soon as I try to do anything with images the connection crashes....it is also taking ages for me to even access my blog! I haven't as yet even loaded yesterday's blogpost because it simply won't allow me to! Very frustrating but then maybe I shouldn't have the distractions of electronics with me in the bush! That being said I do love to share my experiences with you, especially some of you who have maybe never visited South Africa. I hope I can share just a little of our beauty....South Africa does not always get the best press publicity but nothing can beat this little piece of heaven on earth ....the African bush! If you have never experienced it....I hope that one day you might and if not I hope you enjoy hearing about it from me....if only I can receive a strong enough data signal ....!!! If there is one thing being in the bush teaches you it is patience ....maybe tomorrow I will be able to share! (Holding thumbs!!!!)

We are off on a night drive tonight in the bush. At night one is only allowed to travel around under the guidance of  a game ranger. Night being the time when many predators hunt and the animals vision being far superior to ours at night, it is only safe to travel with a ranger. The dark is so incredibly dark it is almost claustrophobic but with a search light the rangers guide you and hopefully find some nocturnal animals .....too excited for words!!!! (Hang on I seem to have used a lot of those....more tomorrow)

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Blue headed lizard #439

Daily painting #439 pen, ink and watercolour postcards for the postcard art group NFS

I had to be a brave girl today....we saw LOTS of reptiles! Not my favourite creatures but probably because I have a totally irrational fear of snakes!! It is summer time so of course the reptiles are out of hibernation and enjoying the summer heat more than most of us! We saw so many Tree Igamas (more commonly known as blue headed lizards). The mating male has a brilliant blue head and is actually quite a beautiful chap (if I can view him from a distance). We saw a bright green snake considerably bigger than what I thought a Green Tree Snake is, so we are still debating whether it could have been a Green Mamba. I took a photo so once I have downloaded it and we can see it again, the family debate can continue...quite frankly any snake is dangerous to me and should be kept as far away as possible but that is only because I am totally ignorant when it comes to identifying them and whether they are potentially poisonous....and of course I have mentioned my totally irrational fear at the mere sight of them!!! It sends an adrenalin rush bolting through my body, my legs seem to turn to jelly and I feel like I am gasping for air!!! Silly I know and not so cool when you actually enjoy being in the bush because there are LOTS of snakes! We also saw at least 4 Water Monitors (lizards that can grown almost a meter in length) and my son was the spotting champ today, he spotted a Chameleon camouflaged in the grass alongside the road....not an easy thing to spot! We saw plenty of elephant, giraffe, buck, buffalo and the usual game but the absolute highlight of the day was finding a Cheetah female with three cubs. We followed her for about 20min watching the cubs play as she walked slowly through the grass. If they strolled off too far from her, she would stop and call them back and they would immediately come bounding over. As she moved in closer to the road my husband cut the engine of the car so that we did not frighten her or her cubs off. To our delight she strolled onto the road in front of us with her cubs as they played and rolled over one another, she then slowly moved off in the opposite direction. As her and her fluffy cubs drifted off into the surrounding bush we absorbed the silence, car engine still off, in absolute disbelief at how fortunate we had been and grateful that she had showed off her babies so generously to us! It is moments like this that will always pull at me, making me long for these adventures! 

Apologies for the really poor quality photo, my husband took it on his phone and I have not yet downloaded any photos from my camera, so this will have to do for now...pity he didn't get the cubs in who were playing just behind her....beautiful beyond words!

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Masked Weaver #438

Daily painting #438 pen, ink and watercolor postcard for the post card art group.

After 2 long days in the car, we decided to spend a restful day at home today. Home being our temporary abode, a rustic thatched house right on the border of the Kruger National Park overlooking the reserve and the Crocodile River. An abundance of wildlife wonders freely around like a huge assortment of buck, wildebeest, giraffe warthog, zebra etc. About the only things you won't find in our back garden are the more dangerous cats, elephant, hippo and rhino. Although all that separates us from Kruger is a fence so one always has to be cautious, on your guard and particularly careful at night. A fence will certainly not keep leopard out! We filled the bird feeders in the garden (you know how much I love birds!!!) and spent most of the cooler morning watching and waiting. The bird life here is fantastic but today I decided to share a little masked weaver with you. They are quite common and we do get them at home but I love the mating males dramatic colour! You will be forgiven for wondering why he appears to have a large green foot...well lets just say I had to create some impromptu foliage when I opened my ink pen and it splattered over my completed painting!!!! Grrrr...but such is daily painting, anything can happen and I wasn't going to start again!

As I painted I watched a hippo lumbering out of the water in the Crocodile River, a rather large lizard sunning himself rather close for comfort (reptiles are my least favorite) and some zebra were grazing the grass really close to the house....my studio couldn't get much better than that!

In my studio....

The heat of the day ended with a magnificent African thunder storm which seemed to roll in over the bush veld. We watched the lightening and heard the thunder and felt the gentle breeze which started to rustle every tree as the storm crept closer over the very dry Crocodile River...
You can see an image I loaded on Instagram by clicking here.

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Leopard tortoise #437

Daily painting #437 pen, ink and watercolor postcard for the postcard art group

What an amazing day! We were so spoilt! By 9.30am we had spotted the African Big 5...elephant, rhino, leopard, buffalo and lion! They were good sightings within meters of our vehicle! 

The herd of elephant were a huge herd and the matriarch was not so happy we had stumbled upon them. She kept a wary eye on us until her whole herd had moved off and my husband kept the vehicle in reverse and at a safe distance in case she decided to charge! Little babies only a few days old were tucked under their mummies tummies. In all my visits to the bush I don't think I have ever seen such young baby elephant and I thank the matriarch for being so protective. I have such huge respect for these amazing animals and their sense of family is something many could learn from! 

We tracked 3 huge rhino from the bushes down to the river in the mid day heat. In all we had 6 rhino sightings in different places which is good news considering we were told only 2 days ago a new born rhino had to be airlifted by game rangers from her mother who was found dead with her horn missing, such news infuriates me beyond measure! I wish I could share all the beautiful photos I took with you...I wish I share not only the beauty of the bush but the smells and the sounds and the incredible sense of peace one feels when you are sitting quietly just taking it all in...if only I could share it all!

But today I share a little leopard turtle which will be posted off to the postcard art group. The little leopard turtle is part of what we in South Africa call the Little Five game. The little five were so called by conservationists for visitors to also acknowledge the smaller - less noticed - but still enigmatic animals of the bush veld in South Africa, rather than always focussing on the Big Five. Each 'little' species is a contradiction in sheer size to the big five animals, but the first part of its English name relates to one of the famous bigger five animals. The little five game are Elephant Shrew (small insect eating mammal with a long nose), Buffalo Weaver (a bird probably the easiest to find), Leopard Tortoise (an endangered species), Lionant or Ant lion (a large species of ant) and the Rhino beetle (so called because of the horn like structure on its head). We were lucky enough to spot Buffalo Weavers and a Leopard turtle on the side of the road yesterday...but the others would be impossible to find from the safety of a vehicle, one would have to be on foot with a game ranger.

We returned to make a fire and cook supper outdoors (for those of you familiar with my blog you will know what joy this gave my husband!) and to enjoy the last of what Africa had to treat us with...a beautiful sunset over the bush! For all the trouble, violence and bad publicity South Africa often receives...tonight I feel privileged! I feel a huge sense of gratitude that my family and I are able to experience this and tonight I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else in the world! My heart is in Africa!

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Dung beetle #436

Daily painting #436 pen, ink and watercolor (for postcard art group)

We have arrived safely at this little piece of heaven on earth! We have spent a large portion of our day in the car today and so finding time to paint was a bit difficult! We have recently had postal strikes in South Africa and this has affected both outgoing and incoming mail. I belong to a postcard art group where we regularly share hand rendered (in any medium) postcard size pieces of art. It is an international group and I am the only South African. This week piles of postcards started arriving much to my delight...they have obviously been held up during the strike. I now have a long list of people who I need to reciprocate to and so I decided to pack my watercolor, pen and ink materials this week in the hopes that I could make some little postcards to send off to the postcard art group. Because I will be spending this week in the bush, a few typically quirky South African images might be fun to send off...
On our arrival this afternoon we backed some celebratory refreshments and went off to have sundowners at the fence bordering the Crocodile River. We saw water buck, hippos, buffalo and 2 large elephant cooling themselves off in the river in the late afternoon heat. My son Ross suddenly shrieked with delight and we all sat upright looking for the source of such excitement thinking he had spotted lion or even better, leopard...but we soon realized he had his face towards the ground and he was following something moving with amazing speed along the ground. He had found to his delight a very large dung beetle rolling along the ground with a neat ball of dung(animal poo). Dung beetles are hugely important for the eco system and are amazing little creatures, they can roll giant balls of elephant dung up to 50 times heavier than themselves.
Tomorrow we are heading off at sunrise into the bush...hope we see some interesting sights. On our top lookout list this holiday is cheetah, wild dog and jackal. There are also lots of babies around with spring just past!
I promise to keep you updated. We have no wifi and my data connection is weak, slow(for loading images) and at times non existent...but I will continue to paint daily (I did pack my oils paints too) and I will have to hold thumbs when it comes to sharing online....

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Planning day #435

Daily painting #435. 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

An early start with the daily painting today. I had to finish off the commissioned paintings of a family farm for a client and have then spent the rest of the day organizing, planning and packing for our trip to the Kruger National park. We are leaving tomorrow morning, Monday, at 4am to get on the road early and make a good start. We will hopefully reach the Swaziland border post early. The trip is about a 9 hour journey by car and we travel through Swaziland, an independent land locked country inside the borders of South Africa. Having to exit South Africa to enter Swaziland and back out to South Africa again is time consuming and while the border posts on the South African side are not too bad, the Swaziland border post is a 3rd world African experience! The roads are also pot-holed and you can share the road with a number of means of transport like tractors and donkeys and even the cattle being herded off to goodness knows where! So we plan to get on the road early and hopefully miss some of the craziness. I can't wait to get to the bush...I love the smells, the sounds and the natural beauty....it's like soul food to fill the soul tank!

I will try to share some pictures via Instagram so you can follow me at www.instagram.com/heidishedlock

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available daily paintings)