Cradle of Humankind SA - Part 3

These were behind glass and I had to use the camera's flash - please excuse the glare of it in the photographs.
Our world was born in a ball of burning gas 4.6-billion years ago, in a universe that is about 14-billion years old. Over time it cooled, the early atmosphere formed, and the first land masses appeared.

The first life forms, which were like the black algae you sometimes see in swimming pools today, emerged about 3.8-billion years ago.

The history of life on Earth has been rocked by five major extinctions. The last great extinction was 65-million years ago, when the dinosaurs were wiped out, probably after a giant meteor slammed into the Earth off the coast of Mexico, and set off volcanic eruptions all over the world, changing the global climate. Today, some scientists say we are in the midst of the sixth major extinction – and its cause is us.

We know about species which have populated our Earth before us by studying fossils. Fossils are the remains of plants or animals which have been turned into stone over a long period of time in a process known as “mineralisation”.

Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, was one of the first people to express a theory of evolution – the idea that species change over time, as they adapt to changing environments.

SA Diversity Tour (11-15/03/2014) Day 55-59

 Mountain Zebra National Park

The rising of the sun sees us riding around looking for what this day will bring and the Springbok and Red Hartebeest are a good start.

Even though it is late summer, many of the flowers are just starting to bloom and the patches of the Karoo Blue Tulip is a beautiful sight to see amongst the drying grass.

This is the first time I have ever seen a Shelduck so was pleased to add it to my knowledge base.

In this region, the aloes start to bloom in their vibrant orange and red colours like this Snake Aloe.

Springbok play in the grassland while it is still cool in the mornings.

These flowers were amazing – it is a creeper and found all over the Park. Right now it is blooming profusely and looks so delightful.

An Agama lizard comes out to warm up in the sunlight. They are about 25cm (10”) in length. The females are not very colourful.

Poor Zebra! He looked so dejected with his one ear hanging so floppily. I had to feel sorry for him. J

A female Brown Button spider is much larger than the male. If he is not careful, she will kill him and preserve him to feed to her babies.

All over the ride through the mountains I found this bush with its bright yellow and lilac coloration. They belong to the Sweetpea family.

 This large moth looks like it might make a great carpet does it not? So soft and furry. LOL!!

This is an unknown species of flower to me - one of the Iris family. They are small and the stems are about 40cm (14”) in height.

SA Diversity Tour (5-10/03/2014) Day 49-54

 Addo Elephant National Park

We spend a night in Kirkwood and went on to Addo Elephant National Park. This is our second visit there and we looked forward to the week we were going to spend there. Click here to see my previous post on the accommodation etc

We are eager to get into the Park as we loved it here last time. The shadows were still long when we went past one of our favourite watering holes but not much was stirring.

A Black-backed Jackal is scarcely visible in the light and it looks as though he might have found something to eat in the long grass.

A yellow Aloe lends a bit of bright colour to the drying vegetation.

We came across this Buffalo which had just got out of a mud hole. He is surely the dirtiest one I have ever seen. LOL!!

A Fiscal Shrike is hanging about on a branch waiting for it to warm up so that the butterflies and insects can come out.

This very large tortoise made me smile – it looked like he was pretending to be a rock while sleeping and hoping that no one would notice him. J

Bush Violets are small and lovely. They make a lovely show.

Laying on the side of the road was a lioness with a radio collar on. Many of the animals in the Park have them as the place is surrounded by human inhabitants and the collars will give them an indication if any get out of the boundaries.

The elephants are just the most beautiful I have come across. They are placid and calm and totally unlike those in Kruger National Park. The one day while we were parked by the watering hole, a youngish elephant came and gently put his trunk against the back of my car and I could not understand why. It was only when we got back to camp the we saw what attracted him. There were some very ripe bananas in the back which he was smelling. J

Zebra snails are as huge as my hand and this was a first time for me to see this species also. I just love going to these regions which I do not know and have not been able to get to in order to find things like this.

I do not know what this bush is called but it looks like some kind of Euphorbia. These low bushes were covered with magnificent yellow flowers.

A Boomslang had been ridden over on the road. They are one of our deadliest snakes and if a bite is not treated soon and correctly, death can occur.

Red Hartebeest are a medium-large antelope and fairly common in our National Parks.

The top highlight of our stay there for me was seeing this Rock Monitor. I have seen pretty large ones up to 2m (6’) in length but this one was about 1.5 times as large and the same girth as a crocodile. I have NEVER seen one so large!! A truly fantastic sight to see. I wonder how old it is?