Hippo

When posting my hippo pictures I mentioned strange behaviour where hippos sometimes save other animals. There is some excellent footage of this at http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Hippo-saves-wildebeest-zebra-babies-20101203

Squacco Heron

This Heron was lining itself up for the kill. One could almost feel the focused attention. I waited patiently but it eventually decided not to procede and flew away. Disappointing for me but life saving for some frog or small fish.

Goliath Heron

At a height of up to 1,52m the Goliath Heron is the world's biggest Heron. It is much bigger than any other type of Heron.

Black Heron

I was sitting at a picnic spot minding my own business when this Heron asked me to take its picture to send home to its family. It is called Black Heron, well, because it is black. Its feet are bright yellow. One wonders why nature developed it with those bright yellow feet.

I was photographing this Squacco Heron waiting for it to do something. When they sit around doing nothing they do exactly that – nothing. They have the ability to just sit there and watch the world go by. Wish I had the comfort and patience to sit like that. It may have noticed me peering at it through my camera. At some stage it stared straight at me, perhaps waiting for me to do something rather than just sitting there watching the world go by. Eventually it scratched its head before moving off, presumably to find something to eat.
Squacco Herons are about 45 cm in height, are waders and live on fish, frogs and insects

Jacaranda Trees

One of the Jacaranda lined streets in Johannesburg South Africa. These trees form part of what is regarded as the biggest man made forest in the world. Johannesburg is on what is known as the highfeld - what used to be grass land. Settlers planted trees along streets and next to their houses creating a forest that impacted on rain fall patterns. See http://www.coismeyer.com for more of my pictures.

Sun circle

I photographed these sun circles in Johannesburg during October 2010. Light from the sun gets refracted by ice particles high up in the sky. It is not something that we see frequently in Johannesburg.

Elephant balanced

This Elephant likes the new growth on the trees surrounding his enclosure. His enclosure is surrounded by a concrete lined trench rather than a re-enforced fence. He has stripped the leaves back almost as far as he can reach. This picture shows him balanced on the edge of the trench leaning over the trench to reach out as far as he possibly can. Amazing to see an animal of this size balanced this delicately. Go to http://www.coismeyer.com/ for more of my pictures.

Chimp

I thought about calling this something like “After the Office Party”. I photographed this Chimp in the Johannesburg zoo but have seen people in a similar situation after a party,.

Meerkat

I photographed this Meerkat at the Johannesburg Zoo. I like meerkats. They would sit like this and watch the sky and surrounds for danger. They alert the other Meerkats when they spot danger in the surrounds or sky. They are brave for theirs size and will take on a poisonous snake. I saw footage of one being bitten by a snake. It got seriously ill for a few hours but survived to tell the tale.

Mandela Statue

The statue of Nelson Mandela in Mandela Square Sandton.

Waiters

At a quick glance this looks like a group of devotees preparing for a church service. The dish cloths tucked under their belts gives it away as a group of waiters listening to a pep talk before the start of the evening shift. Photographed at the Sandton Shopping Mall.

Sic Blesbuck

We came across this apparently sic Blesbuck in the Rietvlei nature reserve. Living in a reserve with almost no predators has its benefits. But it also has its harsh side. In a reserve with predators sick or slow antelope tend to be the first to be taken out. It must be hard to be taken by a predator but it must be quicker than just lying there waiting for death. It barely managed to lift its head when we approach. A hard way to go.

Young Rhino

We were privileged to witness this interaction between a mother rhino and her calf at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve near Pretoria. The mother was sleeping in the sun, lying on her stomach. Her calf wanted to drink and tried to roll her over. It tried from various angles until she rolled over far enough to allow him to drink. She rolled over but the calf probably thought it managed to push her over.

Sadly, the mother has no horn as it had to be removed to protect her from being poached. A bunch of these poachers has recently been arrested.

Home sweet home

I came across this house on a pavement in Benoni early one morning while waiting for my daughter to complete her exam. The owner agreed to be photographed wile reading his morning paper. On the one hand we cannot allow people to erect houses on pavements everywhere. On the other hand I have to respect the owner for what he is doing. Behind him is a flat trolley typically used to collect recyclable material like paper and plastic. Instead of doing crime or begging he is making a living for him self. His dwelling seems fairly comfortable given where and what it is. Much like the owner of a much bigger business, he is reading his morning newspaper in the early morning sun.

Old mine house

Some more pictures of the old mining house near Etwatwa. One of the pictures shows three round openings in the concrete slab between the ground and first floor. They are right above the fire place. I presume they were created to allow heat from the fire place to circulate to the first floor. The other two photos show the corridor and window of one of the living units.

Old mine house

I drove past this old house on my way to Etwatwa on the East Rand. It is on farm land but I presume it used to belong to one of the old mines that were active in the area many years ago as it is located near an old mine shaft. It consists of two or four residential units. I could not confirm as I could not get to the top story. The stairs were on the outside and are not there any more. None of the downstairs units has a bathroom. Outside is a small square building, +/- 1,5m x 1,5m that used to be an outside toilet. In Afrikaans it used to be called a “kleinhuisie”, literally translated as “small house”. I took some more pictures of the inside of the house. I will publish these in my next post.

Sandton

This is a picture of a section of Sandton, South Africa. Sandton forms part of a collection of suburbs to the north of Johannesburg, known as the Northern Suburbs. The Corporate Head Offices of various businesses used to be located in and around the Johannesburg CBD. Business owners and high level managers used to live in the Northern Suburbs while lower ranked employees used to live closer to the city itself. With time development moved to the Northern Suburbs. Sandon has developed into a major business hub incorporating office towers, shopping centers and residential estates. Traffic can be a nightmare.

Hippo

Another picture of a Hippo at play. Note the mud on one of the bottom teeth. It would dive down and come up again with its mouth open. I don’t know if it hit the bottom by accident or intentional.

White Rhino

These two white rhinos came down to drink late one afternoon while I was waiting at a waterhole. There are two types of rhino, white rhino and black rhino. Color has little to do with the distinction between the two species. The white rhino has a wide square upper lip adapted for grazing. “White” was adopted from “wide”. Now that we have a white rhino the other species naturally became the black rhino. Black rhino has a narrow hooked upper lip adopted for foraging. White rhino are more common than black rhino but are endangered. White rhino are threatened by commercial poaching to get hold of their horns, believed to assist under endowed under performing men to improve sexual performance.

White Rhinos reaches a height of up to 1,8m at the shoulder and reaches a weight of up to 2,3 tonnes. The horn can reach a length of up to 1,6m. A calf weighs approximately 40kg at birth. A white rhino has a lifespan of up to 45 years. Bulls who have no water in their territories leave every 3-4 days to drink, passing through other bulls’ territories as they go. If confronted they squeal and shriek and hold their ears back to demonstrate their submission. They are then usually allowed to proceed.

White rhinos have poor eye sight, relying on sent and hearing. White rhino are more even tempered than black rhino. I once came across a white rhino bull, cow and calf while walking in a nature reserve to seek help to recover a stuck vehicle. The bull noticed me and started to move towards me. I stood still and it stopped. Fortunately there was a thin, tall tree nearby that I climbed – fast. The rhino came to the tree and stood right beneath me sniffing the ground and air. Eventually the cow and calf broke away and he soon followed. From personal experience I can confirm:
- They do have poor eye sight.
- They do reach a height of 1,8m at the shoulder.
- I was very scared. Running would not have helped – a white rhino can reach a speed of up to 40km/h.

Source: Own experience and Smither’s Mammals of Southern Africa.

I have started watermarking my images. I was recently confronted by what a commercial printer cam do with even a low resolution image. You may contact me at http://www.coismeyer.com/ or e-mail me at cois@coismeyer.com to obtain an un-watermarked copy, depending on intended use.

Hippo yawn

I visited the Ratlhogo waterhole in the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve near Rustenburg a few times. This Hippo was around most of the time, floating in the water with just its eyes and nostrils showing or basking in the sun. One morning it was in a playful mood diving and surfacing and snapping at the water. This picture shows it yawning. It was around roughly every second day. Hippos travel during the night. I presume it travels to another waterhole a few kilometers away to make the return journey the next night. The photo shows a number of broken and missing teeth. I would stress if my teeth were broken and missing but it does not seem to bother this Hippo.

A male Hippopotamus (Hippo) can reach a height of up to 1,7 meter at the shoulder and can reach a weight of up to 2 tonnes. Hippos graze on short grass close to water but can travel distances of up to 30 kilometers to reach grazing. It consumes up to 13 kilograms of grass per day. This seems like a lot but is actually half of what is expected considering the body size. A hippo can reach an age of up to 35 years. Lions and crocodiles will attack baby hippos but seldom fully grown individuals.

The temperature was 3˚ C when I took this photo. It can stay submerged for up too 6 minutes, closing its nostrils and ears to stop water getting in. Now and again they travel to different parts of their environment. One is known to have walked 1 800 kilometers, from Lake St Lusia to the Keiskama River.

Hippos are one of Africa’s big five and are quite dangerous. They will trample most anything coming between itself and the water or itself and its calf. There is still one mystery about these animals. There are three documented cases where they have rescued drowning animals from other species. On one such an occasion in the Kruger National Park a hippo forcefully freed a young Impala from a crocodile and carried it to the side. It stood next to the Impala to fend off any possible further attacks, but lost interest when the impala died. This happened before the days of digital photography but I have seen sets of slides displayed at shops in the Kruger National Park. The set must have been scanned to electronic format by now.

Source: Smither’s Mammals of Southern Africa and own knowledge.

I will publish some more photos on my website within the next few days - http://www.coismeyer.com/

Fire hose reel

I drove past a building that is in the process of being demolished. It is being demolished by removing the outer walls before breaking down the concrete floors. In this picture the outer wall has been removed leaving the fire hose reel standing free on its own. It made an interesting picture. http://www.coismeyer.com/

Street Art Clarence Road

Street art next to Clarence Road Johannesburg. Unfortunately I am unable to credit the original artists as I don't know who they are. http://www.coismeyer.com

Telkom Tower 2010 World Cup

The Telkom Tower in Hillbrow, Johannesbyrg dressed up for the World Cup. Photo taken from Honey Street, near to where I photographed some of the street art included elsewhere in my blog. The first game kicks off today, South Africa against Mexico. http://www.coismeyer.com

1855 St George's Church

This is the smaller of the two churches on the shady stand in the middle of the town of Knysna, South Africa. There are a number of graves around the church. Some bears what appears to be a royal coat of arms and bears the family name “Rex”. Legend has it that the then King of England banned his illegitimate son to South Africa to avoid embarrassment back in England. George Rex did a lot of good for the community, playing a roll in amongst other the development of the harbor at the Knysna Lagoon. Today the harbor is used mainly by pleasure craft. Craft entering the Lagoon has to pass through a narrow channel. Navigation is tricky due to the fast moving current that passes through the channel due to tide movement. The South African Navy still visits the harbor from time to time for ceremonial purposes. http://www.coismeyer.com/

Street art

Along Louis Botha Avenue between Houghton and Hillbrow runs a stretch of clay brick wall decorated by street artists. Some of the art incorporates the standard symbols and interlocked thunder bolts. Others are quite unique. Most of them are really good. I photographed this early one morning. I will include a few more images in my website, www.coismeyer.com, in the “Objects” gallery within the next few days.

Website

I am in the process of upgrading my website. At this stage it is still a work in progress. A rather slow process as I am not a programmer. But it should go faster now that I have the basics sorted out. Please feel free to comment. http://www.coismeyer.com

Hollow Tree

I photographed this tree in the Knysna forest while hiking there. It looks like something should be living there, but nothing is. Probably too close to the ground. If I could think something should be living there, so could most predators.

Graaff Reinette Church

The town of Graaff Reinette in the Karoo is dominated by this Church. I took this picture early one morning while traveling back to Johannesburg from the Cape. It is a beautiful town rich with history, museums and old buildings.

Sedgefield Lake

I was sifting through old photo stock when I came across this photo that I took one morning while cycling. Wish I was there rather than preparing for a new week. (It is Sunday evening 21h49 in South Africa)

Old house in Johannesburg

I came across this old house in an old part of Johannesburg. Many years ago this must have been someones pride and joy, sitting around this fire place on a cold winter evening.

Refuse removal strike

Yeoville, Berea and Hillbrow are high density residential areas in the heart of Johannesburg. A two week strike by municipal workers ended recently. Rubbish has not been removed for the duration of the strike. People in flats have nowhere to go with their rubbish, thus the rubbish ends up at collection points in the streets.

Three Sisters

These three hillocks are located next to a small Karoo town called Three Sisters. The town was named after the three similar looking hillocks. This image shows two of the sisters with the third sister just visible in the middle.

Cape Town Harbour

The harbour at Cape Town from the V&A waterfront. The harbour developed into a vibrant shopping and tourist hot spot. The nearby aquarium is worth a visit.

Table Mountain

Table Mountain remains one of South Africa's special sights. This view was special to me as I last saw the mountain in this way when I serviced in the Navy many years ago.

Mandela's prison cell

This is the furniture inside Nelson Mandela's cell in the Robbin Island prison. To the left is a toilet bucket. Next to the toilet bucket a table / chair and eating utensils. To the right of that a bed roll. Due to international pressure the bed roll was eventually replaced with a simple bunk style bed.

Robbin Island Prison

The entrance to the Robbin Island prison complex.

Table Mountain from Robbin Island

This is Table Mountain as seen from Robbin Island. It must have added to the feeling of being banned from society, having to see this every day but not being allowed to be there.

Robbin Island

This is the harbor at Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 18 years. The prison itself is in good condition but it is sad to see how the rest of the island is slowly deteriorating. The house where the first leader of the ANC Youth League was held is overgrown by weeds. During the war the island was used as base to defend the waters around the cape. Significant block houses housing some of the biggest guns used were built on the island. These are in a sad state of repair. Previously the island also housed a leper colony. Their grave yard is in a sad state of repair.

Probably the result of nepotism and political interference. Maybe one of the instances of about ½ the staff employed on the island actually “working” on the island.

Bus-truck

This half bus half truck is in the railway transport museum in George. Interesting concept. It must have worked in days gone by - when there were less people, longer distances, and a need for a transport service along the bus route.

1939 Dodge

What a car should be. Simple strong, reliable.

19950Studebaker Champion

This is the grill of a 1950 Studebaker Champion. It must have made a statement back in the 1950's - given the boxy look that was more or less standard at the time. I wonder if it was at all inspired by jet engines that were then still fairly new and at the edge of engineering achievement.

Perimeter Fence

A veterinary practice in Sedgefield, South Cape, has a perimeter wall made up of concrete animals painted with various patterns. This one is the most interesting.

Church Window

This window was photographed in ST George's Church in Knysna. Though a pretty picture on its own, I found the inclusion of both old and new interesting. The people in the left hand panel are dressed in period clothing while those in the right hand panel are dressed in more modern cloths. There is however one person dressed in modern cloths in the left hand panel as well.

On top of Lion Rock

This is my daughter standing on top of "Lion Rock" looking out to sea.

Gericke Point

Gericke Point, South Cape, South Africa. The tiny dots, halfway into the picture, close to the right hand edge of frame are people walking up to the point. I like the golden yellow colour of the rock.