Several years ago I visited the Manyeleti Game Reserve in Mpumalanga, South Africa.  Manyeleti Game Reserve is in the far northeast of South Africa in Kruger National Park.  We flew into Hoedspruit, an old South African Air Force base that has been converted for civilian use, and made the long but scenic drive south east to Khoka Moya Camp.  I remember looking east from our charter bus at the northern reaches of the Dragon mountains as we headed south along the R40.  I still remember that the camp was beautiful but the weather was cold, especially in the evenings where the temperature was perhaps 4 or 5 degrees Celsius.

 

What follows then are photographs I took of the Khoka Moya Camp and the animals of the Manyeleti Game Reserve rendered in oil paint impressions.  I have chosen multiple levels of oil paint filtering that range from very soft to hard.  Along the way I give a little information about the animals and about our experiences on the this trip.  

My first impression Khoka Moya Camp took me back to summer camp at Camp Thunderbird on Lake Wylie on the border between the two Carolinas.  Not that the camps looked a like because they do not, but seeing the lodges and being surrounded by nature brought forward wave after wave of childhood memories at Camp Thunderbird.  Unlike the long leaf pine that envelope Camp Thunderbird, Khoka Moya Camp sits in a wooded savanna with the flora particular to the southeast African biome. Above is a picture of the main lodge with a circular white stand in the foreground for making camp fires and a swimming pool in the background. If you look closely at the upper left corner of the photograph you can see the start of the pier that leads to the residential lodges.  Even though it is a little difficult to discern from an image this size, this is an oil painting.

I took this photograph from almost the direct opposite point of view from the above picture.  In it you can see the bar where drinks are served. it has a red and white box on it on the left side of the main lodge.  Bar stools wrap around the three open sides of the bar.  Directly ahead you can see the silhouettes of campers seating around a table talking with the park ranger who would serve as our guide on our wilderness tour.  On the right you can see the entrance to the pier that leads to the chalets or guest houses, a lamp indicates the entrance to the pier.  

A wooden pier elevated a few feet above the savanna snakes its way from the main lodge to the living quarters through what appear to be juvenile Jackalberry and Marula trees.  There is no fence guarding the perimeter of Khoka Moya Camp and animals beat paths that crisscross the camp grounds.  You can see the bare areas under the elevated walk way in the above photograph.  This soft oil impression retains the texture of the pier and much of the surrounding vegetation.  I took the photograph used to create this impression standing at the front door of our lodge looking back towards the main camp, which is not visible from this vantage point because of the vegetation.

Standing at the front door of our lodge, this is what we saw.  If you looked to the right you would see what appears in the previous picture including the section of the walk way that connects to the pier that is barely visible off in the distance.

From this side view of a chalet you can see the entrance on the right with the walk way that leads up to it.  A blue canister behind the chalet standout because of its distinct color.  This is a soft impression with color enhancement.

We spent the early evening of our first night at the main lodge listening to the park ranger tell tall tales of "the bush".  Before retiring he gave us an overview of what we could expect on our first day touring the reserve: it would begin with a stroll through the forest to look for lions.  For a man from a lionless society, searching for lions on foot armed with only a 35mm camera, the line between cowardice and wisdom becomes rather blurred.  We decided to sleep in that next morning rather than walk in search of the animal that seats at the top of the food chain. It is a curious feeling to know that there is nothing between you and lions and leopards.  A conspicuous green sign carries a gentle reminder that the camp is "unfenced."  

In South Africa, the "Big 5" are marketed to tourist as must see animals (see Picture 7), but the first animal that we saw and the animal we saw most frequently was the vociferous Vervet Monkey.  In fact, we heard them as much as we saw them as they spent much of their time playing in the trees above our heads.  Vervet monkeys are indigenous to Africa and live in an area that stretches from southern Ethiopia to the southern tip of South Africa through east Africa. They are distinguished by their black faces and gray coats.  Scientist have found that the vervet has some of the same social characteristics as human beings including anxiety, hypertension, and social alcohol use. This is a soft impression with color enhancement.

In this photograph, a woman (far left) plays a drum while other workers look on.  If I recall this was a snack bar area.  After we had our breakfast we boarded a modified Range Rover and headed into the reserve.  This impression is soft to medium with color enhancement.  The oil filter effects are apparent in the plant leaves, the roof of the stand, and in the faces of the workers.

Curiously, before this visit I held the misperception that a savanna was a sea of grass that rolled uninterrupted to the horizon in every direction, but that's not necessarily the case.  In fact, woodland savannas are very prevalent in southern Africa, and the portion of the Manyeleti Game Reserve we saw was predominantly the woodland variety.  This type of savanna has high tree densities, but the trees are separated enough so that light can reach the ground providing sustenence for the grass that carpets it.  This impression is of another group touring the reserve.  We were in a similar vehicle cutting our own path through the bush when I snapped this photograph.

In this very soft impression a male and female Cape Buffalo graze on the edge of a tree line that is barely discernable behind them.  The grass has a pillow soft feel that creates an almost torpid effect.  This pair was immursed in feeding and indifferent to our gentle intrusion.

This is a harder impression of the same two buffalo.  Being harder, this scene paints a more precise picture than the softer images above it and below it.  You might be interested to know that there is only one species of Buffalo in Africa, but there are subspecies that differ based upon their habitat: forest or savannah.  Buffalo live on the savannah throughout the continent and an adult can grow to a rather large 680 Kg.  Forest buffalo are smaller than their savanna dwelling cousins.

This male Cape Buffalo gives a sense of their large size.  At the shoulder he is more than 1.5 meters.  He appears to be wading into a sea of tall grass, which creates a nice contrast to his dark fur.  Behind him there is a large tree that marks the beginning of a wooded area.  This image is is soft to the point of almost being fluid.

Here three females stand in a marsh of wet grass.  The two in the background graze while the main subject stares cautiously.  I love the appearance of the grass in this impression, which has a little richer color than the one that follows because it is harder.

African Buffalo have fair vision, but a very good sense of smell.  In this photograph a female suggests that we move along.  Along the left side of the impression a small collection of water runs pass these female buffalos. This and the photograph that follow are soft impressions.

A curious female buffalo in the middle of this frame with her cafe next to her while other females look on from a distance.  

Here you get a wider perspective, a sense of our distance form the herd, and the size of the herd.  When the park ranger started our Land Rover many of the Buffalo turned to look, creating a nice photo opportunity.  Most of the buffalo in this impression are either females or cafes.  The herd was in a shallow depression surrounded on three sides by a wooded area.  Water was in many of the low lying areas here and though the herd flattened much of the grass, there was plenty of it.  Off in the distance you can see more buffalo on a small incline at the edge of the tree line. The lack of detail is intentional as the herd comes to have the dominant identity over the individual buffalo. Another very soft Impresssion.

In this impression, a lone ostrich turns her head to give a discerning gaze.  Ostriches can grow to 3 meters tall and run an impressive 69 km per hour.  They have the largest eyes and lay the largest eggs of any bird.  In most instances, their keen eye sight helps them detect predators long before they can get close enough to be dangerous.

This warthog crossed the road in front of us and then stopped so we went passed him so that everyone on our vehicle could see him and then we stopped.  I took this photograph from my seat at the back of the Range Rover.  This is another oil painting with detail.  It took considerable time to get the colors the way I wanted them in this impression.  It shares a similar focus to the preceding photograph.

Giraffes are very graceful animals.  We came upon this giraffe eating leaves off the top of an acacia tree.  I like this perspective because it gives the impression that I was actually off the vehicle and looking at the giraffe through the trees.

In this frame, the giraffe is chewing food when he turns and looks at us.  Giraffes love to eat the leaves of acacia trees.  The trees around him give a sense of how tall he is.  An adult giraffe can grow to 5-6 meters.  They can be found throughout the continent of Africa wherever there are savannas and woodland savannas. 

It didn't take long for him to make up his mind to get moving.  I'm glad that he did because I love the color and pattern of the coat of giraffes. Crossing the road I got a much better view, but that view didn't last long.  Giraffes are graceful and surprisingly fast.

Picture 25 is different impressions of the same photograph, a pair of zebras partially hidden behind foliage.  I couldn't decide which I liked more.  The bottom photograph is truer to the actual colors, but I love the richer colors in impression #1.  It is believed that the zebra's stripes serve as a form of camoflauge.  Each zebra has a distinct pattern, but the stripes on zebras share certain common characteristics.  The stripes around their necks and body are verticle while the the stripes on their legs are horizontal.  A report in the BBC claims that scientists have found that because of their stripes certain parasitic flies do not bite zebras as frequently.  A little known fact is that a zebra's base color is black.

This is another photograph in the same series as the above impressions taken from a less obstructed point of view.  The female zebra closest to us appears to be studying us.  Zebras are in the same family as horses, but zebras have generally not been domesticated although there are a few exceptions.

The smaller resolutions don't capture all of the depth and detail in this impression.  This impression combines natural colors and enhanced colors.  Zebras live in small harems or in large herds.

This is one of my favorite impressions.  The colors are obviously enhanced, but the contrast between the zebra and the grass and bush behind it make for a really nice composition.  It appears as though this zebra is missing a tail, but in fact it was wagging its tail, and its tail was hidden on its other side.

A very soft impression of a zebra in a clearing whipping its tail.  You can really see its stripe pattern from this perspective.

We came upon a white rhinoceros making her way across the savanna.  It had a little bird on its back.  To be such a massive and impressive animal, it actually seemed quite docile.  I say that because we actually pulled up right along side of the animal and were within 2 to 3 meters of it.  Of course, we were on the vehicle so, my impression likely to change if I ever run into a rhino on foot!  Our guide told us that the black rhino is far more aggressive.  This impression has enhanced colors and enough detail to see the ridges in the hid of the rhino.

Today, in South Africa rhinos are seriously threatened as 2013 stands as the deadlist year on record.  According to the Telegraph, poachers have killed 1,000 rhinos since January indicating a real need on the part of the South African government to step up protection and enforcement efforts in the reserves.  Poachers kill the animals for their horns, which are valued on the underground markets.  Black rhinos (not pictured here) are on the WWF critically endangered species list. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/10528085/South-African-rhino-poaching-deaths-nears-1000.html

This impression is of a juvenile bull elephant as he makes his way to a water hole to refresh himself.  Small trees obscure our view of him giving depth to this perspective.  According to a NPR news report, "Abundance of Elephants Strains South African Game Reserves," from this past July, elephant populations have increased significantly in South Africa.  This subset of impressions is one of my favorite.  I love how the elephants colors blend with its surroundings.

African elephants differ from their Asian cousins in a variety of ways but perhaps most notably in the size of their ears which are larger on African elephants.  From this vantage point we get a good view of the face of the young elephant; his tusks are yet still relatively small.  He has emerged at the water hole from the forest behind him, and you can begin to make out his reflection in the water in the foreground beneath him.

This is another impression with color enhancement to bring out the vibrancy of the vegetation.  You can see the water splashing as it drips from the elephants trunk.  

In this impression the baby bull elephant uses its trunk to drink from the bank of the water hole, a stream of water falls from its mouth.