On the Road and In Your Backyard

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

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For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

 

Today World Cup 2018 begins. This is the biggest sporting event on our humble planet.  The first game is at 11 am Eastern and I hope some other FPer will be hosting World Cup duties. I will be watching many games over the next month and have my favorites to root for/against, but it’s always exciting to see a story appear before your eyes, and to root for a team you’d never cared for before. I’m not much of a sports fan, but it really doesn’t get better than the World Cup!

I’m already budgeting for the 2026 WC in North America as there’s no way I’m going to either Russia this year, nor Qatar in 2022. It’s not the expense so much as the host countries. I am much more favorable on Qatar compared to some of its Gulf neighbors, but I still have serious labor and human rights concerns for the labor force constructing the necessary infrastructure for the matches, so I won’t attend.

 

Before affairs of men, let’s take another look at the glorious natural world.

Today, pictures from valued commenter Albatrossity.

On our Africa photosafari in May, we spent 4 days on the Serengeti Plains. The wet season was going on longer than usual this year, which keeps the grass green and thus delays the northward wildebeest/zebra migration out of Tanzania into Kenya. So there were still plenty of herd animals, and plenty of predators that enjoy the presence of those herds for now. Life is good, until it’s not, when you are a predator. Hopefully our president will be learning that lesson soon.

Leopard on the rocks

Taken on 2018-05-19

Gol Kopjes in the Serengeti

The plains are dotted with rock outcrops, which the Germans (who colonized this part of east Africa) called kopjes. Kopjes are great places to find predators who hunt at night, since they offer shade and shelter during the day. This leopard was surveying a small herd of wildebeest in the distance.

Mama leopard and cubs

Taken on 2018-05-19

Gol Kopjes in the Serengeti

The leopard in the previous pic was a mom; her two cubs were also hiding in that kopje. They decided to come out and play. Mom was not pleased, and she snarled and cuffed them until they went back inside. Our guides were amazed at this as well; it was the first time either of them had witnessed a mama leopard interacting with her cubs like that!

Secretary Bird

Taken on 2018-05-19

Gol Kopjes in the Serengeti

This bird was one that I have wanted to see in the wild for many decades, and we saw lots of them. A member of the falcon family, it strides across the plains looking for snakes, lizards, or hapless rodents. A captured snake will be grasped by the strong toes and beat to death on the ground; the long legs keep the snake from inflicting a bite to the body. They do fly, and we saw some perched in trees, but in general they seem to prefer to walk

Young male lion

Taken on 2018-05-19

Gol Kopjes in the Serengeti

A contented and well-fed young male, who was a member of a pride that was finishing off last night’s wildebeest when we found them.

Cheetah

Taken on 2018-05-19

Gol Kopjes in the Serengeti

Alternately sleeping and scanning the horizon, this guy was spotted by our guide from a distance of about half a mile when he poked his head up for a look. He didn’t seem to mind our presence at all, as he continued alternating between sleeping and scanning

Dark Chanting Goshawks

Taken on 2018-05-20

Near Semetu in the Serengeti

Another of my target birds for this trip. This gorgeous small raptor hunts alone, or in family groups cooperatively, which is relatively unusual for predatory birds. This couple (female at top, male at bottom) had just finished copulating, thus ensuring at least a start for the next generation of goshawks.

Greater Kestrel

Taken on 2018-05-20

Gol Kopjes in the Serengeti

This is a bird I fell in love with in the Serengeti. We saw them regularly, and they were always relatively tame, allowing close approach and photography. What a stunning creature!

 

Thank you so much Albatrossity, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

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