Acanthostracion Polygonia, part of the Boxfish family, these are always an attractive addition to the reef, although rarely willing to stand and deliver for a photo. These were taken in the neighbouring islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac respectively. The Honeycomb Cowfish can darken or pale and change colour to suit their background, as you can see from the photos! I often see them in pairs. Read more…
Although they can grow up to be vicious muggers (see A “one man” crime wave in Africa), a family of baboons always provides plenty of fun on any safari trip. Read more…
I spent 10 days self-driving the Kruger national park, an amazing place for a wildlife lover, but the cheetahs evaded me. Fortunately, the Serengeti paid greater dividends, with this cheetah and her three cubs sheltering under a tree from the heat of the day. Read more…
The weather in Cayman has been a bit rough as of late, but I went for a dive from Lighthouse point at the weekend and ran into a couple of turtles, including this hawksbill in shallow water. Lighting wasn’t great and I’m wondering if I should get a strobe set up rather than rely on my torch (which is effective for night shots, but doesn’t get great results on a cloudy day). Did a bit of post production on these using Lightroom. Any tips welcome!
The Kalahari Desert is an amazing place. We went there to see the sunrise at Dune 45. On the way there, we stopped at a rustic place, with lots of run down old cars and parts, and a playful pair of chipmunks.
Part of the Acacia Africa Ultimate Overlander we were lucky enough to go on in 2011.
Monkeys and baboons can provide so much entertainment on any safari, they’re so human in many ways. This monkey mother came a little too close to human, finding a useful resource for feeding her baby in Africa, stacking a useful shopping bag with supplies.
I like so many of the fish that I see diving, and always enjoy photographing them, but I’m useless at recognising what they are underwater, so I’m going to start a new project as part of this blog – Fish Identification Friday. Starting at random with the fish below, taken on the South Coast of Grand Cayman. They flit around and are hard to pin down, but I managed to get this one under decent lighting in a little overhang of the reef. I believe he’s a Toby of some sort, part of the puffer fish family. My book on Reef Fish of the Caribbean suggests this to be a Goldface Toby, Canthigaster jamestyleri, so that will fit for now. Let me know if I’m wrong!
They seem to have a great life, these Lions. King of the beasts, they live a life of eat, breed, sleep. It also seems that for a male lion, if he is lucky enough to have a pride, most of the daily hunting can be delegated to his harem of Lionesses. Other than tourists disturbing their slumber, they seem to have very little to worry about, which is reassuring in places like the Serengeti, much better than hearing them hunted for trophies elsewhere. A photo like this is the only trophy I want (or perhaps if he was awake!). Read more…
One of the fascinating things about living in the Cayman Islands is the different array of wildlife to that which I am used to in the UK. I’m not talking about the chickens roaming free in the car parks (although that always gets visitors talking), but the array of lizard life. Read more…
Tubbyman Tales 