h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I want to be a good ambassador to the rock under wich I live. That is why the first article I write for THE GUIDE is about the site that was officially the most popular South African site of the last century.

http://www.africam.co.za


One can visit any of 18 live web-cams and if you are lucky, see some of the wild animals Africa is so popular for.

The Etosha cams

Etosha cams North and South are located in the Etosha National Park just outside the rest camp known as Okaukuejo (pronounced Oka-koo-yoo), overlooking a waterhole. The Okaukuejo waterhole is floodlit at night, so that our cams will be able to show both day and nightlife around the Pan. Okaukuejo North is a pan-tilt-zoom cam, while Okaukuejo South is a static cam that will also provide us with night-viewing

Gowrie Cam

Isolated in the remote north-eastern corner of the Sabi-Sand Game Reserve, Gowrie Camp exudes a romance that is reminiscent of Africa's bygone days. The dam in front of the cam is fascinating in that it epitomises the contrasting faces of the African savanna

Djuma cam

Being the first of the family, the Djuma-Cam holds a proud place in the history of AfriCam. Situated in a tall tree approximately 30 meters from the lodge, the camera is protected from the inquisitive nature of elephants by an electrified loop of wire.

The cam overlooks a small concrete crib to which water is pumped throughout the year in order to provide animals with a continuous supply of drinking water. The contrast between the wet and dry seasons is remarkable and to witness the resurrection of lush, green vegetation from winter's barren wasteland is to truly appreciate the resilience of the African bush.

The leopard project

Jonathon Kingdon recalls his first encounter with a leopard: "...There is only the memory of an incomplete and fleeting optical impression." Most sightings of this elusive animal are similarly only mere glimpses. How does one go about filming this secretive subject, documenting behavior rarely, if ever, seen before?
Undoubtedly, the most important requirement is absolute dedication. Ideally one would need to spend every hour of the day, every day of the year with the subject in order to capture any insight into the animal's behavior on film. Unfortunately even wildlife filmmakers need to sleep! We do, however, usually spend approximately 16-18 hours of every day in the field. Hence you will notice a period of inactivity on the live images you are watching during our sleeping periods back at our base camp. Because leopards are primarily nocturnal, we similarly adjust our sleeping patterns and rest during the heat of the day. Provided we can successfully track the elusive "Tjololo", we try to spend all of his most active hours (from before dusk to after dawn, South African time) with him.

Satara Cam

Despite being the third largest camp in the Kruger National Park, Satara has an unassuming presence and although not blessed with a spectacular view or a lush riverine setting, the spaciousness of the surrounding flat, open grasslands create a particularly tranquil atmosphere.

The turf flats on which the camp is built offer the best grazing in the entire Park and provide exceptionally rewarding game viewing. A multitude of big game can be seen within a stone's throw of the camp and the surrounding plains are home to some of the bush's more elusive inhabitants, including the majestic sable antelope, the graceful nyala and the ill-tempered and extremely rare black rhino.
The spectacular sunsets that fall over these plains signify a time of great trepidation, as it is when most of the innumerable predators that thrive on the abundance of game in this area become active. The density of carnivores is higher here than anywhere else and there is an ongoing feud between lions and hyenas for supreme control of the veritable larder that is the area surrounding Satara.

Other Activities
Visitors can submit their entries to Pick of the day/week/month.
One can visit: afrinews, africlub, African diaries, African video and Afrishop.

Guides

Extensive guides on any walking, flying, budding, crawling and swimming goodies you could encounter on one of the cameras are also available.

One of my other 975 personalities made a mistake this should have been posted as a guide entry.

hey ZOE
the hotlinks didn't show up after the firt entry.