Feb 21 2020
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The Spotty Ghost – Blue-spotted Ribbontail Ray @ Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Blue-spotted Ribbontail Ray The bluespotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. Found from the intertidal zone to a depth of 30 m (100 ft), this species is common throughout the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans in nearshore, coral reef-associated habitats. It is a fairly small ray, not exceeding 35 cm (14 in) in width, with a mostly smooth, oval pectoral fin disc, large protruding eyes, and a relatively short and thick tail with a deep fin fold underneath. It can be easily identified by its striking color pattern of many electric blue spots on a yellowish background, with a pair of blue stripes on the tail. Imagine our surprise to find one of these cool rays in the rock pools… Ok so, to long time divers and snorkelers this is most probably a common sighting. But you can think of us as part time tourists, full time locals. We are like new born’s or toddlers to all the wonderful things Sodwana Bay has to offer. Curious about everything shocked about all the dangers that actually lurk in the rock pools and appreciative that nature respects you as long as you respect it. This one happened a while ago, Tom and I went to swim in the rock pools during low tide. It wasn’t super low so some pools could be really deep. Tom spotted a ray under one of the rock ledges submerged under water. He only saw a glimpse of it and used the GoPro’s selfie stick to get a closer shot of it. Unfortunately the GoPro malfunctioned and instead of taking a video of it, it took a series of photo’s, almost like a time lapse. So unfortunately, unless we find another one there will be no video for it. We were super surprised to find the gorgeous ray when reviewing our footage. Tom actually thought he captured a moray eel on film. Imagine his surprise to find that it wasn’t a moray eel but rather a Blue-spotted ribbontail ray. While filming he was only able to see the tail which at first looked like a stick till he took a closer look, but only saw his full photo prey when we got home… Some interesting facts about the Blue-spotted ribbontail ray and what it looks like: They are super gorgeous and cute, their faces are so cute by my standards!!!! Like most sea animals, these rays have a few different common names, here are a few common ones – Blue-spotted ribbontail ray, blue-spotted stingray, blue-spotted ray, blue-spotted fantail ray, blue-spotted lagoon ray, lagoon ray, reef ray, ribbon-tailed stingray (Eng.); bloukol-lintstertrog (Afr.). Like most creatures they too are brightly coloured to warn of how venomous they are, the have one large and one medium sized – highly venomous spines on their tales. Although they are very shy and will rather swim away to avoid conflict than stick around and fight… It’s bright yellow eyes enhance its vision and allows them to see behind them without turning their heads. Sort of like a chameleon, chickens can also see 360 degrees… Blue-spotted ribbontail rays have been recorded from southern Africa and the Red Sea to the Solomon Islands. It is found primarily in the Western Indo-Pacific. T. lymma has also been recorded in Australia in shallow tropical marine waters from Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia to Bundaberg, Queensland. Like a typical Ray, they love to play hide and seek under the sea sand, waiting for their prey to swim by and get snatched by the prettiest ray I have ever seen so far! The one we caught on camera must’ve been moving position or unveiled by the tide that it was so in the open, or maybe just not hungry? Another common habitat for them is reefs in low waters. They have also been sighted in shipwrecks. If I was a marine animal that’s where I would live, in a shipwreck, abundant food easy place to hide, perfect habitat. Some people try to keep these poor creatures as aquarium pets, please don’t they are poorly suited for aquarium life, I don’t think any aquarium will be enough for them except the open oceans. Unlike sharks which have teeth, all rays have powerful plate like jaws that crush their prey to death and I would assume sometimes they might even swallow their prey whole? During high tide, they migrate in groups into shallow sandy areas of tidal flats to feed on sand worms, shrimps, hermit crabs and small fishes. At low tide, they recede back into the ocean, usually alone to hide in the coral crevices of the reef Their main natural predators are often the hammerhead shark and the Orca/killer Whale that preys on their young. All factual References: Sanbi.org Wikipedia

Feb 18 2020
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Shove It! – East African Shovel snout snake @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Full Name: East-Africa Shovel-snout (Prosymna stuhlmanni) Classification: HARMLESS A smallish snake averaging around 22 cm and inhabits lowland forest and moist savanna where it may be found under rocks or logs or in leaf litter. Whilst getting ready for bed, we found a little worm like creature slithering around in the corner by our bedroom door post. We have grown a custom to Shongololos (giant African millipede), our Jack Russel pup loves it when they crawl into a ball, she will always push them with her nose until they curl up and wait till they open up again and do it all over again, unless the next  bug comes a long, especially her puppy bugs (Fork-nosed Dung Beetle). Luckily she is already ready for bed when we start packing up to go to bed… Tom was busy taking things to the room when  he noticed our slithery friend tryna climb up the wall or just get into the crack of the wall to hide, since it is such a tiny snake. At first I thought it was a baby, but research suggests this is not such a baby, as they don’t grow very long. We have a WhatsApp group for family and friends, where we inform them of all the weird and wonderful things we encounter. I think we scared everybody half to death with this little guy, not because its a snake but because of what snake we thought it could: A stiletto snake (Dangerous). Luckily for us it was a sweet harmless East-African Shovel-snout. They are fairly small snakes and mostly eat reptile eggs. Well of course what it can fit in its mouth. The one we found seemed quite curious about us and would rather try get away than pretend its dangerous. We were able to go visit Sodwana Bays local snake guide and he informed us that there was no panic needed and that it was a harmless shovel snout. But it is still wise to be careful of any unknown  snake… Although this awesome wildness can get a little scary sometimes it is so cool that we can experience Africa for its true beauty and no more the fake big city life. A few nights later we found another little one on its way to our house. We not sure if its the same one, cause we took the first one quite far from the house. This one was super friendly, went straight into the container we used to take it away from the house and just kept on looking at us like it completely trusted us. We don’t necessarily  worry to much about harmless snakes near our house but the problem comes in the dogs don’t like anything foreign near us, so for the snakes safety we move them where the dogs can’t get to them? More about this cutie pie – Eastern-African Shovel-Snout Snake: Most Eastern-African Shovel-Snout Snake only grow up to 22 cm. Their main habitats are moist Savannah and lowland forests. Makes sense there is water atleast on 2 sides of us less than 5 km away. The Eastern-African Shovel-Snout Snake does not coil up like their cousins when threatened. Easiest way to identify this specific species of Shovel Snout is their cute yellow snout. Right on the tip their snout they have a yellow spot, some of them also have white spots on their backs. They feed on small reptile eggs, of course any egg that can fit in their mouth they will consume, oddly enough they love hard shelled gecko eggs. Its kinda strange to me since the are so tiny! Theses snakes are also super shy and really don’t like being center of attention…Sounds like me!!! Source of all factual info: africansnakebiteinstitute.com  

Feb 18 2020
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Mr Frog, what on earth are you thinking – The African common toad or guttural toad @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

The African common toad or guttural toad (Sclerophrys gutturalis) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae.[2] It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Réunion, Somalia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, dry savanna, moist savanna, temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, intermittent rivers, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, pastureland, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forest, ponds, and canals and ditches. Of course since coming here, I have this weird fascination of toads and frogs. I guess I get that from my mom, she use to love frogs and always tried to protect them. But my fascination is not that they cute or kinda almost alien looking but why do they always smile, I know our grey foam-nest froggie hates it when its overcast. He always has a sad face when it rains or the sun doesn’t shine, but this frog constantly smiles and he is only active at night, maybe he’s feels like the luckiest frog alive, his species is thriving, I guess there must be a lot of bugs around, but I wonder if he has ever considered the snakes that might be lurking around looking for such a yummy meal like him? I guess we will never know… This big guy we often see when we take the dogs for their last walk before we go to bed, its kind of a nightly ritual for us. Sometimes the dogs will even come remind us to take them for their walk around the garden. Lately every night while on our walk Mr frog is seemingly sitting and waiting for us to pass by, all the dogs and even the cat greet him on the walk and when we come back say goodnight. We love all our Sibaya creatures, it reminds you of how wild South Africa truly still is… A few fun facts about this amphibian: They are a large specie of frog, males can grow up to 90 mm and females up to 120 mm. Like most frog species the female is larger than the male They are super adaptable to change in their environment, so habitat is never an issue for them, although they do prefer savanna and moist areas. The upper surface is buffish brown with variable irregular dark brown markings. There are two pairs of brown spots between the eyes making a cross-like mark, and there is often a pale stripe down the spine. The arms are edged by distinctive white tubercles and there is a red patch on the back of the thighs. The underparts are pale and granular and the male has a dark throat. The parotid glands are prominent and the toes are only slightly webbed. The guttural toad is very common. It is spreading through southern Africa as its population increases. It can live in a variety of environments, and is very adaptable. It has no major predators and does not suffer much from habitat loss. Source of all factual info: Guttural toad

Feb 17 2020
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The Teenage monster attack! -Rock Monitor Lizard @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Rock Monitor Lizard The rock monitor (Varanus albigularis), also called commonly the white-throated monitor, is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to Central, East, and southern Africa. It is the second-longest lizard found on the continent, and the heaviest-bodied; locally, it is called leguaan or likkewaan. Wiki >Source Check out this gorgeous creatures video above and how it was able to escape a pack unscathed: If you liked this video, please don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, hit the bell icon and share this video with as many people as you have in your contact list everywhere…. While we were having a great lazy Saturday afternoon – watching tv, the dogs as usual started barking. We assumed that they were either barking at people walking past or just randomly barking for no reason what so ever. Now anybody who has a dog (especially a yappy one such as a yorkie or jack russel) will know that dogs sometimes will even bark at the wind if they are bored and not much excitement happens around them… I  tried to make them keep quiet but this time they just wouldn’t listen, our jack russel pup looked quite scared when she ran to me while the other dogs were still around the corner. I was not expecting this much excitement at the end of the day! Our male big dog had a teenage monitor lizard in his mouth. That thing was huge, but I know it was a teenager and not adult cause our mamma Monitor was even bigger than this one. When I saw it in our dogs mouth I at first thought it was our kitten cause she has similar markings as the monitor lizard, I screamed at him, I think he got such a fright and dropped the poor thing, when it ran away I was kinda relieved that it was a monitor Lizard and not the cat, surprisingly enough in the whole 4 dog pack attacking the poor thing it never got hurt, maybe it’s ego was a bit bruised but that’s it. When we got to film it, it stood high and proud and wasn’t scared to “strut it’s stuff”. It would whip it’s tale and hiss voraciously at us. It was quite scary. You could feel the pure force of its tale even while you were out of reach. We left it alone for a while but they went to find the poor creature again and the whole ordeal started all over again… Eventually the poor thing found a safe haven underneath an old rusted drum in the back of our property. Ladies and gentlemen… I present to you our Rock Monitor Lizard… We estimate him to be around a 1 m long, so he is about half the size of what he will be when he grows up…. Here are a few fun facts about these beautiful creatures… They have blue tongues, this is not from research, this fact I discovered on my own when we were so close to it. I just found out what kind of Monitor lizard we have around here: It is the rock Monitor lizard… The Rock monitor lizard is the second largest Lizard in Africa. it can grow up to – 2 m in length including its tail. It comes short to the Nile Monitor Lizard being the longest lizard in Africa. Some people actually keep these giants as exotic pets, although it’s not recommended to try keep a monitor lizard and have dogs and cats, especially if the dog or cat is smaller than the lizard… The Lizard might mistaken the cat/dog for prey! It is the heaviest bodied lizard on the continent… With adult males can weighing up to – 5 -8 kg (more mature males can reach a whopping – 15 -18 kg) and females weighing 3.3kg – 5 kg. They are mostly carnivorous eating – Centipedes, eggs, small birds, small reptiles and small mammals, so keep watch over all your furry friends when one of these are around…

Feb 17 2020
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It’s a slithery business – Eastern Green Snake @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

***Harmless Snake*** – A beautifully-marked bright green snake that is active during the day… Every night we take our pups for a walk in the garden to let them do their business before we go to bed. We have this tree close to the house that grows these green pods that look almost like pea pods… On this particular night, Tom decided he wanted to play a little joke on me, his plan was to grab one of the pods and yell snake. Well I am so glad he didn’t… Why??? Because the really was a snake in that exact tree!!! In fact it was sitting right next to the pod that he wanted to grab. The snake is a perfectly harmless Eastern Green Snake (a constrictor), but still has teeth and will readily bite when threatened. The next morning we thought it had left its tree to find a more private tree to live in, until a family member pointed out that it looked like it was still in the tree. It wasn’t exactly where they said it was but when we went to check again we saw its head sticking out of the tree. It was almost perfectly camouflaged with its environment, except it’s gorgeous big golden brown eye. It posed for us for a while, got quiet a few nice shots of it, and then it decided it was tired of the spotlight and started to sway from side to side as if to tell us “leave me alone now please”… A few fun facts about our pretty Snake here in Sibaya – Sodwana Bay: They are day snakes, often hunting for geckos and frogs, I guess they like to catch their prey while they sleep, as most frogs and geckos are nocturnal… They are excellent climbers and often found in very high trees to escape the attention… They are super shy and not very fond of attention. If you wanna pick one up, you might want to put a pair of gloves on, although not venomous they are still ready to bite when handled, and I guess like any snake their teeth could be super sharp. Although I wouldn’t suggest handling a snake until you are absolutely sure what snake it is, and even then rather get a snake guide to approve of the snake. Eastern Greens are often needlessly killed, they are often mistaken for a green Mamba or a boomslang, since these venomous snakes also live in trees. Before killing a snake you might wanna do your homework, our team is very pro-life… Don’t get me wrong if you find a venomous snake on your property that is highly aggressive, you might not have a choice but to kill it, especially having small kids or pets and livestock. But try to rather re-home the snake before going to such extreme measures. The Eastern Natal Green Snake has keels on the belly as well as the underside of the tail and tends to be bright green with some light yellow on the belly. They can grow on average up to 90 cm, but some are known to grow up to 130 cm So next time you see a green Snake, don’t assume the worst, do so homework quickly before needlessly killing a harmless snake… All fact base information Source: https://www.africansnakebiteinstitute.com/snake/eastern-natal-green-snake/

Feb 12 2020
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There’s a monster Lurking…watching! – Rock Monitor Lizard @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Who would have thought that living off grid would bring you so close to nature – ja, thats the whole idea I suppose… When living in town you might encounter a spider or a gecko  if you’re lucky maybe a small brown house snake in the garden but the range of animals and insects we have encountered since our move down to Sodwana Bay have been astounding. First we saw three of the Monitor Lizards babies on our roof. Then the other day we encountered the “mamma” but up scaled… a prehistoric Dinosaur! Don’t get me wrong we love it out here – in the bundus – though we never really realized how wild South Africa truly is. I don’t think I have ever seen such a big lizard in the wild – let alone in our own yard before! It looks like a dinosaur/dragon hybrid thingy in my opinion. Similar to a comodo dragon. As usual we had to keep all the dogs away especially the Jack Russel Pup – I swear its mouth was as big as her. Unfortunately, after running away from us it got stuck in a thick brush of grass at the end of our property. We were able to free it from its grassy trap, but was unable to get a great shot of it with the camera. Also it didn’t help that the poor Creature got wrapped around a tree. It was a good thing we found it… At first we thought it was dead, it wasn’t moving even when we tried to move the grass away with a stick – but than… It opened its eyes. That was super scary its like a Dragon opening its eyes in the movies. We were able to save the poor lizard, didn’t even get a chance to film it when it got free it was unfortunately way to quick for us. Check out or follow up Monitor Lizard, where one upgraded to teenage size and more info about what they eat, how harmful they can be etc… Plus NEW VIDEO of the Monitor Lizards in our yard….