Mar 17 2020
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The Steve Crab – Hermit Crab @ Sodwana Bay ~South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Biological Description: Most species have long, spirally curved abdomens, which are soft, unlike the hard, calcified abdomens seen in related crustaceans. The vulnerable abdomen is protected from predators by a salvaged empty seashell carried by the hermit crab, into which its whole body can retract. Most frequently, hermit crabs use the shells of sea snails (although the shells of bivalves and scaphopods and even hollow pieces of wood and stone are used by some species). The tip of the hermit crab’s abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the snail shell. Most hermit crabs are nocturnal. Source: WikiPedia I am sure everybody has heard the expression that some people are hermits… being reclusive. We were super excited to find a “Steve” crab in the rock pools… On Sunday, we were prowling Sodwana Bay beach for more video Footage for our youtube channel, unfortunately the tide was still a little bit high and we really didn’t want to wait till the low tide so we scoured what little rock pools could be seen. It’s not as exciting as being in the water it’s self, but you can find a few cute and different creatures that cling to the rocks and corals instead of swimming with the big fish. Hermit Crabs are definitely the kind to cling to rocks and coral and really hate being disturbed… Just like a Hermit person! I really wish we could have picked up one that wasn’t afraid to come out of it’s shell, but maybe one day one of these scaredy crabs might just allow us to see it’s true beauty! On the Left hand side is an illustration of what the hermit crab looks like without a shell   – Source: Mother Nature Network and on the left is a smaller crab taken by our GoPro. Both are hermit crabs, although they might be different kinds of Hermits they look similar to each 0ther, I am no expert in this matter… A few fun Facts about the “Steve” Crab: Anyone who has ever heard of a hermit crab most probably know this already… Unlike most crabs who have their own shells that shed and grow with them – the Hermit crab is designed to constantly scavenge for old shells as it gets older… Now we know who keeps on stealing the really cool and intact shells… This is something I really didn’t think existed – You get land hermit crabs and you get marine crabs… I know crabs stay close to water, but I always thought they were more like seals stay close to water to keep their skin moist and of course their main source of food is in the sea… But this is not the case both terrestrial and marine Hermit Crabs have gills and constantly need to keep their gills wet at all times – the only difference is terrestrial crabs have adapted to prolonged times out of water, whilst marine crabs can only last a few minutes out of water – Some hermit crab species are also kept as pets, but I would do my homework before getting one as a pet…. It’s a tough world for a crab – Hermit crabs have quite a tough life when it comes to choosing a home – Because they are constantly growing they constantly looking for a new house – much like a teenager, always looking for the next best thing – Some Hermit crabs will fight till the death to get that perfect home, whilst others will do the more civil thing and create chains waiting to get the right sized shell… A crab that is desperate for a new shell will often go pick on another crab – they will tap the other crabs shell until it comes out, once the crab is out the shell they will fight until one of them accepts defeat – this is kinda sad, they can loose limbs or even die from these encounters… At the end of the battle – the victorious crab gets to take over or keep the shell that was fought over… Now that I think about it – it’s kinda like having two neighbors who hate each other and finally battle it out for the prettiest girl on the block… The chain effect – Now this is a pleasant way to get what you want without the violence… One crab walks up to a shiny pretty shell he/she really wants, from a distance it looks to be the perfect size, unfortunately when it gets there – the shell is to big for it and will not do for it’s size… So it sits and waits… Hermit crabs will sit and guard that shell for up to eight hours if it has to – Mr Hermit decides he has nothing better to do so he sits close to the shell watching it… The next crab comes along seeing the same shell, but the shell is to big for this crab as well so it goes to wait in line holding Mr Crabs claw, this chain will stay unbroken for 8 hours, up to 20 crabs can for a single chain – eventually the crab they have all been waiting for – She is just the right size for the shell, without hesitation Mrs crab takes off her old shell and tries on the new shiny one – first inline is Mr crab – He takes off his old shell and puts Mrs crabs shell on and so the whole chain starts to exchange their shells each moving u to a bigger shell… This just proves that if Hermit crabs are not desperate for shells, they can work together in harmony to achieve all their goals together… Since most snails have a spiral shell (Hermits preferred shells)… Hermit crabs have adapted their soft bodies to be able to Spiral into the shell, clutching their tails around the inside of the shell… Although Hermit Crabs are very confident at fighting each other they are more like the hyenas and vultures of the sea… They scavenge the…

Mar 03 2020
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The Shady one – Roman spider @ Sibaya -Sodwana Bay – South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 153 genera. Despite the common names, they are neither true scorpions (order Scorpiones) nor true spiders (order Araneae). Much like a spider, the body of a solifugid has two tagmata: an opisthosoma (abdomen) behind the prosoma (that is, in effect, a combined head and thorax). At the front end, the prosoma bears two chelicerae that, in most species, are conspicuously large. The chelicerae serve as jaws and in many species also are used for stridulation. Unlike scorpions, solifugids do not have a third tagma that forms a “tail”. Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. The largest species grow to a length of 12–15 cm (5–6 in), including legs. A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solifugaehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solifugae I think this is the hardest I have laughed and screamed in a really long time… Now living out in the bush and having a braai can sometimes be a tricky business. Tom has this super crazy phobia of this specific spider… The red Roman Spider or more commonly known globally as the Sun spider… Tom has a funny personality on his own already. He loves making jokes and and overall is mostly a funny guy outside of work. He can really be a class clown, when he’s in the right mood… I think I laugh the most when he is super scared of something, never ask him to be your knight in shining armor when it comes to freaky, ugly creepy crawlies like this one. Well at the time when we caught this monster of a creepy crawly, I wasn’t aware they are actually aggressive and can bite really sore. We were sitting outside having a great chat about our dreams and what we would love to do still within this year, when suddenly Tom felt a weird tickle on his foot. At first he didn’t take note of it and thought it might just be a piece of grass, but this grass started to move, right now I am so wishing I had the camera ready to video him… I think it was the fastest I have seen Tom jump on anything before and that’s saying a lot… since we use to work in construction. For some reason Roman Spiders/Sun Spiders seem to really be attracted to Tom’s Shadow. Besides that I have this really bad habit of putting my feet up on chairs and couches all the time. I can even walk past the stupid things and they will never chase my shadow, maybe they after Tom’s hairy legs or something (Read facts below)… I sound like a really bad fiance, but I love watching Tom run away from these freaky looking critters… HAHAHA! On this occasion I had to be the hero in his story, but he does save me more often then I save him, so I don’t mind saving him once in a while… when he has to save me almost everyday… Unfortunately we do not have our own photo of this freaky creature, he was way to fast tryna get away from the light and any footage we have is super blurry… A few facts about this scary Critter that roams our sandy planes: Despite their name they are not actually spiders, the only thing they have in common with a spider is their 8 legs! You know that feeling, when you think something is stalking or watching you out in the bush, maybe just check your shadow there really might be something following you in the dark of night or in the daytime… These creatures are supposedly daytime dwellers, running from shadow to shadow, but we have only encountered these shady creatures at night, much delight to our kitten and Puppy… No, they do not have 10 legs as popular belief might suggest, I guess it just makes them sound even more scarier and more alien like, but there front lobes are more like feelers than legs and are way to short to use as legs… Although it is not a spider it is still classified as a Arachnida. Ok, so here is some good and bad news all in one go – Roman/sun spiders are not poisonous, but tend to be quite agressive and can apparently bite really sore – I seriously hope never to be bitten by one these scary creatures… They tend to shave your hair for you while you sleep… Reports might suggest that these creepy crawlies will give you a really bad free beard trim and all they ask for in return is that you donate your hair to their nests. There has been cases where animals have been left with bald patches after an unexpected visit from mister Sun Spider. These things are super vicious – they eat – spiders, scorpions, even small reptiles, but you wanna know the worst part – they will even prey on each other and eat their prey alive, that’s just horrible. They have super strong pincers like a crab which helps them successfully catch and eat their prey… They can grow between 70 -160 mm. The bigger the scarier… I am a lover of almost any creature, but never been a huge fan of Spiders – Especially – Hairy, aggressive, huge and poisonous ones!!!! Please go checkout our  Patreon Page Below… We wanna start giving you guys who are committed to us exclusive content and be able to further our channel and provide better content to our Patrons… To do this we need funds and all the support we can get… Also check out our YouTube Channel when you done reading this… Every view is one step closer to our goal, we need 4000 hours of our subscribers views and 1000 Subscribers to be able to start making money and better content for you guys, YouTube is free please watch all our videos till the end… and subscribe…

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 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….

Feb 07 2020
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Join our Patreon Group @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

 Have you heard about our exciting new Patreon Page. Become a Patron? So the story goes like this, we have been visiting Sodwana a couple times a year for the last 2 years. We fell in love with the ocean, the gorgeous live stock that can roam free and the secluded, isolated, rural, rusticness and quietness of the whole place. In these last 2 years of wanting to move to the coast we have been watching a lot of traveler Vloggers and small townies that just make normal videos about their everyday lives down by the beach. This really inspired us to start saving and preparing to make that leap of faith. Most of our friends and family know how hard we have worked on our websites and in Pretoria to get where we are today, and we thank everybody who has helped us so far on our journey. We were blessed enough to be able to watch these travel vloggers, especially been able to spend the hours of data to watch each and every video and that’s how we were able to stumble upon Patreon. I haven’t done much research into it myself yet. But I know enough that we can add special and exclusive content on our account and people that are on there are willing to help sponsor and grow the people they subscribe to. So I am asking that you guys subscribe to our Patreon group, to find exclusive galleries, articles and videos that we will not be posting on Sodwana Bay Information. We will also be adding some exclusive products that will be up for grabs. Subscribe on Youtube? Become a Patron? Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, follow our blogs and maybe even subscribe to our Patreon group to watch our journey grow into a super awesome and Exciting Adventure…

Dec 16 2019
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Sodwana Bay January 2019 @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

  The change to our souls… Took a while to get this finished – whohooooo finally it is done! Yes, it took a whole year but we still sharing… hope you enjoy!     This was our holiday trip from January 2019 @ Sodwana Bay. Honestly thinking back on it now, I would say this was the breakthrough point for us, we got engaged (unfortunately was to excited for the camera to catch anything), we missed our dog and cat a lot and hated going on vacation without them… Then there was the biggest problem of all, we were 600km away from the sea when we go back home. We were real unhappy and over worked. We knew it was time for change and it was welcomed! So, we made a pact – We were gonna work as hard as humanly possible, save up as much as we can and move to Sodwana Bay with in that year. We also promised our animals that we won’t go to Sodwana if they can’t go with – as Im writing this they are all around us – living in Sodwana Bay… Whooohoooo! Although this video took a year to create I think it was uploaded at the perfect time and in the right environment… at Sodwana Bay! So thanks for all the friends, family and Clients who have supported us in our dream coming true… Follow our Adventures?