Day One

On Saturday, Sue and I flew out from Johannesburg ..on a small, 10-seater plane.



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After about 1 hour in, the true African scenery began to appear.

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Our guides met us at the 'gate', and we watched our little plane takeoff.


On the ride back to our hotel, we had our first experience with the bush, which, as you can see, is aptly named.

Our first animals -- a group of zebras.

A closer look. This guys I'm sure is sick of all the visitors checking out his 'great lines'.

..and then, some gorgeous warthogs.

On our way to the hotel, we caught our first of the Big 5 (elephant, leopard, lion, rhino, and buffalo)

..and the first, of many, giraffes

We arrived at our lodge, and the scenery from our back porch was impressive. A few good shots below --

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We then headed out on our first of two safari runs on the trip. First animal on the safari-- the first, of many, wildebeest

the Kudu

We then found a family of elephants, and our guide shared a few stories of their intelligence and family structure, a main reason they are so respected throughout the country.

One of the teenagers, who was 'raging w/ hormones' in the words of our guide, separated from his family and ventured our way; our guide was careful not to provoke him.

His family was off in the distance ..

..and they eventually crossed the road behind us, so we had the opportunity to get a clear look

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Eventually, the teenager strutted back to his family.

We then stopped for a quick snack and a few drinks in the bush. Our 22-year old guide, while holding her gun, shared a few stories of her past year as a guide. Clearly, this was no average 22-year old girl.

After a hectic week, Sue and I were thoroughly enjoying some down time.

The sun was setting and the scene was somewhat nostalgic.

I decided to get a little artistic with my beer bottle. For me, this is as good as it gets in the artistic arena.

The color in the sky was great.

...and then the real fun began! On our way back to the lodge, we heard a call over the radio that there was a lion kill and 2 lions were in the area. Our guide turned to us, and explained that the lions were about 45 minutes away, and we have to bust to get there and get back to the lodge in time for dinner.

So we started moving quickly, ignoring other animals in the area. No later than 2 minutes after we started moving quickly, we saw the 2nd of our Big 5, a female rhino ~100 yards down the road. A male rhino then surprised us, and stepped in the road, about halfway between us and the female rhino. Our safari came to a screeching halt; we were stuck. The stanoff lasted for ~5 minutes, and the two rhinos finally ventured off.

We were then moving again, and rapidly. The blurriness in the photo below accurately captures the bumpiness of the road, and the speed which we were moving.

..but it was worth it. Our guide found our way to the kill, and we saw the 3rd of Big Five -- a lion! This was definitely a highlight, although the lion was sleeping. His stomach was huge, fresh off a recent kill.

It was clear he was not going to wake up.

We pulled in for a closer look.

..and I zoomed in. At about this point, I made a potentially fatal mistake. Realizing this lion was not going to awake, I decided to grab Sue's leg. She jumped as I expected, but made a louder screech than I was anticipiating. The lion kept sleeping, but it was my mistake. Our guide was not happy. We pulled out back on to the road, and the guide curtly informed me that this not the smartest thing to do at the sight of a lion kill. Agreed.

..but the fun was not over yet. About halfway back to the lodge, we got a flat. 8pm, pitch black, and stuck in the middle of the bush in South Africa -- a truly memorable moment.

Our guide proceeded to change the tire, while Sue was instructed to strobe the area with a bright light.

We were all instructed to make a lot of noise to scare away any potential intruders.

The light duty was eventually handed over. After ~20 minutes, we were back on the road, and all was good. Many told us that a brief ~24 hour trip to the bush was not enough. This experience alone made it all worth it.

We made it safely back to the lodge, and shared our stories. We spoke with one group that had been at the lion kill as well, and they showed us a video of the same lion we saw getting up, letting out a huge roar, and going back to sleep. Hmmmm... we were fortunate

Day Two

After an adventurous evening Game Run, we were ready for the morning journey, not knowing what adventure may be waiting for us in the bush. Our wake-up call came in at the pleasant hour of 4:30, so we could be ready to go in the lobby by 5.

To brighen our awakening spirits, the view of the Sunrise from our lodge was quite impressive ...especially when you consider the location and surrounding wildlife.


Sue was especially taken by the bird nests hanging down from the nearby trees. I didn't quite appreciate the excitement, but I decided to take a picture nonetheless.

Another view...

In true luxury lodge form, they had juice, coffee, and bagles waiting for us at the central lodge ..and the view from the deck wasn't bad either.

..and then it was time to set out on our morning Game Run. We had the same guide as the night before, so after the previous night's adventures, we knew we were in good hands.

First on the plate for the morning, a Kudu.

These guys are, surprisingly, not that skittish. He walked toward our safari van to take a closer look.

Supposedly you can tell their age by the length of their horns. For every twist in their horns, they are ~2.5 years old. The guide estimated this one to be ~4 years old.

A good view of the stripes along the back.

We then came upon every South African's favorite animal, the elephant. This was another teen boy, that had slightly separated from his family herd, and given the previous night's events, we knew to stay clear.

His family was nearby however, as we could see them off in the bush.

As we progressed a little further, we noticed the entire family feasting in the middle of the road. Our guide had just previously received a call that their may be leopard in the area. ...so rather than wait for these guys to venture off, we pulled a u-turn, and found another way around these lumbering lavishes.

We never found the leopard, but I was able to get this great shot of a Kudu. His white lines along his back are clearly visible. ..and his muscles throughout his body are on display. I would guess this one was ~4 as well.

After a little more driving, we were beginning to expect the fact that this would likely be a slow Game Run (though after the previous night's roller-coaster, we still held out hope that the Game Run may turn around).

Our guide spotted these giraffe in the distance, and after consulting with us, she decided to follow them for a good 30 minutes.

These giraffes are surprisingly tame, and not the least bit alarmed by the 6 folks in the nearby vehicle. This one, did, however, engage in a curious look in our direction.

The group ventured down the road, and without any other, evident enticing options, we followed...

Judging by the comfort of this one's saunter, you would think the roads were actually designed for them!

The sun was just clearing the hilltop at this early hour, and the group continued on with their morning dining....

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This is the best pciture of the entire group of them. I believe there was 6 in total. Again, I was reminded of the movie Jurassic Park, as the giraffes, more than most animals we saw, do have a dinosaur resemblance (0k - this may be a bit of a stretch)

The guide pointed out to us that this one was VERY pregnant. ..and even to the untrained idea, it was clear that she 'was ready to pop at any time', as our guide phrased it.

Our guide also pointed out that you can generally tell the age of the giraffe by it's color -- i.e. they darken with age. She estimated this was one of the elders in the group. (..though judging by the awkward look on this giraffe's face, I'm not sure it was thrilled about us coming to this conclusion :)

It was then time to stop for our morning coffee and brunch in the middle of the bush. ..but being acclimated 'locals' by this point, we were all quite comfortable ..especially given the fact that this stop was expected ..and in the daylight!

Our 21-year old guide took care of everything as usual...

..but Sue had had a tough week in the office, so she decided to stay in the Safari rover, cuddled in her leopard skin blanket.

After we set off again, the radio remained silent, and our guide agreed that it was just a quiet day in the bush. These duck were the nearest thing we had to an adrenaline boost.

This reservoir in the middle of the game reserve is usually quite popular with the surrounding animals, but unfortunately, on this day, the ducks were the only excitement.

On our way back to camp, our guide, to her credit, continued to try to entertain. She spotted these elephant footprint, and began to share her 'bush' knowledge...

She explained away ..but unfortunately, by this point, my mind had drifted off...

Ooohh -- everyone look -- a zebra!! Sue was especially fond of the muscle tone in the ASS, so I thought I 'd take this shot for good measure :)

On our way into camp, we did spot a colorful bird. I can't remember the name, but the guide pointed out that it is the most photographed bird in the world (not quite sure how you track this stat, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt here)

This bird clearly enjoys 'modeling', and it continued to move close even as we drove away. The colors are impressive.

"Work with me now. Oh yeah, that's it -- a little to the right ..."

..and as we drove away, he flew up to a tree right next to us, and gave us one final view. I think he was sad we were leaving ..but it was time to go.

Before we left however, our guide found this tortoise on the side of the road ..

..and she brought it in for a close look. He was a little shy this morning.