More Adventues

Today we met a black rhino, a baby black rhino and Yasent was beside himself with excitement.

Joy of joys he even got to get up close and pet the rhino.


Bill's up-close experience was a bit different.

Still, it isn't every day that one gets to hold and feed a vulture.

Anne's big adventure was in buying 6 oranges and a pineapple for just over $2.00. That was almost as good as the earlier find of bananas for 10 cents each.

Yasent's Excellent Adventure

This past month has been full of adventures for Yasent but today was one of those extra special ones: He got to feed and bottle and pet a hippo. Here he is with Jessica, a hippo who was swept from her mother in the flood of 2000 just moments after she was born

Feeding involves tossing a handful of pellets into her mouth and then following it with a gentle pat.

Jessica likes to have a couple of litres of warm sweet tea after her feeding and then she relaxes and takes a nap.

After our hippo encounter we had lunch at the "Upside down restaurant" near a giant baobab tree. That is Yasent under the tree in his yellow South African football jersey.

Eating can be an adventure too especially if you are young and not real big on trying new tastes. So we were delighted that Yasent ate his first nasturtium flower.

Anne's African Birthday

For her birthday Anne wanted to take a cruise on the Olifants River near where we were staying. As it turned out, we were the only clients on the double-decked boat.

This was the lodge area from which we departed.

Breakfast was served by our cook, Precious, on the lower level. Before and after breakfast we viewed the passing scene from the upper level.

We floated down to the dam and peeked over the spillway before heading back upriver.

For her birthday lunch we took Anne to another lodge set in beautiful grounds and for dinner our hostess prepared a chicken tagine dish and baked Anne a chocolate cake.

Non-Power Shopping

Before we left Hazyview, Anne and I wanted to check out the long lines of tablecloths that we pass each time we go to the park entrance. We felt like locals as we walked the path alongside the road and talked with the women whose wares we were eyeing.

Anne and Yasent are there beside the road.

The lovely blue elephant was Anne's favorite and will grace her table.

These sisters were from Zimbabwe and were very friendly and helpful.

I was facinated by this unusual use of a grocery shopping cart to haul firewood.

At Yasent's request we stopped at this group of stands so he could shop for his new favorite animal, the rhino.

Camouflage

It is fall here and some but not all of the trees and bushes are losing their leaves. Still, we are amazed at how even large animals can completely disappear into the brush. Often it is just an ear flick that tells us where to look. Here are a few examples of some camouflage.

Two elephants in the early morning light.




Five giraffes in this one. They are a little more obvious.

This last one I took especially to show how giraffes can be hidden. It wasn't until I viewed the photo on the computer screen that I realized there was a second giraffe there.

Visiting Kruger Park

We recently spent a couple of days at Satara camp in Kruger Park. We did this so that we could take early morning and evening game drives from a spot more centrally located within the park as the rules are that cars must be out of the park or in a camp by 5:30 pm. One afternoon just before our drive we spotted a honey badger moving around our area tipping over garbage cans and searching the contents. Anne was able to get some good photos of him.

PEEK!!!!

Note his enormous claws. He can be vicious.

This elephant uprooted a small tree and carried it onto the road to munch.

He proceeded to eat both roots and leaves and to block the road in both directions. We were first in line in our direction so had plenty of time and advantage for good photos.

Elephants Up Close

On Sunday Anne and Yasent had an elephant adventure. We went along to watch and to take photographs. They began with a lesson on elephant anatomy and proceeded with meeting and touching the elephants and then walking with them, feeding them, and finally riding them. It was a fantastic experience especially for a ten-year old boy.




Below Yasent is getting an elephant kiss.

Return to South Africa

On May 21 after a long flight on Ethiad Airways with a stop in Abu Dhabi we finally arrive in Johannesburg and made the connection to Nelspruit. We then took our rental car and drove the last few miles to Hazyview and our marvelous cottage that will be home for the next five weeks. Here are some view of where we are staying. We have two bedrooms, two bathrooms plus an outdoor shower, a large living room and a large formal dining room plus a full kitchen with stove and microwave, frig and freezer. We are set. A swimming pool is being constructed for us but we can't imagine having the time to enjoy it.

Above is our outdoor shower and on the right of the photo is the door to our bedroom. We are on the second floor. Below are two photos of the deck where the outdoor shower is.


This is the view from our bedroom.

Brief Stop in Egypt

We stopped for only 2 and 1/2 days in Egypt on our way to South Africa. During that time we stayed in a fun apartment in a part of Giza that is very rural. Our apt. was on the 4th floor up what seemed like thousands of stairs. We were across from a camel stable and we had wonderful views of the pyramids and the sphinx.
This first photo is our view as we lay in our bed. That is our balcony just outside the door.

View from the balcony. We could see all three pyramids of Giza and if we went up to the roof above us we could see the sphinx.




No visit to Cairo could be complete without seeing a bellydancer. Bill was able to get very close.