29: Safari South Africa!

Gary is ready for our safari!
The hat is a new addition to his wardrobe, something I picked up in one of the shops
at the V+A Waterfront in Cape Town while he was on a Field Lab to Cape Point
with his Oceanography class (they got to see penguins!)

In the early days of planning for all the places we would experience on our Semester at Sea voyage, I was the most interested in seeing the Angkor Temples of Cambodia. But after that, it was the safari in Kruger National Park - something so far from anything I could even imagine - that I was looking forward to...plus I had a new telephoto lens to try out, just for the occasion.

The Faculty Liaison for this trip was Prof. Brigham. Not only were we looking forward to spending some time off the ship with Bob, Monica and their daughter Taylor, we were also looking forward to enjoying the freedom of Gary NOT being the liaison. So we settled in for a relaxing trip.

It was a long one. Departure from the ship was at 4am. We were to catch a flight to Johannesburg, and then get on a bus for a 6 hour drive to Kruger National Park. Most of the students napped the whole time, but the landscape was varied and interesting, so Gary and I stayed awake. The six hours seemed to go by faster than we had expected.

Looking out the bus window...the cosmos all over the country side made us feel at home,
since it blankets our yard at home, after the California poppies have waned.

Contrasting juxtapositions: coal burning power plant in the distance, beyond the fields of maize and cosmos,
with power lines connecting to all points...

Bryn, Vivian and Erin find a beautiful old tree to climb at our lunch spot

Our destination was the southern tip of Kruger National Park, Nkambeni Safari Camp. We had individual tent cabins with baths, and even an outdoor shower. It was all quite pleasant (well, except for the two bats I discovered on our ceiling late that night...).

We were fortunate. As far as safaris go, ours was quite short, especially with all the travel time involved. But we managed to see all the "Big Five" before 11am!

In South Africa, wildlife is still called "game" even though at places like Kruger, the animals are no longer hunted. And it was US President Theodore Roosevelt who coined the name "Big Five" to denote the animals that are most difficult and dangerous to hunt on foot. They are the lion, the leopard, the elephant, the rhino and the cape buffalo.

Our guide and driver also had a list of what he called the "Beautiful Five," and the "Ugly Five." The Beautiful Five included the giraffe, the impala, the kudu, the zebra and the waterbuck. The Ugly Five were the hyena, the wildebeest, the baboon, the maribou stork and the warthog. Our guide had a sense of humor...

Maybe the next time we have a chance to go on Safari, I will have saved up enough to spring for a 500mm telephoto lens. Well, maybe not...they are just so heavy, and there's no way of getting around using a tripod.

The sun rises on the morning we hope to see what they call the "Big Five"...the Elephant, Leopard, Lion, Rhino, and Cape Buffalo....so named by Teddy Roosevelt, big game hunter (and US president...)

Our first glimpse at wildlife: the beautiful Impala

Impalas again...we learned that Kruger is chock full of Impalas...but that never dimmed our happiness at spotting them.

And again...this one has two Red Billed Oxpeckers along for the ride....they feed off the Impala's ticks.

Cape Buffalo!

Rhinos...but they seem to be hiding...

Guinea Fowl. I was captivated by their graphic colors.

A Leopard mom...her cub is off to the left, but not visible.

Hyena mom...

And the adorable baby hyena!

Giraffes...amazing creatures. We were thrilled to come across them.

There is something a bit amusing about animals, especially big ones like giraffes, crossing a street...

Love that look...

King of the Jungle...resting. We were not able to get too close to him...

Or to the two lionesses in the shade of a molar shaped boulder...

Crocodile alert....

Baby elephants crossing the street...

Taking a break from eating to look right at us...

They seem to spend all their time eating...

Elephant parent and child.

Hippos hiding...

Beautiful Zebras!

It's Zazu from Lion King! Not quite. This is a Yellow Billed Hornbill, and Zazu is purportedly a Red Billed Hornbill.

Kudu from the front - looks like he's wearing war paint...

Kudu, from  the rear, looks like he is dripping paint...

The rest stop, where we got coffee and snacks, also had a heard of Cape Buffalo, Rhinos, and an Emu!

More beautiful countryside on the way back to the airport.