Out of Africa

Returned a couple of weeks ago from a Once In A Lifetime trip to SOuth Africa. I expected to see some animals in the bush, but I did not quite expect to see them quite so close, nor did I expect the beauty of both the bush and the South African wine country & Cape Town area. Although Once In A Lifetime, it is a place I certainly could go back to again and again. Here are a few shots, with a brief story about some:




We arrived in Captwon to really awful weather - for 4 days. But oddly, as we did some sightseeing, as we got out of our car the rain would stop until it was time to get back in - so we pretty much mssed getting wet. But we could not go up to Table Mountain as it was too windy &, as you see here, cloud covered the entire time there.



Driving around in CPT area we came along this family of babboons just relaxing on the side of the road. I had a sudden urge to have my back scratched.






On the way to WIne Country we also ran into some friendly Jackass Penguins, and a bunch of Ostrich.



The Penguins had no problem with us coming right up to them. They were cute & playful.



WIne COuntry was beautiul. We previewed a new resort there - La Residence - that has to rank as the nicest resort I have ever seen:




Then on to Hermanus for Whale & Shark watching. But water was too rough to allow for shark watching, and whales didn't come as close to shore as normal due to the rough seas.

But beautiful there nonetheless:

Next Stop - Sabi Sands Game Reserve. But first we had to fly to Johannseberg, and then from there we took a little little plane to get to the safari camps. As you can see, my Main Squeeze was a little nervous flying in the small plane:



and now the Safari begins.

First, the Sunsets there were amazing:



The Animals - OK - I know you want to see the animals.!
We were SOOO CLOSE - It was incredible. And to see the life in the Bush - the interactions, the Survival Of The Fittest - where you see first hand the adaptations the animals make to survive - Lion Kills, jackal steals, Hyena cleanups.



And true Jungle Love. Every 15 minutes!!!!







At one point our Land Rover got stuck in a Sand Pit. Stuck with these lions. While it was fun watching them interact - about 6 or 7 babies with some adult mothers - they'd go from lion to lion to nurse - we knew we were stuck until the lions decided to leave. It turned out to be only about an hour until we could get out of our vehicle so it could be towed out of the sand by anther one. A few times the lions decided to do a very close inspection of our vehicle.



On returning to our lodge, candles were lit, champagne on ice, rose petals on the bed & in the filled tub & around the outdoor shower.



And out again for another day of exploration:



Lots of Secrets in the Bush





And as the sun sets on yet another day in the Bush, more of these photos can be seen at www.liphotoman.smugmug.com