Wild Dogs, what's that?

In the afternoon we went on another Safari Drive.  Gavin went to sleep so Matt chose his own route.  When Gavin woke up he said Matt had taken the wrong road but we kept going for a little bit.  Good thing too because we got to see some Rhino right next to the road.  (We had already seen some, but this was the closest so far.)

Matt would have liked to just stay and watch them as he loves Rhino, but we had to skedaddle because we had gotten a tip from another driver that there was Wild Dog ahead.  (Good thing we took the wrong road..) He said 3 kilometers up the road, but it was more like 6 or something.  But we kept going and wahlah!  

Do you see him?

There was a whole pack of them!

We stayed and watched them as long as we could.  They are actually quite beautiful and unique looking.  We were hoping for some action shots, we thought maybe we would get one when this wildebeest came upon the scene:

He came this far, and the dogs are to the right out of the frame...but he sensed danger.  They didn't seem to see him, although it looked like they knew something was about.  He stood very still for awhile and then snuck away.  The only real action shot we got was this:

Yea, I just posted a pooping dog on my blog.  It's an exotic African Wild Dog so it's ok.

Like my sister said, "you don't see that every day."

They did move around a little bit:

Their markings are so cool.  People say they are actually one of the more vicious hunters in Africa.  They are endangered and it's rare to see them.  This is supposedly the only pack of Wild Dogs in this particular park so our seeing it was special.  

We stayed as long as we could, hoping for more action but eventually we had to leave so we could get out of the park gates in time.  A tip for any of you thinking of coming here, don't be late to leave the gate (Catchy huh?).  Because they fine you.  If we'd stayed a little longer they would have come out on the road, someone posted pictures of them next to the cars online later on.  Shame we missed it, but we had hit the road by then. 

More next time!

Around the Watering Holes

Well, I finally got done sorting through my pictures from our first Safari Weekend so here are some more..  We did see a lion in the wild.  Our friend Gavin knew something was up when the impala and even some wildebeest came sprinting past on the road.  So we immediately went to the nearest watering hole and sure enough, a beautiful male lion was there.  My pictures weren't great because of distance and lack of camera skills but I'll share one:

He must have been hungry since the animals knew it was time to flee the scene.

We kept driving around and went up to a more remote area and saw an animal it's rare to see because they are very shy and cautious, it's a Klipspringer.  Again pictures aren't great because of the distance:

Do you see there are 2 of them?  I looked them up and the internet says they form breeding pairs rather than herds and that they mate for life.  It also says the succulents they eat keep them hydrated so they don't have to drink.

We kept driving and found we had some sort of monster thorn in our tyre, but it didn't seem to be leaking so Matt cut it off and left it in the rest of the trip.  It is now our spare tyre.  (Yes, I totally spell it tyre here, that is the way things roll here. ;) No idea how that thorn got in our tyre, in our sidewall no less.  It's not like we were driving into thorn trees.

We saw elephants, I'm showing you this next picture because it's an action shot:

Flapping it's ears.  It's cool when they do this, and loud too if you are close enough.

At the next watering hole we saw zebra:

I did doctor this one up a bit.  It's one of my favorites now.

Then it was time to go back to the human watering hole.  I'm referring of course to the pool.  It was so hot driving around. (Reminded me of when I had my faithful pioneer car with no A/C.  My BFF Elsa will remember that one I think. And my sister too. That car is still going in strong in Riverton by the way.  I see it around town when we visit. :)  We went back to camp and to the pool.  Our air mattress also had some sort of leak so Matt took it to the pool to try to find it.  Some helpful locals came over to lend a hand. I do have a picture of that, but I thought instead I'd show you this picture at the pool:

This is something I'll never quite get.  They did it in Nigeria too.  Some Africans just love having their wedding pictures taken next to the pool.  It's one thing if you are able to have a pool that's empty (of people)  I guess...Why you would want some half-naked strangers in your wedding pictures I will never understand.  Although to be perfectly honest, I would not get near a pool in a wedding dress. There are way too many cinematic moments depicting brides being tossed into pools to feel safe in that situation.  I mean really.

Back at camp we also had a visitor:

Naughty Pumba.  

That is another reason, besides the baboon troops, to keep your camp neat and secure.

That's all for now, more safari pictures still to come.  I'm really trying to be judicious.  You would not believe how many I have that I'm not sharing and how many others were deleted.  I'm trying to spread them out so you don't get totally bored. :)

The One that is the 100th post of this Blog

Eeeek!  It's been a whole month since you got a post! I'm sorry guys.  I have excuses, but I won't bore you with them.  However, I hope it's worth the wait.  In February we went on 2 Safaris!  Yes TWO!  I have to admit that it's hard to go back to not going on Safari after that.  (You see now why it was so hard to find time to post....since we were on Safari and all that;)  It's our one hundredth post, so we will share our first Safari on this special occasion.  Our first Safari was to a reserve called Pilanesberg.  We left Friday afternoon from work.  Our little blue rover got packed to the max and ready to go!

Gavin is securing his trailer.

There were 5 of us in all.  We arrived in the dark, driving through herds of impala.  Not to worry though, because in South Africa when you go camping there are power ports and ablution blocks.  (How many of you are looking up ablution now?)  So although we set up in the dark, we had light.

We had some yummy dinner and then went to bed.  Next morning we were up early to be in the park for a morning game drive.   We had to secure our camp because the troops of baboons come through in the morning to see what gifts they can take from you. (Yes, troops of baboons.  It's all so exotic.) Here is a hint.  Go early.  Later in the day is hoooooottttttttttttt.  At least in summer.  One of our first sightings was of jackals:

Thought my dad would like this one.

I like their profiles.  Besides the animals, we enjoyed the beautiful sunrise & scenery:

I found that some of your best pictures will be, not of the "big five"  but of other animals that are more common but still amazing:

Although there were impala everywhere and after time we would just drive past them, on to bigger things, sometimes you have to stop and watch them, I especially enjoyed watching the boy impala be tough to impress the ladies:

The best part though, was when the little boys would watch the adults, and then they would copy them:

So cute rubbing their little stubs together.  Just getting in good practice for later.

Well that's enough for now, more animal pictures to come, but I don't want you to get bored!