Days 86 thru 89

(Dan’s comments are italicized)

I love Africa; I have loved it since I first set foot on this diverse and fascinating continent almost 40 years ago. And as a very good friend, who’s known me for over 50 years, said recently, “… Africa has always been your spiritual home.” So it’s no wonder that I feel this strong pull toward this place. But something I’m extremely grateful for is that Dan has fallen in love with this continent too; that’s something we weren’t sure would happen but are excited that it has.

Is it the culture, people, lifestyle, rawness of life, animals, or…? The simplest and most complete answer is, “Yes!” I whole heartedly agree, but there is something else that I have not been able to identify, yet. I feel different here. The pace is slower, and I feel I can appreciate people more. We still have month left, but I can’t wait to return.

Take the animals, for example; not everyone is willing to drive slowly for 8-9 hours a day in order to see some animals in their natural environments. Not only are we willing to do it, but also it feeds our souls. It gives us pleasure to see the animal behaviors and to take (more) photos of (more) elephants! And it’s really easy to make friends, as everyone there is an animal enthusiast with whom you have something in common. And so, this post is going to be more photos of animals! One day, I WILL take that perfect shot; until then, I’ll keep taking photos of animals that make me smile…and make my friends suffer through them 😂. And being the driver, I will continue to slam on the brakes and maneuver the vehicle for that shot.

Ironically, cheetahs are not endangered but, despite driving around a part of Kruger that they live in (twice a day for six days straight), we didn’t see any!

Sadly, not 100 meters down the road, while we were looking at this hyena, three cheetahs were posing for the observers ahead of us. When it was our turn, they had disappeared 😭!

Zebras are seriously beautiful too. I’m fascinated at how difficult it is to tell them apart when they stand together. This is a defense mechanism; when lions hunt, they fixate on one animal; the zebras stand close to each other  making themselves look like one animal, but then run in different directions to confuse the predators.

I think hippos have quite the protected life; they’re huge and spend all their time resting in water, resting on land, or grazing. But when they turn on a member of the pod, they can be mean and just them out of the group.

You consider yourself lucky if you see a predator close up. We saw leopards, though from afar. It’s mind-blowing to me how difficult it is to spot them in trees.

It’s fascinating how hard it is to spot the animals sometimes. The giraffe was right at the side of the road, about twelve feet (3-4 meters) from us.

I almost ran into a giraffe at the side of the road because I did not see him/her. Rhia gave a cry of surprise when she saw a big giraffe butt next to her window!

And I was taking a landscape photo, then looked closer at the tree…

These are big animals so it’s difficult to understand how you can miss them…until you come here, that is. But then, sometimes, an animal is far away so you can easily mistake a lion for an Impala.

But sometimes, you win the lottery and see a predator close up. This particular pride encompassed around 8-10 lionesses and (big) cubs.

And then we come to my favorite animals; giraffes and elephants. Giraffes seem to have quite the personalities; and they have a way of looking at you sometimes that makes you feel foolish. I’m not sure why … Maybe it is because their ears stick out to the side?

What can I say about elephants? The more I watch them and learn about them, the more impressed I am by them. For me, elephants are the greatest creatures on earth. I love the way the herd protects the youngsters, I love how patient they are with the little ones, and how they put the herd’s needs above all else.

Yes, I love Africa. As do I.