PEOPLE PICS

I think I should have posted my photos in reverse order so I can end with the animal pics - my favorites. But now all I'm left with are the people pics - the four of us and others.



This is when we first started our safaris .. in Botswana .. all raring to go! The weather was great but they'd had an unusual amount of rain and the Okavango was flooded more than usual.




Day 2 and we got stuck in the water and mud. Another Landrover came by but he couldn't get any traction on the dirt road. Because tractors were out rescuing other stuck vehicles, the only option was to transfer us to another Landrover. One look at the water we were in and "I'm not putting my feet in that!" So two heavenly hunks came and carried us one by one to another vehicle. This is Paula!






This is me, Babs and Paula - aren't we dressed alike? Yes, we are - convertible pants, safari vests (12 pockets) and T-shirts - the idea is to blend in with the landscape around you, which is varying shades of browns and greens.







At Victoria Falls, the name of the game was staying dry - a mission impossible! Our guide took this of we 4 - Me, Paula, Babs, Mary - the four soaking smurfs. The spray was blowing up, down and sideways and walking under the trees was like walking in a tropical rain forest.





We really enjoyed our two 'cruises' along the Zambezi with Capt. Donald! What a lovely man he is. Here's Babs, me, Donald and Mary having our sundowners! I must say, everyone was so meticulous about making sure we stopped mid-morning and mid-afternoon for our tea/coffee and sundowners.







We had another boat expedition with Capt. Sparks one afternoon on the Okavango Delta. He stopped and pulled a flower and stem out of the water then showed me how to break the stem partway through, every inch or so then he pulled the pulp out at the end and tied the skin around the stem near the flower and .. voila .. a necklace.






Here we are - me, Mary, Babs at one of our sundowning spots - we usually stopped around 6pm and would get back to camp at 7 or 7:30 pm. This was a watering hole and as the sun went down we had a beautiful view of the red sky through the trees.






I have to laugh when I look at this one! When one of us had 'to go', the guide would find a big bush and park nearby - then he'd check out the area behind the bush to make sure there weren't any snakes or animals - and we'd proceed to take our potty break. The vehicles carried supplies (as did I) and we'd have to rough it. Sometimes it would be close to sundowning time so we could have our break while we were waiting. This is Mary with her supplies and Babs in the background checking out the bush!






The mornings were pretty cool so we'd layer our clothing and slowly peal them off as it warmed up. This is the morning tea stop as you can see, we're still wearing a couple of layers. Our guide here is Lazi - from Duma Tau.






At Toka Leya, they brought in a local combo to entertain their guests - the music was lively and the drinks were flowing and Mary and Babs decided to join in and dance!







On the 20-seater plane that took us from Mala Mala to Johannesburg, Mary and I sat in the rear seat and Paula and Babs stayed near the center - there were only 6 seats available. Here's a pic of Mary and I at the back and on your left is Rosalyn Carter who was traveling with her grand-daughters and was on her way to meet Jimmy in JoBurg.






I'm jumping back and forth here but this is Mary, me, Paula and Donald by his boat - we'd just returned from a lovely sail on the Zambezi.








Still at Toka Leya, here I am standing next to a metal sculpture - they had a lovely one of a baby elephant too - and various other native pieces of art.











Here's Mary with one of the women who worked at Vumbura Plains, our first stop. Her fiance is ST, our guide there - and her name was OP - together they spelled STOP! I wonder what that was all about.







After visiting Victoria Falls, we went to a local crafts market and walked around. Everyone was so desperate for us to buy something - it was their only way of making a living. Here are Mary, Babs and me with John - from whom I bought a wall hanging. We took his photo with the promise to send him a copy - which I have done.






Also not far from Victoria Falls is the world's largest Baobab tree. As soon as we pulled up across from the tree, about a dozen men came out from the bushes with various crafts to sell us - the local police chase them away if they find them hustling, so now they hide.







When we drive along the back roads heading through towns, there are so many people walking - they walk for miles - no cars, no bikes for the majority. Everything is carried on the person.










This lady is carrying a child as well as the sheaf of grasses.











This woman was carrying a baby on her back and a bucket on her head. This was at the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe - there were trucks lines up waiting to cross and several of them were carrying scrap copper and other metals.










The yellow tubs look like water containers and I am assuming these ladies are carrying babies on their backs but I'm not sure at all.












Everywhere we stayed, the food was fantastic. This was taken at Toka Leya on the Zambezi River - I ordered a Caesar Salad for lunch and it was so beautiful, I didn't want to eat it!







Every evening before dinner, we met in the bar and had a cocktail - and recounted our experiences of the day. This one is at Rattrays camp, Mala Mala.







Like the first picture in this posting, here are the four of us on the last day of safaris - at Mala Mala. We're parked in front of the fountain and statues that greet visitors just inside the gated entrance.

OKAVANGO DELTA

The Okavango delta in Botswana is the world's largest inland delta. The Okavango River drains the summer rainfall (Jan-Feb) from the Angola highlands. The waters spread over the Delta for the next four months (Mar-Jun) - we were there in May. Every year, about 11,000,000,000,000 litres flow into the Delta. 60% is consumed through transpiration by plants, 36% by evaporation, 2% percolates into the aquifer system and 2% flows into a lake.

Our first two camps (Vumbura Plains and Duma Tau) were in the Okavango Delta and these photos were taken from the plane that flew us to those two destinations.


























I love the way the sky is reflected in the water of the Delta - it makes it look like the clouds are growing out of it like white trees.

THE MAGNIFICENT ZAMBEZI

The Zambezi (pronounced ZAMBAY'ZEE) is 2,200 miles long and its basin is 540,000 square miles. Its source is Zambia then it flows through Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia again, Zimbabwe to Mozambique where it empties into the Indian Ocean. There are two power dams on the river, built in the '60s and '70s. Dr. David Livingstone was the first to visit the upper Zambezi in the 1850s and followed the river to its mouth, and discovered Victoria Falls which he named for his Queen.


Our stay at Toka Leya camp was strictly for tourism - we had two great cruises on our little 4-passenger boat. This photos illustrates the width of the Zambezi and you can see the spray from Victoria Falls in the distance. Sometimes it can rise 1,500' in the air.




As we got closer to the Falls, a slight breeze came up and the spray started to move a little. I love this photo because of the reflection in the calm river .. calm where we were!







You can see the spray separating here into twin plumes - I was only slightly anxious as we approached that part of the river but we had Captain Donald at the helm and I had faith in his skill.





One side of the river had a lot of palm trees while the other had few. They are not native here but elephants are thought to have brought the seeds down to the river's edge and 'planted' them there as they came to drink. A few swam across the river so seeds were planted there too. Don't you just love that solitary cloud?






Apart from all the animals and birds along the river, we stopped to look for the Swifts who had colonized this embankment. Both times we sailed past it, there wasn't a Swift in sight but Captain Donald assured us that they did live there!






We saw several helicopters flying over the Falls, and a few ultralights ... this one came to have a look at us looking at him!





We saw several other larger boats on the river - some were pretty ratty and most were old - some were party boats, others were dinner boats - and one was named the African Queen but it was a far cry from Bogie's African Queen. Here are photos of the ones we came across.

ODDBALL PHOTOS

When we are driving around (the four of us in a Landrover with three rows of seats, each row higher than the one in front) - we are all on the lookout for anything 'out of the ordinary'. Sometimes we'd be involved in chit-chat, much to the chagrin of my sister, but most time we'd be watching. As this was our first safari experience (me, Babs and Mary), we'd get animated (pardon the pun) when we spotted something unusual. This is where the term "A.L.T." was spawned. It stands for 'ANIMAL-LOOKING THING' ... two examples of ALTs are shown below.


At first glance, this definitely looks like a huge terrapin in a pond, or perhaps the head of submerged creature - an African "Nessie" maybe! But, alas, it's only a piece of wood.





This ALT was really exciting from a distance - a big cat rolling in the grass - a mongoose peering over a log - as we got closer, the options got smaller and finally diminished until we saw it was only a tree limb. Hopes dashed again!





When our guides didn't have a sighting to take us to, they would drive along the dirt roads and look for signs of activity. This is a series of big cat tracks - all going the opposite way to us.








Here's an interesting 'track' by the side of one of the dirt roads. Apparently, a rhino took a nap here and left his skin imprint in the soft dirt.






Termite mounds are all over the place and of course are the same color as the dirt. This one is a very creative active mound - when the mounds are inactive, they tend to have a lot of holes in them where other creatures have moved in - mongoose, snakes, warthogs, etc. The only time we saw termites was when I kicked over some dried elephant dung.




Always end with dessert. When we were on our way home, we stopped at Johannesburg for a while and found a nice cafe in the airport for lunch. We saw 'strawberries and cream' on the menu and ordered two - thinking we'd get a bowl of fresh fruit with a blob of cream on top. NOT SO! A huge crepe, filled with cream, dotted with strawberries and drizzled with caramel topping. Talk about going out with a bang!

Passed-Over Photos

I was reviewing my photos and realized there were a few which I considered nice enough to post, but have no idea why I didn't. I'll post them here and also in the animal category in which they belong.


The female leopard we followed for some time gave us a lot of great photos and when I looked at this one again, it really caught my eye. One would wonder how markings so unusual could help her become camouflaged in green or brown grass, but once she's in the tall grass, she just disappears from sight.






We followed a few lionesses through the bush until they finally met up with the rest of their pride. After greeting, they laid down in groups and these four proceeded to groom each other and themselves. Look closely, there are four heads here.







After a round of grooming, licking and slurping, they decided to rest for a while - with one always keeping watch.

AFRICAN TREES and WILD FLOWERS

I love taking photos of trees, clouds and rock formations and on this trip I took over 2,000 photos total, most of them were animals but many were trees. I was really surprised by the landscape - it was not what I expected at all. Of course, we went there in their Autumn so there was a lot of grass and the shrubs and trees were all green. I saw trees there that can stay standing for over 100 years after they have died. Here are some of my favorite tree photos.


I love this one because of the reflections of the grasses and the skeleton tree in the middle.






These dead trees were like scarecrows in a farmer's field and we passed them just as the sun was starting to fade.






This is so dramatic. The tree was leaning, the sky was unusual and it was crying out for me to take the photo. I hope you agree.









We saw a lot of these beautiful, symmetrical trees on our safaris. They remind me of those upright plant pot holders with arms out at various heights and potted plants at the ends of each one.






At our first stop, Vumbura, this tree was in the middle of the flooded area just outside the camp itself, so we passed it four times every day. I love the reflection in the water.











It was amazing to find wild flowers and flowering shrubs out in the bush, in the dirt, in amongst weeds, even growing out of trees - so here are a few I'd like to share.







This little flower reminded me of a forget-me-not. I almost stepped on it while we were having our 'sundowners' (a safari break for cocktails and snacks around 6pm) one afternoon.







As you can see, these flowers are in the dirt as well. Isn't it amazing how they find one tiny spot to germinate.











I wish I could tell you the names of these flowers because they deserve to be recognized.