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!