I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer and what a summer it has been! I was very lucky to go to South Africa and Madagascar with Ms. Lazar this past July. Wow! Did we ever have fun!
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Amazing mountains in South Africa. On the left are the Three
Rondavels seen while driving on the Panoramic Route. |
Our first safari was at Kruger National Park which became South Africa's first national park in 1926 and is one of the largest national parks in the world. It is winter in South Africa, but that actually made it easier to see the animals - less vegetation to hide behind!
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| A hyena...they are much bigger than I thought they would be. |
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| We saw some amazing birds. This is a lilac-breasted roller. |
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| A male nyala. |
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| So many impala everywhere! |
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| A red-billed hornbill. Zasu! |
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This baby elephant was so thirsty! In the foreground you can
see oxpecker birds resting on hippo's! |
We also spent several days at Karongwe Private Reserve, west of Kruger National Park, where we had morning and night time safaris!
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Spotting this leopard in the tree completed us finding the
big five: lion, elephant, rhinoceros, African buffalo and leopard! |
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| Wandering wildebeest. |
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| I must confess, I had a bit of an obsession photographing the termite mounds! |
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Incredibly, I was able to walk to within 15 feet of these
resting cheetah. Amazing! |
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Perhaps my favorite moment on the safari! This pregnant lioness
woke up, roared and started walking right towards me in the
safari truck! My heart was pounding, I was SO nervous..okay scared!
But five feet away from the vehicle, she turned and walked into the bush! |
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| Spotted eagle owl seen on our night safari. |
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| Martin, our tracker, looking for the elephants. |
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| Elephant tusk markings on a tree. |
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| Elephant spoor (tracks) found in the sandy soil. |
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We found the elephants in the high grasses. We could hear
them, but we couldn't see them! |
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Later in the afternoon, we found about 16 elephants
enjoying a snack. It was an incredible sight! |
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| Stunning mama giraffe with African tick birds on her neck and head. |
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| The king of the jungle...well bush...resting for the night. |
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A stunning start of the day! The sun rises and falls very
quickly in this part of the world. |
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| African buffalo. |
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| I love the zebras. |
Before heading off to the second part of our African adventure, Ms. Lazar and I went to Soweto.
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Just outside of Soweto, we saw the stadium where the 2010
Fifa World Cup was held. It's modeled on the shape of a calabash -
an African cooking pot! |
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Soweto township has over 1.5 million people
living there. |
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These three kids followed us on our walk
through one neighborhood in the township. |
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A pre-school that was painted by volunteers the day before
which was Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday. |
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It was sad to leave South Africa: the people,
landscape and animals. A truly incredible experience. |
What have you discovered during your summer vacation?
