Africa

South Africa - June 2008


Definitely the trip of a lifetime. We got back two weeks ago, and I still miss it. Jason and I went with two couples from our neighborhood. We stayed in little bungalows, ate in a main lodge with our own chef (who cooked what we shot every night, which was very good), and went out hunting during the day as couples.

Each couple had their own truck, Professional Hunter, and Tracker. So the four of us would go out every day, look for animals, take tons of pictures, and get out and track them through the bush.

It was incredibly cool. Our PH knew something about everything; I have half a notebook full of interesting facts about the trees, the birds, the animals, the country, etc. It really was fascinating. Our tracker was also pretty amazing. He could track an animal out of a water hole with hundreds of footprints in it, and tell us how many animals are in the group; as we traveled through the bush, he would tell us where a couple other animals joined them, and just when we thought he must be making it all up, we'd find them, and he was right about everything.
I loved going out with Jason, but my favorite part was when they'd leave me at the water hole for the afternoon. There were a few waterholes with "hides" built near them, all camoflauged - with bushes or fake termite mounds. I would sit there for hours, not making a peep (except for the clicking of my camera - which even spooked some of them). I saw amazing animals so close!

Each night, we'd come home, look at the animals and the pictures that people had gotten, our chef would cook whatever we got, we'd have a five-course meal, then hang out at the big fire with the PH's and our friends.
One day, as we were driving along the Limpopo River, we noticed an Impala that looked like it was drowning. Upon closer inspection, we saw that a crocodile had it in its jaws and was holding it under. That was pretty amazing. I felt like I was in National Geographic.

This blog is only a small sampling of my hundreds of pix. I got a new lens for my camera for this trip, and it came in handy.

We spent one day at a white lion breeding facility (our entrance fee was zebra meat). We also spent one day riding elephants (a gentler ride than you'd expect!). And of course we shopped a little. When we were ready to go, I was so sad to leave, because it was so much more than a vacation - it was a life experience.