The Penguins

Well this was my last day. Tomorrow I start my day that includes 21 hours of flight time and at least 8 hours of sit time. Oh I am dreading it. At least if things go as planned I will be up in first. So cross everything that I will.
I almost left today because it rained like crazy this all night and this morning. So I thought why stay in my room all day. All the museums were closed on Sunday. But around time for me to check out it all of a sudden cleared up. So I made my trek tword cape point to a little african penguin colony on Boulder beach. It was great timing because the little guys were sheltering their young. They hatched just a few weeks ago. So they were all nesting throughout the reserve. One parent would go out and swim and eat while the other one would cover the chick. Then they would trade off. It was cute also where one would gather little twigs, leaves and such for the nest. I took the coastal train out there and back. It was a nice view.
I am ready to come back to the states. Kind of getting home sick. See you all soon. Thanks for checking out my blog on my trip. I will post a few extra photos when I get back.

Here are a couple more photos of Table mountain. It was a great day. Unfortunately today was horrible. I decided to go check out the wine country for it's supposed beauty. I took a tour. Our driver / guide was nice but would not stop talking. He seemed so excited to show us around and would point out every detail about everything. eg. "this is a 4 way stop. There is a picket fence. That is a boat parked in someones driveway." Thank goodness he mellowed after his 5 cups of coffee wore off. It rained all day and strong wind that brought down branches and blew over semi trucks. I didn't get many great photos because it was a sprint to go inside the wineries. We were supposed to have lunch outside in the vineyards.

Hey everyone. I am in Capetown now. This city is so beautiful. One of the main attractions is Table Mountain. It has an incredible view of the surrounding city. This day there wasn't a cloud in the sky so it was very busy. But once I got up top I was able to walk around to get away from the crowd. I decided to hike down the back side of it. I chose the 6 hour walk because it ended in a fantastic botanical gardens. The bad side was that I chose to go down the hardest route. At one point I was shimmying down a rope hanging over a waterfall. It had rained the night before so the waterfall was pretty full.
They call it skeleton gorge. The view was spectacular and well worth the pain in the legs the next day. I ended up hiking a total of 9 hours. The hotel has a hot tub on the 10 story roof overlooking table mountain which was welcoming when I got back.

This guy is called a Kudu. He is one of the most prized of the hunters because of his incredible horns. Our ranger told us that the reason they have the white stripes on their back is because birds sit on them so when they poop they leave a mark. One of the girls on our truck believed him as well as I for a second.
The other antelope is called the springbok. This is the most abondant animal in the plains. The female can breed after her 2nd year and then they breed evey year. You will see herds of 40 to each male. We came across a group of about 100 and then about 5 males trying to gather the stray females. You would see a female try to escape then the boys would go out and get her. Pretty funny. Evidently they would then split them up into groups and go their merry way. Now look at the rear of the animal. You see the M? Well that is the golden arches of the African plains... Fast food. These are the main food for the predators. The last photo is of a male lion only 4 years old. He and his 3 other brothers rule this area. Their father was a beautiful lion because he had never gotten into a fight. Huge with an amazing mane. Well last year he decided to go north into another area where there are 6 male nomads everyone calls the killers. Because they kill anything and everything in their path. Usually they will fight and kill other males in their territory but it is unusual for them to hang out in large groups. They ended up not only killing the other lion but they ate him too.

My ranger walk

Now after the morning safari we get to go on a ranger walk. Everyone on my truck decided not to go. Lucky me I had my own personal guide. Now it is out in the wild with all the predators and game with no protective fences. From the lodge I saw an elephant come come to the watering hole just off the balcony. He went down into a ravine. I walked out to the meeting place and saw a warthog eating the grass. They call them the lawn mowers. I told Cameron's that I saw him go there so he said "lets check it out". Now all we have is a rifle that will supposedly protect us if he hits the animal at the perfect angle in one shot if it charges. Well we came across him and this guy just sat and checked us out. In fact it was the pierced ear fella. He flared his ears to let us know he's boss and then went along to graze the river bed. We decided to go up the river bed bank to find another way out. As we reached the top there was the group of Giraffes. The whole trip was awesome just sneaking up to the animals and see them just freak out when they noticed us. That walk I learned of all the different plants and it's medicinal features and uses. And the scat of the animals. One strange one was this pure white one that was of the Hyena's. They have one of the strongest jaw bones of all the animal kingdom. They eat the whole animal when they get their prey. Bones and all. Thus the only part that isn't digested is the ground up dust of the bones. Yuck.

Some more pictures of the 5 bull elephants

Now you can tell the dominant older male by his huge tusks. The other ones were following him but not really too close. The other younger ones were just hanging out learning. I didn't see any females my whole trip. Poor guys. The one photo of the large bull with the long tusks was right before he came running toward our truck. Fortunately Cameron was trained to face the truck for a quick escape. The final photo is of our guide Richard who could spot a monkey the size of my fist in a tree in the middle of the night going 30 mph. Now this guy would spot things which the normal person would miss. That is why he is paid to be on the lookout.

Some more pictures of the 5 bull elephants

Now you can tell the dominant older male by his huge tusks. The other ones were following him but not really too close. The other younger ones were just hanging out learning. I didn't see any females my whole trip. Poor guys. The one photo of the large bull with the long tusks was right before he came running tword our truck. Fortunately Cameron was trained to face the truck for a quick escape.

now a place with high speed woo hoo

Ok finally a place that has high speed internet. These are a few of the pics that I have tried to post earlier that go with my last blogs. Now the first one is of a loner bull elephant that has a hole in his ear from another fight with another elephant so the ranger said. The animals are used to seeing the trucks that they usually are not to bothered by us. This guy came up and just checked us out as if we were the ones in the cage. Role reversal I guess. The Lioness was so beautiful. She just leisurely walked while our ranger would park the truck 50 ft ahead of where he thought she would go and she would come up and check us out. The rhino on the other hand has poor eyesight so he would lead his 4 girls away from us as if we where going to lead them away. The last photo is of the 5 bulls all hanging out together. These two younger ones were trying to establish dominance by fighting. Pretty cool until we were in the way when the other decided to flee.

It takes about 30 min to download 1 picture

The internet here is very slow and frustrating to download photos. I am going to give up until I reach Capetown.

here are a couple of pics to catch up with the stories

I am now in a small village of 600 at the mouth of a huge canyon 3rd in size in the whole world. Very similar to the grand canyon but found in a tropical forest. Imagine the grand canyon covered in green. Breathtaking. I was supposed to go to Capetown today but am delaying a day to explore the region a little more. I found a place that is comfortable and clean. And only $12 a night. i can't beat that.

The adventure continues

Morning came with a knock at the door at 530 am to get up for the morning drive. It was about 40 degrees f. so we were all bundled up. There was only 5 of us guests on our truck and i guess only 3 of us tonight. This morning was incredible. Most of the animals are the most active as the sun comes out. The first thing I noticed was the impalas jumping all over the place as if to celebrate making it through the night without having been eaten. The birds and their calls were a delight. We got a call over the radio from another ranger that there was a lioness in our area so we headed over there and sure enough she was walking leisurely through the grass and bush evidently tword her 2 cubs. She had blood on her fur and a round belly from her night kill. The reason we knew it was blood because she came up to our truck and about 3 feet from me. She looked up at me sneezed and walked around to the rear of the truck and around. She was beautiful. We would then go around her and park in the direction she was going and wait again for her to come to us. We did that several times then left so the other trucks could get a view too. Policy is here only 2 at a time. We then heard of a herd of Rhinos in the area of the landing strip so we rushed off there. On the way we saw 5 bull elephants that we spotted in the distance to see after we catch the elusive rhinos. They were in heavy bush so it was tough for us to get there but sure enough we got close. Now they have horrible eyesight and have been known to charge a truck. But not this time. there were a total of 5 huge rhinos. We ended up back toward the elephants and one had huge tusks. The tusks don't grow long by age. It is purely hereditary. Now the one huge one was the dominant male. He is one of the only ones left in all of South Africa because they were all hunted in the past. He came right for us and I have it on video. We moved quickly out of the way and he just kept going by. The people on the top were terrified. After we got back we have the option of doing a hike in the jungle with the Ranger and his rifle. I was the only one that wanted to go so he was like my own private guide. I told him that I saw an elephant go down a ravine right outside of our lookout. So we headed that direction. It was the one with a hole in his ear. we got a few photos and headed out of a ravine toward a watering hole. As soon as we got to the top we saw 4 Giraffes right in front of us. All were a little on the edge but they stood their ground so we went around them toward a family of warthogs and several monkeys. It was a little creepy walking around through the bush on foot knowing that the wild animals could be around the corner. A few times impalas would jump out in front of us and scare us but generally all kept their distance. This is so incredible.
Back for a swim and laying by the pool after lunch. I passed out on a lounge chair and awoken by that same elephant blowing his horn just over the edge of the fence.
Now I am off for the evening drive. Unfortunately the photos won't download. Hopefully at the next lodge where I am moving to tomorrow will have a faster connection.

The safari drive....1st night

Well this was my first safari drive. Our Ranger's name is Cameron. And our tracker's name is Richard. Richard sits on the front of the Land Rover on a little seat on the front hood with his feet dangling over the edge. We started off following a few dirt roads that intertwine on the sabi sabi property. 6300 hectars. We saw a few impalas which come to find out are plentiful. Then a few Gembok which have incredible horns. Then some Kudu. Unfortunately the computer is slow here so to upload all the photos will take forever. Now the goal for most safari goers is to see the big 5. This place has them all. In fact we saw these in the first 12 hours of my stay. The Giraffe was the first large animal that we saw. One male and 3 of his females. Most of the animals are not afraid of the Land rovers because they see the outline of the truck and not the people inside. One of the rules is we are not allowed to stand up. If we do they see the person and depending on the animal, will either attack or flee. Which neither one is what we want.
Next major animal was the African Elephant. The largest land animal on the planet. This lone bull was huge. He has a huge hole in his ear. Not sure what from. We had a wonderful sunset from a ridge where I had an incredible shot. Now how we find many of these animals is by the tracker. He looks at the dirt road for animal tracks. He can tell where an animal crossed the road and approximately how long ago. He will tell the ranger which way to go by pointing and other gestures. When we find something worth seeing they radio to the other trucks where the particular animal is and what he is doing such as on a hunt. We came across a leopard laying in the grass and got within 20 feet of him. He was stretching at sundown getting ready for the hunt. Every evening we have a sundowner which is where we get out of the truck on an open plain and have evening drinks and watch the stars appear. It is amazing how many stars are out there when there is no light pollution. Billions. Cameron is so knowledgeable about the constellations and pointed out all of them in the sky. The milky way was clear. Not a cloud in the sky. Well as the lights were all out and we were all by ourselves standing in the middle of nowhere. this loud grunting noise screamed out from behind us. We all jumped like terrified gazelles back to the truck. Come to find out it was an impala male herding up his harem for the night. It sounded like a grunting lion.
So far this trip has been exactly what I expected and then some.
More to come.

Hey guys.

Here is the plane that I took to Nelspruit/Kruger airport. Small 30 seater for my 45 min flight. The countryside is beautiful despite it being dry season and fall. The airport sits on a plateau so the view was great on landing. Everything went smooth. I got my little ford ka...very small car and drove the 2 hours to sabi sabi Bush lodge. http://sabisabi.co.za/bushlodgegallery.php

My Hotel suite is amazing...probably 15oo sq. ft. Luxury. The staff are sooo friendly that they all know my name... The property is surrounded by electric wire but they say somehow the animals get in. They said the other day a leopard was sitting outside someones door. So we are required to call the staff to be escorted to the main lodge. For lunch I had crocodile and gemsbok. Both were delicious. The crock had the texture of chicken and tasted similar with a little fish taste. My goal is to try every different game that I see on the menu.

We just got back from an amazing safari drive and my next post will include photos and stories from that. Now it is dinner time. Maybe a little Zebra steak.....yum yum.

In Africa

Well folks I made it finally with much trouble. I left Salt lake city the night of the 8th. Overnighted in Houston. the morning of the 9th took off to Atl. to catch the Johannesburg flight from there. The agent in Houston said I needed 2 empty pages in my passport. I had the last 2 empty. When I got to Atlanta 30 min before departure they said I couldn't go because the 2 pages couldn't be the last 2. So I had to pack up back to Houston to try to get a new passport or more pages. Fortunatly I was able to get it the 10th but too late to get to Atl for my connection. Another day lost. Things went smoothly the 11th. I got first class all the way. 8h30m flight to Senegal, Dakar. Then another 8h30 flight to Joburg. I stayed in a dive the first night here because the flight got in too late to catch the flight to Kruger/Nelspruit. So far things here doesn't seem 3rd world at all. The only thing 3rd world is everyone wants to help you with either your bags or info but of course for a "tip". But all in all I haven't felt in danger or anything And people are very nice. I unfortunatly had no internet cafe available at the hotel last night so I had to spend the next 14 hours just hanging out watching mediocre tv (in English) I am now at the airport waiting for my next 1 hour flight. I only have a few minutes to finish up on this post. One unfortunate thing is that my phone is not working over here. I think maybe because I had to get a new sim card for my phone because it got wet on Passport day and had to get another one. I didn't re-register it. bummer. But I believe you can post replies to this blog but not personal ones...I think that the first week of my voyage will be sans internet because i will be in the jungle for most of the time. Although all the South Africans I've talked to all said that the lodge i am going to is one of the nicest ones in the world. So it is looking up.
I'm a little nervous about the driving because it is on the left side of the road. Thank goodness for insurance. I love you all. wish me luck now the real adventure is about to start.
TTFN

first day

I am just getting ready to go on my adventure to South Africa on a 2 week safari / vacation. I just spent $1500 on photography equipment and hope to come back with some incredible photos. I am so excited. I have been planning this for almost 2 years. I have a list of places that I must go and here are a few. Galapagos island, Egypt, jungle of the amazon, Easter island, Kenecott copper mine. The list will grow as time passes.
I am on a new adventure in life being freshly single...
who knows where things will lead.
Back to my travel plans.......I leave on the 10th of may. I picked that day because that is my best chance of getting in first class on Delta'a buisness elite http://www.delta.com/traveling_checkin/inflight_services/businesselite/index.jsp

Check it out...this is the seat and service that I "may have"
Now I have to be a critic because my job is working for Continental airlines for buisness first.....which we set the standard for 10 years ago. Everyone said at the time...what idiots to give up the first/buisness/coach service standard.
so here is the comparison....you decide
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/businessfirst/777.aspx
Now for you who are unaware of my job....I am a flight attendant and I do the Paris/ houston routes. I go to Paris at least 5 times a month. In fact someone sitting accross from my jumpseat asked "how many times have you been to Paris?" I just figured it out. Over 750 times. Now that is round trip. So lets figure over 5000 miles each way. and I took 5 years off from the Paris routes.. I can't imagine how many miles that I have put in considering I have been flying since my dad started working march of 1969. this is my first post and I hope that I get better at expressing myself and sharing my life adventures with you. Enjoy