Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Mortal combat!


This evening at the dam


This guy got within about 15 feet of my truck, a bit close for comfort...


Starling...


Take a drink...


Have a nice roll...


Aaaaand shake!



Lone bull crossing the road this morning, he was in rough shape, probably had bovine TB


Giraffe we saw from the rocks - he stopped to look at us and then decided to move on


Buffalo and calf at the dam


The calf in the middle wasn't more than a couple days old


More buffalo...


There were a lot of buffalo that evening...


Look at the cross the light forms...


Startled kudu...


Baby kudu!


Lone elephant having an afternoon snack...


A lone buffalo at one of the water points - the park was worried there wasn't enough water for games, so they built artificial waterpoints that are good places for game viewing





I've been going on a lot of games drives, mostly back to Sable Dam and these pictures are a result of the last week and a half. It's really awesome to have my own transportation and I'm getting a lot better at driving manual.

Jenny and Godfrey, eating lunch on top of the rocks after walking 16 kilometers


This caterpillar was about 8 inches long


We saw two huge pythons on the rocks, this female looked like she was curled up on top of eggs


Godfrey! The man who keeps me from being eaten or trampled!


Cool praying mantis I saw while walking


Godfrey and Jenny...


Leopard prints...


If you check behind Godfrey, there's an elephant...


This mark is from an elephant dragging its trunk


Giraffe tracks


A chameleon that got mad when I tried to play with it...


These are various pictures from the walking I've been doing over the past two weeks. I've now seen buffalo and elephant while on foot and have been growled at by a leopard that had to be less than 30 feet away. It's been awesome!!!

Me riding Lady


Look how close the zebra are!!!


The farm we were riding on...


It was strange seeing monkeys in a forest


A little pond at the B&B we stayed at in Magoebaskloof


B&B...


This past weekend I went with Jenny (one of the lecturers from OTS and the one who's helping me with mopane mapping) to visit some of her friends in Magoebaskloof. It's a tiny town with some of the last remaining natural forest in South Africa. The town was very cute and Jenny's friends were awesome. We had a lovely time even though it was freezing. I even got to go riding! It was especially cool because the game doesn't tend to be very scared of riders and we were able to get very close. The zebra even came up to touch noses with the horses!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Cruising in Kruger


Saw a large herd of giraffe yesterday afternoon


Impala are everywhere, but they're so pretty


Came a cross a large herd of buffalo this morning, at least 20


Young buffalo


Bateleur, gorgeous bird of prey

Friday, May 15, 2009

There has been a request for more pictures of me. And since a lot of picture swapping went on before everyone parted ways, I have more pictures of me. So from the beginning...



While at Witts Rural, we took a trip to the Blyde River Canyon. This is me at the dam.

Playing soccer at Shingwedzi.


On the drive to Skukuza, check out the background!

One afternoon in Skukuza, check out the background!


Elizabeth and I near Skukuza.

Boulder Beach near Cape Town

Me and a penguin!

De Hoop, playing with an octopus

De Hoop, with a tortoise

De Hoop, on a hike

Cape Point

Self explanatory...

The last soccer game in Skukuza, in the riverbed at 10 Minutes