Nature is Rough
On our very first game drive, we saw a pride of lions eating their kill from the night before. Dinner was a tasty wildebeest. The more difficult sighting though came the next day. We saw the orphaned baby wildebeest. None of the other female wildebeest would feed it, and not knowing what to do, it had strayed from the herd. As our guide said, his odds were not very good.
Sabi Sands
Sabi Sands is a private game reserve bordering Kruger National Park. However, are no fences between Kruger and Sabi Sands – so the animals roam between freely. We stayed at Nkorho Bush Lodge (which I’d highly recommend), and saw a stunning array of animals. Pictures in subsequent posts! in my ride… though, they didn’t let me sit there for long.
Happy New Year 2010 from the Kalahari!
Hope you rang in the new decade with gusto! To celebrate in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (in the Kalahari), we had a 360 degree fireworks display courtesy of mother nature. That’s right. I go to a semi-arid African desert… and get thunderstorms. Still, the long lines of lightening where amazing to see! And the park after the rains was quite magical. Happy New Year!
Animals of the Kalahari
The allure of the Kalahari is the beauty of the land. However, the wildlife – while less dense than in other parts of south africa – is still amazing. steenbok. these beautiful antelope almost look like they have make-up on. african wildcat. a rare daytime sighting, as they normally are only active at night. long ago, the egyptions domesticated them. they’re related to our house cats! i forget what these guys are called. 🙂 a running family of gembok gembok springbok
The Red Sands of the Kalahari
The colors of the Kalahari are remarkably dynamic. Depending on the time of day and the weather, the “redness” of the landscape shifts. Since there were scorching 100F heat waves and explosive thunderstorms during my stay, I got to experience the whole range. 🙂 early morning overcast bright morning sun sunny afternoon brief cloud cover morning after thunderstorms late morning after thunderstorms
Welcome to Africa
After a tricky car rental process (turns out automatics aren’t common in south africa) and figuring out (sorta) how to drive on the left side of the road, I arrived at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. A few minutes into park, three wild ostriches appeared from behind a hill on the left side of the road… and ran across the road about 15 feet in front of me. These giant 8 ft birds run with remarkable grace. And for a second, I had this “OMG – I’m in Jurassic Park” moment – i swear, those ostriches had a velociraptor aurora to them. …
Sundance, Utah
Last weekend, I went to Sundance Resort with my friend Beany. It was beautiful. We caught the mountains right as the leaves were starting to turn… sundance mountain the sun peering through red leaves dried ferns dried grass the mountain sides leaves! an elk hunter overgrown contrast
Ominous Weather Forecast
All day today, people kept talking about how it was our last day of sun. I was a bit skeptical/naive. But after checking weather, folks appear to be right… There was a “special weather bulletin” for seattle: A significant change to cooler and wetter weather will begin later monday and will continue through at least next weekend… Sigh.