What a difference a day makes! Let me first say that we now fear our soap dish, but I will get to that in a bit. I am going to attempt to load some more pictures, but this is a reeeeaaaallllly slow computer.
Gudrun, all was good at the Protea, so thanks! And with David's technical skills, I am sorry to report that your call did come through but David thought he had to hang up...~rolling eyes~
King's Camp is indescribable! To our camp from the plane, it was probably 5 minutes and on the way we saw a lion and lioness lazing under some trees right off the road.
We got in just in time for some fabulous lunch and 45 minutes later we were on our 1st drive. Unlike Zulu Nyala, where there were 3 safari vehicles surrounding 3 elephants, we were one vehicle surrounded by 30 elephants! It was an incredible sight! But not to be outdone, 2 leopard were relaxing on a termite mound, just like you would see on National Geographic. Our photos are awesome, I am just not sure what I will be able to share or when. It was hot, the african sunset is everything it is made out to be. We got back around 7-7:30 for dinner, which was fabulous....BUT...in the distance...anyone want to take a guess? There was lightning and the wind picked up. Ok this is where the soap dish comes in. I am in bed and David comes out of the bathroom abd says "so what is 13 degrees celcius and 19 degrees celcius? Because that was the low and hi for today. We are now freezing our asses off, the wind is really whippin and on and off drizzle. I was so flipping cold this morning I could barely stand it. So if it does not change, I will probably not go out tonight-it was brutal. Plus all our cold weather clothes are now dirty. So we are doing laundry for about $75.00 lol
Ok so this morning's drive, since it was so cold, pretty much all but the impala were bedded down staying warm. Oh and of course the 50 elephants we were surrounded by again. I just can't describe it. BUT our biggest thrill were the male lions that we were literally 5 feet from. They are just so magestic. The one was truely the LION KING! 2 of the them were the sons of the big male. Usually they move off on their own, but like one of the guys on our drive said, the economy is probably getting the better of them and they had to come home. They are about 3 years old and it is very unusual. But with the cool weather they were huddled together. The big male-Dad, was about 100' away, keeping somewhat of an eye on them but more or less just napping. They are so awesome.
So while I was drying my hair in our huge room(by the way we are extremely catered to) in the mirror, I could see behind me a herd of about 30 elephants about 200' from us, all different sizes, just mozying past. It really is indescribable. Although we did see a lot at Zulu Nyala, it is different here because it truely is wild. I so want to share our pictures with you. I'm Trying!
Yes You You we may have had a tough time just the 2 of us. But it truely is amazing!
OOMPS we love you too, and we have some great pictures for you!! I can't wait to show you! Can you give Miah a call and check on Riddick for me please? I am not checking emails. Next thing you know I am on a working vacation.
Love you all and thanks again Gudrun for having our back!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
November 7th
Good morning,
I am sorry for the lack of pictures. I got one up last night and it took a half hour. So I tried to
load 5 at a time, and while I was waiting, I clicked on the picture I loaded, then pushed back and it was all gone. I was so pissed, I had to walk away. So I will try a couple here now while I am waiting for the taxi. I believe you can click on them to make them bigger.
We are heading to Kings Camp this morning.
Gudrun, all was great in Richards Bay. The hotel was nice. More from Kings Camp.....
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
November 6th
Awwwe thanks You You! Yes I am feeling better. I am now taking cipro so that should knock out anything.
We had another awesome thnderstorm last night. So cool.
As you can see no luck on the photo card. It was dumb for us not to prepare that part before we left. So now we are hoping for something in Richard's Bay which is where we are headed now. We have the name of a taxi driver in RB and will look him up when we ge there.
Our drive yesterday included a baby giraffe and tiny baby warthogs. The only thing we did not see here was the elusive black rhino, but not without effort. We spent all of one drive yesterday
tracking him. Thabani, our guide was a lot of fun.
More this afternoon.
We had another awesome thnderstorm last night. So cool.
As you can see no luck on the photo card. It was dumb for us not to prepare that part before we left. So now we are hoping for something in Richard's Bay which is where we are headed now. We have the name of a taxi driver in RB and will look him up when we ge there.
Our drive yesterday included a baby giraffe and tiny baby warthogs. The only thing we did not see here was the elusive black rhino, but not without effort. We spent all of one drive yesterday
tracking him. Thabani, our guide was a lot of fun.
More this afternoon.
November 5th
Hello,
Well still not feeling well so I am now taking antibiotics. Hope that will help, I am sure it will. Surely hadn't planned on dieting on vacation.
Yesterday while we were hanging out in the room, we watched a vervet monkey hauling butt past our room, followed by an empty water bottle. Of course we had to find out why, and the monkey's had stolen sugar packs from the maid. So we watched them open them and eat 'em. Sugar all over their face. Mom's had babies in tow under their bellies.
On our drive last night we got to see 3 bull elephants. They are very big and beautiful. This morning we saw 1 week old warthogs. Soooo cute!
I am really hoping to get something to get photos up this afternoon from somewhere that seems to resemble Walmart, with the smiley face and all.
Tomorrow we head to Richard's Bay overnight and hoping to check out the Indian ocean. Then off to Kruger! We now have suitcase paranoia.
Thanks Gudrun for checking on our trip tomorrow and your interesting ele stories!
Thanks You You for your following too and it is good to hear from you!
I will be back later after the trip to the market.
Julie
Well still not feeling well so I am now taking antibiotics. Hope that will help, I am sure it will. Surely hadn't planned on dieting on vacation.
Yesterday while we were hanging out in the room, we watched a vervet monkey hauling butt past our room, followed by an empty water bottle. Of course we had to find out why, and the monkey's had stolen sugar packs from the maid. So we watched them open them and eat 'em. Sugar all over their face. Mom's had babies in tow under their bellies.
On our drive last night we got to see 3 bull elephants. They are very big and beautiful. This morning we saw 1 week old warthogs. Soooo cute!
I am really hoping to get something to get photos up this afternoon from somewhere that seems to resemble Walmart, with the smiley face and all.
Tomorrow we head to Richard's Bay overnight and hoping to check out the Indian ocean. Then off to Kruger! We now have suitcase paranoia.
Thanks Gudrun for checking on our trip tomorrow and your interesting ele stories!
Thanks You You for your following too and it is good to hear from you!
I will be back later after the trip to the market.
Julie
Monday, November 3, 2008
November 4th
Good morning,
Let me first thank my followers-Sean, Gudrun and Paula. Nice to see the faces! And for all who are leaving comments. It makes me feel a little less far away. Oomps, sounds like Halloween was a hit! I hate those invisible curbs, but if I remember correctly, we seemed to hit one of those every year. Sorry I missed this one. Hi to Mom and Dan too.
You You, I am glad to hear I dream of Jeannie was a one of a kind out there! Yes, I was concerned of the doctor thing this morning, which is why I am writing now. I had some very bad cramps this morning, chills and you know what goes along with that. I was supposed to be on a game drive right now, but we stayed back. I wanted Dave close, so he didn't go either. But I am happy to report I am feeling better now.
Gudrun, thank you for your babysitting. It makes me feel much more comfortable with you having my back!! I was going to try to call you and have you update for me, but with the storm, we had no phone either. Thanks!
We were viewing what we believe was our 1st male elephant through our binocs from our deck this morning. I don't believe we will see any cats here, but more of an opportunity at our Kruger lodges. I am pretty apprehensive around the elephants-they have a baby and seem to be more on the aggressive side. We had to back up a few times as one of them were getting a little too close for comfort. But we have gotten killer photos of most everything we see so I cannot wait to share them with you. We switched lodges yesterday and our view here is spectacular!!! I can't wait for it to clear up and warm up so it will really be perfect! I am hoping to get a new plug that will support our camera card if we go to the market today. I am excited to share photos!
I will check in later!
Love, Julie
PS Sorry about #2 but we love you!
Let me first thank my followers-Sean, Gudrun and Paula. Nice to see the faces! And for all who are leaving comments. It makes me feel a little less far away. Oomps, sounds like Halloween was a hit! I hate those invisible curbs, but if I remember correctly, we seemed to hit one of those every year. Sorry I missed this one. Hi to Mom and Dan too.
You You, I am glad to hear I dream of Jeannie was a one of a kind out there! Yes, I was concerned of the doctor thing this morning, which is why I am writing now. I had some very bad cramps this morning, chills and you know what goes along with that. I was supposed to be on a game drive right now, but we stayed back. I wanted Dave close, so he didn't go either. But I am happy to report I am feeling better now.
Gudrun, thank you for your babysitting. It makes me feel much more comfortable with you having my back!! I was going to try to call you and have you update for me, but with the storm, we had no phone either. Thanks!
We were viewing what we believe was our 1st male elephant through our binocs from our deck this morning. I don't believe we will see any cats here, but more of an opportunity at our Kruger lodges. I am pretty apprehensive around the elephants-they have a baby and seem to be more on the aggressive side. We had to back up a few times as one of them were getting a little too close for comfort. But we have gotten killer photos of most everything we see so I cannot wait to share them with you. We switched lodges yesterday and our view here is spectacular!!! I can't wait for it to clear up and warm up so it will really be perfect! I am hoping to get a new plug that will support our camera card if we go to the market today. I am excited to share photos!
I will check in later!
Love, Julie
PS Sorry about #2 but we love you!
November 3
We're still here! We had a marathon storm. You couldn't even count to 4 before another lightening strike would hit, and it lasted like 13 hours!!!! It was absolutely amazing! Needless to say the internet was down as well as the phone lines.
I don't even know where to start we have seen so much in the last 48 hours. we have now moved to the game lodge. The views here are awesome. Please send parkas. It must have been 105 degrees and 100% humidity yesterday and the day before and on tonights game drive it was probably in the upper 40s and misting.
But we had our best drive yet. We saw the 3 elephants-they are 2 females and the baby. The baby was nursing and soooo cute. We got pictures. I am hoping to get some to you on Thursday. We saw about 20 baboons, the momma rhino and her baby also nursing. We have now encountered 2 green mamba snakes, one slithered right past us on our pathway at the lodge, a labamba snake, also poisonous, and our friends saw a brown bufala? snake right at the entry of our new lodge this afternoon. The lodge was very concerned with this one and made sure to remove it. The birds, insects and the lizards are extremely colorful. I will have to catch you up to speed bits at a time as we are so far behind.
We went to visit a rural village today. Went into a children's classroom, and they sang to us. I think they were about 4-5 years old. The town is extremely poverty striken and the aids rate is at 34%. They are just so undereducated. One guy would sleep around, knew he had aids, but would tell them he was ok because he took a shower. We toured a homestead where an 82 year old grandma was raising her 6 grandchildren. The father was killed in a car crash from Jo-Burg, and when the mother found out, she died of a heart attack. I can see why Angelina adopts children like these. They have the biggest smiles and they warm your heart.
Our manager at the lodge was at the casino by Richard's bay the night before last, and 10 robbers with machine guns entered. He said he ducked and ran out. The robbers left with nothing and 6 of them were shot to death in the parking lot and 4 were caught by a roadblock.
We have met some great people that we share our game drive with every day, most from the Seattle area, one couple from Ohio and one from Boston.
The computer is beeping and don't know what it means so I will send this now and catch up later!
Love to all!
Julie
I don't even know where to start we have seen so much in the last 48 hours. we have now moved to the game lodge. The views here are awesome. Please send parkas. It must have been 105 degrees and 100% humidity yesterday and the day before and on tonights game drive it was probably in the upper 40s and misting.
But we had our best drive yet. We saw the 3 elephants-they are 2 females and the baby. The baby was nursing and soooo cute. We got pictures. I am hoping to get some to you on Thursday. We saw about 20 baboons, the momma rhino and her baby also nursing. We have now encountered 2 green mamba snakes, one slithered right past us on our pathway at the lodge, a labamba snake, also poisonous, and our friends saw a brown bufala? snake right at the entry of our new lodge this afternoon. The lodge was very concerned with this one and made sure to remove it. The birds, insects and the lizards are extremely colorful. I will have to catch you up to speed bits at a time as we are so far behind.
We went to visit a rural village today. Went into a children's classroom, and they sang to us. I think they were about 4-5 years old. The town is extremely poverty striken and the aids rate is at 34%. They are just so undereducated. One guy would sleep around, knew he had aids, but would tell them he was ok because he took a shower. We toured a homestead where an 82 year old grandma was raising her 6 grandchildren. The father was killed in a car crash from Jo-Burg, and when the mother found out, she died of a heart attack. I can see why Angelina adopts children like these. They have the biggest smiles and they warm your heart.
Our manager at the lodge was at the casino by Richard's bay the night before last, and 10 robbers with machine guns entered. He said he ducked and ran out. The robbers left with nothing and 6 of them were shot to death in the parking lot and 4 were caught by a roadblock.
We have met some great people that we share our game drive with every day, most from the Seattle area, one couple from Ohio and one from Boston.
The computer is beeping and don't know what it means so I will send this now and catch up later!
Love to all!
Julie
Saturday, November 1, 2008
November 1st part deux
WOOOO HOOOOOO Luggage just arrived!!!! We can now start relaxing and enjoying! I actually bought a pack of smokes from someone who worked here, for zar20, which I am guessing was a mark-up. It was only 2.00 us and I would've paid 20. us at the time. David also found the glasses he never lost too! They were in the room the whole time.
We went on our first safari and it was fabulous! We saw white rhino, cape buffalo, giraffe, several types of buck type animals, monkeys and lots of cool birds. I have lots of pictures, but cannot get them up.
The night was interesting staying in a "tent". Although it is nicely done inside, the monkeys scratching on the canvas, lizards running back and forth inside, and the bat footsteps crawling in
between the canvases in the morning were a little unnerving. I will freak if a bat starts flying on the inside, or if I run into spiders. Through most of this Dad slept. I myself, barely. At least I got to watch the lizards, they kept me company.
Ok off to lunch, then another game drive. This time with clean clothes(for David, I had a spare pair) WOOO HOOOOO
Gudrun you are the BESTEST!!! Thank you much for following along and trying to help!! Also, you are correct. We had a whole tour bus of Germans this morning, and I made the mistake of saying, you know, Guten Morgen. Yep, didn't understand a thing!
Love you all,
Julie
We went on our first safari and it was fabulous! We saw white rhino, cape buffalo, giraffe, several types of buck type animals, monkeys and lots of cool birds. I have lots of pictures, but cannot get them up.
The night was interesting staying in a "tent". Although it is nicely done inside, the monkeys scratching on the canvas, lizards running back and forth inside, and the bat footsteps crawling in
between the canvases in the morning were a little unnerving. I will freak if a bat starts flying on the inside, or if I run into spiders. Through most of this Dad slept. I myself, barely. At least I got to watch the lizards, they kept me company.
Ok off to lunch, then another game drive. This time with clean clothes(for David, I had a spare pair) WOOO HOOOOO
Gudrun you are the BESTEST!!! Thank you much for following along and trying to help!! Also, you are correct. We had a whole tour bus of Germans this morning, and I made the mistake of saying, you know, Guten Morgen. Yep, didn't understand a thing!
Love you all,
Julie
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