South Africa 2017 - Final Thoughts

Cousin Orville, your photos are amazing. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. South Africa is magical and it is difficult for me to express my experience in words.

For those thinking about this trip and wanting to see leopards, consider heading to Sabi Sands after the ABD (but you can also easily plan a trip to S. Africa on your own -- it's easy to do) -- they are rich with leopards and sightings are plentiful and exciting (we saw them mating, with cubs {we even witnessed a cub climbing a tree to meet her mama to feast on an impala}, kill in a tree with circling hyenas, etc.). It is a game-rich ecosystem (we didn't see any cheetahs here though).

Zambia and Zimbabwe are both easily accessible from Sabi Sands.

Looking forward to the next installment.
 
Cousin Orville, your photos are amazing. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. South Africa is magical and it is difficult for me to express my experience in words.

For those thinking about this trip and wanting to see leopards, consider heading to Sabi Sands after the ABD (but you can also easily plan a trip to S. Africa on your own -- it's easy to do) -- they are rich with leopards and sightings are plentiful and exciting (we saw them mating, with cubs {we even witnessed a cub climbing a tree to meet her mama to feast on an impala}, kill in a tree with circling hyenas, etc.). It is a game-rich ecosystem (we didn't see any cheetahs here though).

Zambia and Zimbabwe are both easily accessible from Sabi Sands.

Looking forward to the next installment.

Great advice, thanks! I just assumed leopards were rare no matter where you go. If I didn't mention it before, it's basically stressed that you won't see a leopard. So we were quite fortunate. I believe they said on Kapama there were ~5 leopards and ~50 lions. I may have the numbers wrong, but there were far fewer leopards. I'll make a note about Sabi Sands. That does sound like a good idea to either do after the ABD or on a separate trip.
 
Funny you mention J'burg. When I was asking her about the trip, she said that was the one city they were told NOT to go out in alone at all. She's a world traveler--literally been all over--and that's the only time she's been told that.

I travel a lot for work and generally in "developing countries" (actually low- and middle-income countries). My colleagues know that I try to get in at least one run in the area when I go. I've got an upcoming trip to J'burg and been told that I will NOT be doing so on that trip. First time I've been so strongly warned against it (I was warned against it in Jakarta - but that was more about being run over (luckily the area we were in was actually not too bad by Jakarta standards)).
 


I can feel your emotion for this trip in your posts. Thanks for sharing! My parents lived in Capetown for a year and had traveled to South Africa many times before they moved there. They speak the same way about it.

I think the elephant feeding looks amazing. The evening safari pictures are beautiful and it seems like all of the stars were aligned for you all.
 
Day 8 Kapama


This morning we received a friendly wake up call a little after 6:00am. Tea and coffee was served just prior to our morning drive at 7. One benefit of going during our summer (their winter) is the morning drives start later in the day. That was a blessing for us, as we’re not exactly morning people. The weather outside was chilly, but it felt good.


We quickly spotted our first animals of the day - the wildebeest (or “gnu”) and zebra.


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We went off causally driving to see what we could find next when we suddenly took off. Rassie must have heard something exciting in his radio. After several left and right turns, we saw what he was excited about - a pride of lions.


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There were so many of them. And they were beautiful.


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Not too far away, while watching a family of monkeys, we were surprised by a giraffe coming out of the bush to cross the road. Followed up by a zebra crossing. <insert animal crossing the road joke here>


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Towards the end of the morning drive we drove up to a watering hole to find a herd of elephants.


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And more giraffes…


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When we returned from our drive, breakfast was served. Midmorning we had archery. The gentleman who taught us was super nice. On the side, he carves knives to sell. They were very popular. I didn’t buy anything, but they were beautiful. The handles and blade were hand made. They were impressive.


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After archery was lunch. You certainly won’t go hungry on this trip. We had some down time after lunch and Gavin and I just chilled by the pool before the evening drive.


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Tonight dinner was actually served in the bush. It was amazing. They had an awesome fire going on. Lots of delicious food and wine. It was just cool to eat outside under the stars.


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After dinner, we didn’t see many animals but it was a beautiful night and we went stargazing. This is a picture taken by our ranger, Rassie. Pretty cool. The flashes of laser lights are pointing out the Southern Cross. Such a beautiful night.

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Spectacular. Simply spectacular. I'd say that was a pretty successful drive!

I'll have to remember that about going during their winter. You know I'm not a morning person, either, and the early mornings are one of my concerns about this trip.

Sayhello
 
Spectacular. Simply spectacular. I'd say that was a pretty successful drive!

I'll have to remember that about going during their winter. You know I'm not a morning person, either, and the early mornings are one of my concerns about this trip.

Sayhello

Early mornings were the reason I waited until Gavin was a bit older. I was pleasantly surprised the drives started at 7am. Could have been much worse IMO.

Their winter is the best time to go not just for the drive times being more reasonable. The foliage is not as lush so it's much easier to spot the animals. I've heard their summer is not as good for spotting the animals, but is better for bird watching. That was according to our ranger.
 
Love love love your pictures, especially the baby lion and the elephant reflected in the pool of water. What a bonanza of a game drive!!
 
Yes, when my husband and I were there, they banged on our doors between 4:30 and 5:00 every morning. We never missed a drive, but we groaned a lot.
 
Your pictures are breathtaking. Do you edit them? If so, what program do you use?

Also could you remind me what kind of camera you use? I'm thinking about getting the Sony mirrorless Alpha A7 II for our next trip but am waiting for a really good sale.
 
Yes, when my husband and I were there, they banged on our doors between 4:30 and 5:00 every morning. We never missed a drive, but we groaned a lot.

You have just sold me on going in winter. I will never hear the end of it from my family if we get woken up at 4:30 on vacation.

The night sky photo is just amazing. (I say that about all the photos, but it's true).
 
Your pictures are breathtaking. Do you edit them? If so, what program do you use?

Also could you remind me what kind of camera you use? I'm thinking about getting the Sony mirrorless Alpha A7 II for our next trip but am waiting for a really good sale.


Most were taken on a Nikon D7100. I shoot in RAW, but honestly I rarely edit them. Hard to find the time. I think one of the leopard photos was brighted a bit. The last of the elephant pictures was cropped down. All the others are as unedited. When I do edit, I like Lightroom. The final photo was taken by our ranger, Rassie. Believe it or not it too was unedited. It was a multi second shot where he turned off and on his super powerful laser pointer to point out the stars. He transferred the picture to my iPhone when we got back to the resort.
 
You have just sold me on going in winter. I will never hear the end of it from my family if we get woken up at 4:30 on vacation.

The night sky photo is just amazing. (I say that about all the photos, but it's true).

Yes, Jun-Aug is definitely the time to go! The weather was also very nice. I've heard it can get crazy hot in the summer. Rassie was talking about it getting well over a 100 F some days.
 
Day 9 Kapama



So the “Big 5” includes the Elephant, Leopard, Lion, Rhino, and Cape Buffalo. We have seen them all except the Buffalo. So, guess what we were searching to find this morning?



Morning started with the wake up call, followed by tea to gather everyone together. The weather was crisp. We geared up with jackets and cameras at the ready for our morning drive.



Here’s a couple of photos around the property.



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First up was our first sighting of hippos. I have a particular fondness for hippos. I think it derives from when I was growing up there was a National Geographic with a dramatic picture of a hippo and “Botswana” on the cover. I thought that was so exotic at the time and it’s laid a foundation for wanting to go to Africa and see them for myself.



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Not particularly exciting just hanging around, but I wasn’t disappointed. We watched them for a while. Rassie even got out of the car and approached the lake which led the hippos to grunt and move about. We continued on our way and discussed plant life, tracking and survival. All very fascinating. And then we came across a beautiful sleeping male lion. He’s known as Scar for his distinctive scar across his right eye. The story goes that 2 younger male lion brothers teamed up and attacked him one day. He was amazing to watch, and we were remarkably close to him.



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So, our first male lion sighting… quite cool and very special. Lionesses are far more common. We saw quite a bit that morning before heading back to Kapama, but unfortunately no Buffalo.



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And back to Kapama we went.



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This morning after breakfast we had a snake presentation. It was really interesting. The gentleman who gives the presentation was very upfront for those who were afraid of snakes. No surprises, no pushing snakes in anyone’s face etc. I think everyone was very comfortable with his demeanor and presentation.



Behold the most venomous snake in Africa… sadly I can’t remember its name (#WhereIsGavinWhenINeedHim). But it’s not the most dangerous. Basically he puts it on the ground and the snake refuses to move. He even provokes it and the snake refuses to bite. You’d pretty much have to step on it for him to attack.



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Another more dramatic snake. In fairness, the gentleman specifically asked if we could stress with these pictures really how non-dangerous these snakes are. I forget all of what he said, but the highlight is if you see one of these out in the wild, don’t try to kill it. That’s when snakes attack. Ask for professional help.



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Relaxation time. We hung out by the pool. Gavin read and played on his iPhone. I wrote an old school letter to mail back home. We didn’t get in the pool as others said it was freezing cold. But it was very relaxing just hanging out.



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A selfie with my serious chess face…



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And we were off again for our last evening drive. We spotted a lioness on the hunt for warthogs. Never saw her attack, but it was interesting to watch her be sneaky.



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And here’s how close they can get to the jeeps…



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my favorite:



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We never found a cape buffalo that evening, but it was amazing scenery. It’s just great to be in Africa.



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We spotted a hyena!



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We headed back for our Farewell Dinner. It was a wonderful night. Distinctly African. I won’t spoil too much, but we had a great night and here’s a final picture of our wonderful guides.



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All is not over yet though. We still have one more game drive in the morning. TTFN
 
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