OwlMommy

SheilaWirick

OwlMommy

We enjoy traveling the world, discovering different cultures and dining at really nice restaurants.



North America » United States » California » Encinitas November 30th 2019

We were able to make it through the over one hour customs line in Montreal to hop on our final leg home to Los Angeles. We are now in our limo on our way to Encinitas and should be there in 30 minutes. We have flown for 48 straight hours. We are looking forward to seeing Ella, Scout, Coop and Mr. and Mrs. Owl when we get home. Thank you for following my blog. Until our next trip.... read more

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London November 30th 2019

After a 7 1/2 hour flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on another lovely Dreamliner, we have arrived in London. I was able to sleep very soundly for six hours on the plane and the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge here in London has the convenience of showers for their guests along with lovely food and comfortable seating where you can look out at the planes through the morning fog. So I am now rejuvenated and ready for another 24 hours of travel. We take off for Montreal in 4 hours.... read more
more of the lounge
breakfast
My shower area

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region November 29th 2019

We are now in the busines class Lounge in the Ethiopian Airport in Addis Ababa. It crowded even though it’s 10pm. We take off at 1:30am for London where I’m hoping to take a shower at their lounge. There is a buffet here with a lot of Ethiopian dishes and I might sample them later if I get brave. Our flight here was on a new Dreamliner and was very comfortable. I hope the next one is the same so I can sleep. Until London.... read more

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg November 29th 2019

We arrived from Hoedspruit, South Africa and are now in Johannesburg waiting to board our flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where we have a 5 hour layover. We flew through here in our way to Cape Town so I’m not looking forward to hanging out in their lounge until our flight to London takes off at midnight. See you in Ethiopia.... read more
Johannesburg Airport

Africa » South Africa » Limpopo » Hoedspruit November 29th 2019

We took off at 8:30am this morning in an 8-seater Quest Kodiak, a new plane manufactured in Idaho. We had a 30 minute flight to Hoedspruit Airport where we are awaiting our next flight to Joburg (Johannesburg). Its a very small rural airport and the waiting room is filling up as our flight time nears. Kevin is air dropping photos to me for this blog and twice now, he’s airdropped to someone else in the waiting room, not me. They don’t seem to mind. We are boarding soon. Until our next stop.... read more
taking off

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park November 28th 2019

Today is our last full day on safari as we head to the airport at 8:30am tomorrow morning. Kevin plans to go out tomorrow for a short time but I’d rather rest up a bit and pack for our 36 hour six flight trip back to San Diego. Today we were one of the last vehicles to leave the lodge and all of the others before us headed in one direction. Gary didn’t want to follow the crowds, if you want to really call them crowds as only about 30 people have access to the reserve we explore every day. The public have to stay on the paved roads and cannot get out of their windshielded cars. We, on the other hand, go down dirt roads, go off road and sometimes get out of our open ... read more
owl
Two owls
Snail on the road

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park November 27th 2019

Today started out at 5:30am which is quite normal for us now. We had a quick coffee and headed out for the morning game drive. Gary stopped the cruiser just down the road and Sully got out to give us a lesson in tracking animal prints. We learned the difference between and cat and a dog print, and I don’t mean a kitty cat and a poodle either. I mean the difference between jackal or African wild dog and a leopard, lion or cheetah. Dogs have two lobes at the back of their paw and cats have three (cheetahs will also leave claw marks). This print was from a female leopard because of the size and no claw mark. We then proceeded down the road and came to a river crossing. Again, Sully and Gary had ... read more
The White Lion
Sully and Gary spot the rhinos.
bite your fingernails and leave our horns alone!

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park November 27th 2019

We said a sad goodbye to our friends at Ebony Lodge at noon and took off on the 12-seater plane to head east to our final lodge, Lebombo. This lodge is located within its own private concession which lies within the Kruger National Park. This lodge has a very modern design and our suite is beautiful but that’s no surprise since it’s a Singita property. We did have several stops on the flight here and we enjoyed listening to the pilots perform their duties as we sat right behind them. Upon arrival at Lebombo, we were greeted by our new guide, Gary, and his tracker, Sully. We were also teamed up with a young couple from Brooklyn. We unpacked, freshened up and headed out on our first game drive. The terrain here is more rocky that ... read more
the four cheetah brothers climbing the ridge.
Looking for snackalopes.
Posing for the camera

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Sabi Sands November 25th 2019

We delayed our start time a bit this morning because it was rainping heavily, a nice treat for a San Diego girl who doesn’t get to enjoy much precipitation. With the rain still falling, a little bit lighter perhaps, we set out in the rover equipped with oiled canvas ponchos. But only Hazel and I partook of them because Jonty, Lewis and Kevin are all tough outdoorsmen who don’t mind inclement weather. We were in search for the wild dogs again and were heading down that same road again, when Jonty was informed via radio that two leopards had been spotted near a watering hole. With the sun now out, the ponchos off and feeling the fresh breeze in our faces, we headed toward the spot where we came upon a father and son lion basking ... read more
looking for any food opportunity.
Dad is on the termite mound.
I don’t know how much longer my patience will hold out.

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Sabi Sands November 25th 2019

We started our morning game drive at 5:30am but not before having some coffee and a few healthy snacks. Jonty, who is strong and stands 6’7” tall, immediately headed us to the Sands River which our suite overlooks. Due to rains that had fallen the previous day, Jonty and Lewis consulted another guide and determined the river was safe for us to cross so the Land Rover headed into the water and we crossed at a quick pace. Another group was not as brave as Kevin and me and refused to let their guide do the crossing. Within 5 minutes of crossing, we came upon a beautiful leopard lounging on a tree branch. It completely ignored us as we sat and watched it for at least a half hour. Jonty was then informed via radio that ... read more
the leopard
one of the two younger lions
our crew




Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 15; qc: 65; dbt: 0.0515s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb