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Published: March 5th 2008
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Today we awoke and had a pretty lazy day in store. It was about 90 degrees and it felt like everything you did took a little extra effort. Outside our room the field was alive with animal activity. Lots of wildebeest and zebras were filling the fields. We watch them play and find tree stumps to scratch their private parts. I can’t imagine not being able to scratch your balls when you want. It was really funny to watch. Also, we had a family of Franklin visit the patio. The chicks (baby Franklin) decided to make a break for the inside of the room. In a rush to close the door (the first time in my life I rushed to kick chicks out of the house) I scared the birds and they flew away from the mother. So, for the next hour, we heard the mother sit in a tree and squeal (which sounds like they are dying) for the chicks to come back. Good news, they all returned after about an hour. Amanda, Pat, Dan and Cathy all went for massages while Adam broke for the pool. I decided to catch up on sleep and read at the room. After
the girls returned, we went for a nice refreshing dip in the pool. At 4:00, we decided to drive back into the park and go look for the elusive elephant. All week we have trying to see elephants but have seem to just miss them. Dan stopped at the guide shack and see if they had any intel and gave him 3 spots to look where there were sightings. Off we went! I drove while Dan navigated, Pat and Dan seem to always have the age old debate of who can read the map better but I just drove and pressed on. On the way to the first location, we really did not stop to look at much. There were Rhinos, wildebeest, Impalas, etc. But they seemed like old hat at this point, we were on the hunt for the great elephant. We drove for over an hour, it started to lightly rain, and did not see much of nothing………then right in the road I see something in the distance. I tell the crew, but it looks too small to be an elephant. As we drew closer….what we saw was so much more surprising we could not believe our eyes….it
was a male cheetah!!!! Dan and Amanda were hanging out the windows in the rain getting photos then, he disappeared into the bush. I put the van into reverse and we started to track the cheetah. Out of nowhere, a heard of Impalas, and wildebeest come running out of the trees at full speed. The cheetah was on the hunt!! The cameras were snapping photos so fast it sounded like a fly buzzing my ear. The whole time I’m driving in reverse, down a dirt road, in the rain hanging out the window to see, while getting directions from Pat (go faster, slower, left right) there was a tour Jeep that saw us speeding backwards and came to join in the hunt. This, according to our guide a couple of days ago, is very rare to see. After what seemed like an eternity, the cheetah was gone into bush and over a ridge with no roads. It took a few minutes for all of us to catch our breath and we broke out in applause with joy! What a coincidence to stumble upon. It truly was amazing, who needs elephants! On the way back to lodge, we came across Hippos
(mother and baby) walking next to lake near the dam where the baboons hang out on the wall. It was nice to see but after the cheetah, it was nothing compared to this. Wow, now that’s RSL indeed!
The Great Elephant Hunt part deux! OK, another 4:30 am wake up call for a early morning guided safari drive w/ Rentia . Before the drive she was telling us that yesterday there were 100’s of elephants in the park but we never saw any. So off we go, for the first hour the only thing we saw was a terrific sunrise over the hill of the game park. She kept calling on the radio to see what’s out there but we really saw nothing worth noting. Then she got a call and there was a lion sighting about 10 minutes drive away. When we arrived there were about 3 tourist trucks and 4 or 5 cars sitting waiting for the lion. He never showed up. So, we drive on about 20 minutes and spot elephant dung. Its huge and smelly (that means fresh) and then a few more piles…..then just around a curve there are 5 or 6 elephants
just hanging around feeding on tree’s. There was a mother and a one year old calf, just playing cat and mouse as the youngster was trying to get a little teet time but this seemed to irritate the mother. It was really funny to watch. We stayed there for a while getting our elephant on (we looked for so long to find them why not hang out a little while) then the group needed a bathroom break. There is a nice game lodge with coffee and snacks and we breaked for 15 minutes. After we left for back to our lodge, we saw two secretary birds and encountered a giraffe on the way. Cathy called him Jeffery but the guide kept saying Jerry. I told her that in the states there is a children’s store with giraffe as its mascot called Jeffery. She said that there is a cartoon in South Africa with a giraffe named Jerry. Amanda seemed puzzled how Cathy and I remember that and just for fun we started singing the Toys-R-Us theme song……you know…..I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys-R-Us kid…..blah, blah, blah! Well, we found the elusive (and very large) elephants today, mission
accomplished!
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Lonnie
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Wow!
Amanda - these pics remind me of our months together. When we were putting quotes in the D6 intranet. It was such a wild time. Like Africa. You always told me that. I love the Kori. Remember that I called you Kori all of the time. PS - dont tell Mary Beth. She gets so jealous. Ton petite cheri - Lonnie. PS - I am getting much fatter than years before.