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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Post Trip Post
at 1:00 PM
Some Favorite Shots and Last Bush Experiences
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at 12:30 PM
Just a Few More...


Lioness yawning.
Morning mist on the plains. Puku grazing.

Three Cheetah looking at a Warthog.



at 11:31 AM
Susan and the Leopard Turtle, plus Hippos, a Sunset and Brian's Fish!

This is Susan with a Leopard Turtle. It weighs about 8-10 pounds. It is one of the "Small Five".

Hippo party! This is a LOT of hippo in a small circle. You have to wonder, "Where are their bodies?"
And this is a lot of hippo


Just one of many, many breathtaking sunsets!

Brian was the only one to catch a fish on the Lunga. Granted, this isn't the biggest one either of us have caught, but sometimes just catching anything is a thrill.
at 10:30 AM
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
South Luangwa, Zambia and Okonjima, Namibia
This is a combined ending of Mfuwe/Nkwali and some of our time in Namibia. More to follow.
So... the big news is that we finally caught up with the Leopard in Namibia. One of Brian's shots is at the bottom of this posting - we have about a million more and will bore all of you with more than you want to see when we get home. Next to this text is a close up of an Okonjima Cheetah. We did two up-close-and-personal encounters with Cheetah today, one a WALKING SAFARI this morning! WOW, what an exciting experience. Will post more on this later.


Here is Susan with Chris, our guide and Gustav, our tracker and bush cutter, the guys who successfully showed us the leopard so intimately. We not only got extreme photo closeups of her, but we witnessed an almost kill of a small Kudo and the bellows to warn the rest of the herd from the large Kudo when she spotted the leopard about 5 feet away. It was an amazing insight into the quiet stalking of the leopard, and also the defense system within the ranks of the preyed. Amazing.


Monkey business... lots and lots of these guys, but they are hard to photograph because they NEVER stop moving!
And last, but not least, here is Brian's A-Number-One shot of MJ the leopard. This was a really special tracking, which we will never forget. We will try to post a few more pics of her tomorrow. Out to Stellenbosch tomorrow and then on the Frankfurt the next day and home Friday. How can we have nearly finished this trip already??? See, or talk to you, soon.
at 12:56 PM
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
South Luangwa National Park
Zambia
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Today we saw a pack of wild dogs. You don't want to be a baby impala around here!

There will be more from here as we don’t leave Mfuwe until Friday. Having massages this afternoon and then relaxing until dinner.
Keep an eye out for more!
at 3:04 AM
Lunga River
Zambia



at 2:35 AM
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Busanga, Kafue, Zambia


Was it worth it?

The bushcamp itself was very primitive. The bed was covered by canvas and netting, but the bathroom was open to the sky and got rained on several times. Susan and I have never seen so many bugs in our room as Busanga.

The weather has been unpredictable. We left all our warm clothing in Cape Town, only to find Busanga very cold, with rain coming down in buckets the second day. It warmed up enough the day we left to put on shorts for the first time.

We are being allowed to use the camp’s administrative internet to post this blog. We’re not sure when we’ll get to you next, but keep posted. Aside from sharing our dinners with a large variety of flying insects, and our room with more nature than we had planned, we are having a ball!
at 12:28 AM
Monday, November 5, 2007
Cape Town
Well, we survived the flights over, but it is a long haul. We arrived at the hotel at 6:40am (that's Susan standing with the guard). We rested until High Tea, which is a very elaborate affair at the Mt. Nelson Hotel. Walked around the beautiful grounds, and then to the wharf for a wonderful seafood dinner. Susan finally slept and we started Monday off with a little more energy.We hired a driver to take us around and drove through Cape Town. Here is a photo of City Hall where Mandela spoke on the balcony to the crowds when he was released from prison. We went on to the Castle of Good Hope, the Rhodes Memorial, Kirstenbosch Gardens the Constantia
wine country, Camps Bay and back to Cape Town. This is a really beautiful city. We are planning to do Stellenbosch on our return to Cape Town in a couple of weeks. Here we are in the Kirstenbosch Gardens.
At Camps Bay you get a really good view of the Twelve Apostles (the mountain range behind Brian).
We have an early (5:30am) departure tomorrow and 4 flights tomorrow to get to our first safari destination, Busanga. Don’t know when we will be back on line, but keep an eye out for more.
at 7:00 AM