Tuesday saw us in the Land Rover a little after 6am and it wasn’t long before we came upon a giraffe grazing in the treetops. He was a little too far away for some good pictures but it was nice to watch this graceful creature moving through the trees. The giraffe takes a branch in his mouth and strips away the leaves between his lower incisors and a tough “dental pad” on the roof where he has no teeth. The things you learn in the bush! A little while later we came upon another big leopard. Just to show I Read more »

We’re off for the evening game drive. We’ve got it down now. That’s Tim Trautman on the left with Joe Studlick beside him. Lynn’s in the back and to her right in front is Tim’s spouse Diane . Liz is hidden and I don’t know where Mary is, but we’re all decked out in the recommended safari clothing. Micato sent us great suggestions for safari wear but I swear we were the only group in Sabi Sabi that looked like we were on safari! Too funny to see bright colored clothes, short shorts, and maybe evening wear out in the Read more »

Are these posts getting too long? Sorry, but I’m remembering for my own benefit and for the family who I hope is interested. Anyway… Monday after lunch we took off to visit a local village of some 3000+ people. Dusty dirt roads, red cinder block homes, laundry hanging in the yard, and people lining up to get water to take home from communal taps. In spite of the poverty these are happy people or at least they appear that way to us the tourists. We met a traditional healer who told Liz she would have a happy life with a Read more »

Morning comes early in the bush and today promises to be a long day. We have a wake-up call for 4:30am to get ready for the morning game drive but we’re both tossing and turning way before the call comes. First things first – check the cameras, spare batteries are charged, clean the lenses, put on the bug spray. Did I mention that we’re taking malaria medication and spraying on bug repellant? I got bug repellant clothing from ExOfficio at REI for the trip but the best news was that the mosquitoes were not bad at all during our time Read more »

Just to step back for a minute – we’re on the southwest side of Krueger National Park in South Africa. The first stop on our safari is Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. We arrived around lunch time on Sunday and after setting up in what can only be called “luxury accomodations” complete with colorful monkeys, we sat down to a meal of cold cuts, salads, grilled game and fish with vegetables, and ice cream (!). This was followed by a short nap, at least for Lynn and I, before going out on an evening game Read more »

[Show slideshow] 1 2 … 25 ► Wow! Lynn and I spent almost two weeks in South Africa with our friends Joe & Mary Studlick, their adorable daughter Liz who is an economics major at Brown, and Tim & Diane Trautman. Joe, our travel director, booked most of the trip through Micato Safaris and those guys did a fantastic job. Here’s how the trip went for us… Lynn and I left on New Year’s Eve (hey the price was right for business class) and after about 30 hours travel, including a long, long layover in Frankfurt where the Lufthansa lounge Read more »