A Visit From the States Part 3: Serious Wildlife

The last weekend of my parents' visit we drove 4 hours north to Madikwe Game Reserve, located just south of the Botswana border. We found almost all the Big Five...unfortunately the leopard eluded us. We did, however, see a pack of 14 African Wild Dogs take down an Impala. Since the African Wild Dog is the second most endangered predator in Africa and seeing just one of the is special, this was once in a life time. Thanks to our fabulous guide JP!

For once I am going to keep my comments to a minimum...most of Jeremy's photographs really speak for themselves.

I am the king and you are not....

...and I have the teeth to prove it. (he was yawning, not attacking us)

the white rhino, much more common than the black rhino

African sunsets, there's nothing like them.

This owl was not amused in the slightest by Jeremy's flash.

Riddle me this: white with black stripes? Or black with white stripes?

Female spotted Hyena

...and her baby!

Female lion...

...and her baby.

Fully grown bull elephants eat 250 kg of food daily. Even Fuggles doesn't eat that much.

Hakuna Matata.......sing along kids!

African wild dogs hunting...

...successfully (yes, that's a rib cage).

A brown hyena has just arrived on the scene to try and get in on the feast...the dogs are on alert.

A Visit From the States Part 2: Cheetah Farming in the Free State

Let's be honest, most people come to sub-Saharan Africa in hopes of checking off the "Big Five." A good glass of wine in Cape Town is merely an added bonus. In case you're wondering, the Big Five is the term adopted by the Great White Hunters back in the day for the five supposedly most dangerous animals to hunt: elephants, lions, rhinos, cape buffalo, and leopard. My parents started at the Savannah Cheetah Foundation in the Free State, south of Jo'burg. It is an amazing facility dedicated to breeding and, hopefully in the near future, preparing cheetahs for re-introduction to the wild. Jeremy loves cheetahs because they are the athletes of the feline set...built for speed. Thanks to Pieter and his wife Estelle and their staff for all their work trying to fight for these animals. And thanks also to Pieter for being such a great host.

Cheetahs can go from 0 to 110 km/hr in 3 seconds. Try and do that in your BMW. Semi-retractable claws give them extra traction as they accelerate. They hunt largely alone and are much smaller than lions. As such, they are easily bullied off their prey and can be targetted by lions who want to rid their territory of competition.

Here I am getting a kiss from Nikita the Cheetah. About 5 minutes later I found out that not only am I allergic to horses, I am allergic to cheetahs as well. No pet cheetahs to keep Fuggles company.

Allergy or not, I really wanted to take this little one home.

Magnificent.

A Visit From the States

I am sure there was a pool going on some where back in the States as to how long it would be before my parents came to visit. The answer? Approximately 4.5 months. In the usual fashion, they didn't show up by themselves...they brought my Aunt Meg, my Aunt Claudia, Claudia's friend Tish who became my Honorary Aunt, and some friends. It was great to see them and to show them our new country. I can't say that my mom left any happier about us being so far away, but at least she saw where we live, that we're happy, and that South Africa is a really great country.

Any good trip to South Africa starts with wine tasting.

On to Cape Town for a scenic drive, and a visit to Africa's only colony of penguins.

It didn't take us long to realize that there is a not-so-friendly rivalry between Cape Town and Jo'burg. They have a mountain, we have 10 percent of the GDP of all of Africa. They have great white sharks, we have great white BMWs. We of course believe that Jo'burg is the best. But...don't tell anyone I said this....Cape Town is pretty damn spectacular.

"Jack Ass." No, I'm not expressing my views about the current administration in the U.S. These are Jack Ass penguins. And darn cute ones at that.

I hope I look this good at 60.

Climbing Table Mountain is a rite of passage...and worth the view. Okay, I admit we didn't climb it, we took the cable car. But we did hike around once we were up there. Table Mountain is actually a biosphere totally different than the land down below. Amazing.