A Chorus of Oooo's and Ahhhh's

Back from the Bush! Sorry to be out of touch. The internet access in the bush is so spotty these days.

We are back from the 3rd and final safari excursion and now giving Grandma and Bea a chance to rest here in Johannesburg before we make the long trek back. Grandma and Bea were amazing once again. I hope I have their spirit when I reach 85 and 88. Amazing. Between the two of them, they sat out only a handful of game drives over the course of the trip. Unreal. 5:30 am wakeup calls to be on a bouncy truck for two 3+ hour games drives each day...and they thrived!

And it's easy to understand what energized them when you consider some of the sightings we've had. Here are a few quick highlights.

From Phinda Forrest

* 6 Cheetah munching on a dyker (a small antelope). They were each taking their turn, when two lifted their redened faces from the kill - they heard the growl of a leopard nearby. The leopard has a physical edge on the cheetah, so they forfeited the rest of the kill and walked away into the brush - all 6 - in single file. The leopard somehow alluded us that night. We would hear it, then turn towards it...and then we'd her it behind us. We'd back up and move to the left and it would sound off to our right. It simply didn't want to pose for pics, not many leopards do. They're solitary and hunt at night, so they are very difficult to find. They are the rarest (and in my opinion greatest) of sightings.

* A momma elephant that squared off with our Land Rover and gave us a little mock charge while her young crossed the road behind her. It sat there staring at us, and when the rest of the elephants had crossed she casually walked into the bush along with them, knocking down tree branches as they went. "They're not delicate creatures," said Tree.

* An epic scene at a watering hole during one of our evening drives. 10 or so hippos sounding off to our right. Geese honking and duck quacking overhead. A male lion with a HUGE head was purring to our left. Directly in front, a lioness tended to 3 cubs, one of which got to close to a croc on the bank. The Lioness gave the croc a staredown, but that was that. That croc retreated a few steps - no harm done.


From Ngala, near Krueger national park...

* Two leopard sightings in daylight. Amazing. The first was feeding on a grey dyker. We have picks and video of the cat going to town like matty and me at the all you can eat pizza buffett. The second leopard sighting featured mom and cub, and the cub was about the coolest animal ever. looked like kitty cat, only it would bite your hand off. They took turns taking bites from a buffalo that had fallen sick and weak and then died the previous evening. At one point the cub stood on top of the fallen buffalo like it was a conquering hero despite the fact that it was a small fraction of the buff's size.

* A breeding herd of elephant - 35 to 40 in all - walking accross a plane and then crossing a dried out riverbank in single file. i haven't seen an elephant walk like that since my fraternity pledging days. We met up with them at a watering hole, as all animals circled the hole and slurped down water. Also saw a breeding herd of buffal whose numbers were well over 100. We drove to see the 4-5 that we saw from the road, and quickly realized that we were surrounded by them. We were safe, though I'll admit some concern when something we did in the truck spooked one, which caused him to stammer off. This prompted a few others to stammer off, but a stampede was avoided. I was ready to take off my fleece and play matador, but thankfully that humiliating means of dying was averted.

* A baby elephant gave us a mock charge - a few clumsy steps - a kick of dust - waving of the trunk. It was clearly a maneuver learned from his mother, but it was more endearing than intimidating. Since the charge was ineffective, it retreated a few steps and then tried again. Our truck still didn't budge, so the young elephant hung its head and strolled back into the brush to a chorus of adoring "Ahhhhhh"'s from tree, carol, bea and grandma who wanted to run up to it and pinch its cute little cheeks.

And last, but definately not least...from this mornings drive, our last of the trip...

We were taking photo's of 4 cheetah that were lounging like your every day house cats. They were rolling and scratching and licking and I was drawing comparisons between these harmless cats and Garfield. They got spooked by the territorial call of a lion, and began walking away. We started driving to see the Lion, when we saw one of the Cheetah make a break behind us. The other three followed. The opportunistic hunters had found a young dyker that was grazing solo. The cheetahs were behind us and to my right, we could barely see their sprint through the bush. Next thing you know, we see them chasing behind us to the left. All 6 of us were looking in all directions, we could hear the struggle but couldn't see where it came from. Then the noise intensified to my right, and maybe 20 yards away the dyker emerged from the brush with the cheetahs in hot pursuit. The lead cheetah clawed the dyker and disrupted its balance. Once grounded, it let out a wail as the other three cheetah systematically restrained the dykers legs, neck, and snout. Their was not much of a struggle, the cheetahs were efficient. We watched them as they took turns eating - munching dyker for breakfast - one of the three always on the lookout for the lions that had spooked them earlier. They took turns eating in a surprising display of civility.

While I was repeatedly uttering the phrase "HOLY LIVING SHIT!", Bea was diverting her eyes. I checked on her moments later at our bush stop and she she confided that it was harsh to see - "but its OK. its life". It was unbelievable to everyone. The transformation from beautiful cats to hunters was instantaneous. Amazing. Grandma was wide eyed "OH WOW!" was her comment.

Now that we're at a hotel with internet service, I should be able to get some pics up shortly. Stay tuned for pics and highlights and stories from the game drives.