Why I Was Missing

[nivrip]

I went missing for three weeks recently and this is why.

Two kudu (and birds)

Mother and baby hippo

Impala and bird

Egyptian geese

Baboon

Mother and baby kudu

Fish eagle

Vultures, mainly facing the wrong way.

Millipede, about 7 inches long.

Two sleeping black backed jackals

Two bee-eaters.

I had a great holiday in South Africa, Botswana and Zambia. All of the above pics were taken in Chobe National Park in Botswana. I do have lots more, some of which I will post later.

 

[muckshifter]

please do post more pics ... we, who don't get out often, can at least let our imaginations roam.

 

[Abarbarian]

Blimey ! I thought it was a bit posh for Flamingo Land.

 

[Becky]

Wow, that looks incredible! Can't wait to hear more about it

 

[Taffycat]

@nivrip you are such a lucky chappie to see those creatures up-close-and-personal.

 

[Ian]

Oh wow . That looks amazing!

What else did you get up to there?

 

[bootneck02]

Amazing photo's there Niv, looks like you had a grand time, please, please post more and tell about your trip

 

[nivrip]

@nivrip you are such a lucky chappie to see those creatures up-close-and-personal.

Very, very lucky.

Eighteen months ago we had to cancel a big holiday and then this year is a special anniversary so Kathy said she'd take me on a spectacular trip and this was it. Flew to Port Elizabeth then along the Garden Route calling in at Cape Agulhas, the most southerly point in Africa, and then to wonderful Cape Town. Next, a trip on one of the most luxurious trains in the world, Rovos Rail, up to Pretoria. Then a flight up to Livingstone in Zambia and a trip into Botswana for a couple of nights in Chobe National Park finishing with a stay back in Zambia at Victoria Falls.

Trip of a lifetime, lucky, lucky me.

Here are some more pics.

Mother and baby warthogs.

Mother and baby monkeys pinching food from a restaurant table.

Wart hog wandering in the hotel grounds.

Crocodile, this one a good 12 feet long.

Fish Eagle cooling off in the water.

African Kingfisher with fish.

Monitor Lizard.

Bee-eater.

Black Heron

Water Buffalo. Note the wound on its side.

Hippo with an inquisitive look.

A bird whose name I don't know.

Impala with its cleaning bird.

I took hundreds of pics and then deleted about half of them immediately and half of the remainder shortly afterwards.

 

[bootneck02]

Brilliant Niv you lucky devil. The photos are brilliant too please post more. You lucky old devil

 

[Taffycat]

Wow! @nivrip what an awesome trip that must have been! And what a lot of wonderful memories you both must have of the sights and sounds you experienced.

 

[V_R]

Cracking photos Niv, thanks for posting them.

 

[muckshifter]

great pics Niv ... oh and the bird you forgot the name of is a ... Spur-winged Goose - Plectropterus gambensis, one of the largest geese in Africa.

 

[nivrip]

great pics Niv ... oh and the bird you forgot the name of is a ... Spur-winged Goose - Plectropterus gambensis, one of the largest geese in Africa.

Wow ! Thanks, Mucks.

 

[Becky]

You're a font of knowledge @muckshifter

 

[nivrip]

One of the highlights of the Chobe game drive was this.................

Just 10 yards from the dirt track was this lioness with her eyes set on a herd of impala just on the other side of the track. Our jeep stopped for photos but she had no interest in a bunch of humans and kept her eyes firmly on the herd. She then got ready.............

.........still only watching the impala. Then she took off.................

..............in a semicircular loop, crossing the dirt track ahead of us and heading straight for the impala which raced away at great speed. This happened so quickly that it was impossible to get more pics. I'm very sure that she did not catch any of the impala as we got a quick glimpse of her in the bushes without her prey. Then she was gone.

Just like something from an Attenborough show. Wonderful !!


And, how about staying in a hotel like the one in Livingstone?

These four pics all taken in the grounds of the hotel.

Couldn't ask for anything more.

 

[Becky]

That must have been incredible to see! I'd love to do a safari one day.

I'm sure I heard somewhere that zebras are responsible for the most injuries to zookeepers - more than any other animal apparently.

 

[nivrip]

I'm sure I heard somewhere that zebras are responsible for the most injuries to zookeepers - more than any other animal apparently.

Well, just like horses, you don't stand behind them. But, just like horses, they are pretty docile creatures.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Great pix Niv, really enjoyed looking at those

 

[Abarbarian]

Loved the lion pictures.

 

[Becky]

Well, just like horses, you don't stand behind them. But, just like horses, they are pretty docile creatures.

I think that's partly the problem - horses have a long history of domestication, and zebras do not. Their appearance probably lulls people into a false sense of security, and then they get kicked!