Out of Africa: Day 1

Our trip to South Africa was so layered with scenic and outdoor experiences as well as cultural-historical ones.  Fortunately, we've truly been off the grid without cell and internet coverage, but this has the downside of having been unable to share a lot of what we've seen.  We just arrived home today, after an amazing eighteen days, and I'm excited to get snippets out soon. 

In the meantime, I thought I'd get out some photos from our four-day safari at Madikwe Game Reserve in the northeast part of the country.  This was truly a lifetime experience for all of us, and I can't think of a better way to have capped off our trip to South Africa.

Madikwe Game Reserve is committed to conservation efforts, preserving the natural habitats for native animals and helping save species that are now endangered, like the rhinoceros and wild dogs.

We'll fee lucky no matter what animals we see; it's just fun to observe them in the wild.  This is not to say we won't be searching hard for the Big Five (elephant, leopard, rhinoceros, buffalo and lion).  Let's see what we see . . .

Elephant poop.  

It's less disgusting than you might think.  Elephants have terribly underdeveloped digestive system so their poop is mostly undigested grass, not fecal matter.

 

Elephant poop is funny:

 Zebras,  Lots of 'em.

Guineafowl.  Not the brightest, but I think they're super cute.

Kudu.  The white lines along his hide are called "disruptive camouflage."  

This is a termite hill.  Now I fully comprehend what they can do to my house.  Remarkably, the mound that we see here is only 20% of the work done by the little buggers.  80% is below ground.

 Impala tracks:

Abby and Reese tracks, next to the impala tracks:

Sunset refreshments in the bush.

Looking for tracks.  And termite hills.