A Final Look at Lake Kariba, Chobe National Park and Hwange National Park…. On Safari 24

March 28, 2024March 28, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 19 Comments

I promised more sunsets as I continue the wrap-up on our African safari. This one was on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe. Today, I will be focusing on those photos from Lake Kariba, Chobe National Park and Hwange National Park that were blog-worthy but didn’t fit into our earlier posts.

After sunset, it’s time for moonrise. Right? We were entertained by a full-moon at Lake Kariba one night, when we out exploring later than usual. That’s a weaver bird nest on the right, BTW.

I was curious about how my new camera would handle a close-up.

Most of the islands were covered in vegetation. This one featured acacia trees.

Rangers from Matusadona National Park next to Lake Kariba took us on a trip back into the park that I covered in other posts. But I missed this photo of impala and zebras running. We found that the wildlife at Matusadona was much more skittish than it had been at other national parks. I figured it was because they saw far fewer tourists, either that or there were more poachers operating in the area.

We woke up at 5:00 on the morning we were supposed to return to port because the boat was rocking and rolling. A major storm had come in overnight that none of the weather forecasts had predicted. This photo was taken from where we were anchored close to the shore. Big waves were rolling on the lake. Lake Kariba is the largest manmade lake in the world by volume. The captain took the boat out, looked at the waves, and brought the boat back in. It was too dangerous. There was talk of bringing another boat in that could handle the waves better. Eventually the waves calmed down enough that the captain was willing to make the trip. It was a rough crossing. We knew how rough when we tried to walk and when the liquor bottles came tumbling off the shelves in the bar. We survived!

While we in Africa at the wrong time to see the massive migrations that take place, this herd of Cape buffalo moving along the Chobe River gave us a feel for what it might be like.

Here I am with the warthog at our lodge on the Chobe River. You can see how close I was and how unconcerned he was about my presence. There were several photos of this fellow when I did my post featuring warthogs.

This photo provides a look at what much of the terrain looked like in Chobe National Park away from the river. We had stopped for a snack and potty break. You are looking at the restroom. It was called wander off into the bush where you couldn’t be seen and hopefully not eaten.

Samantha demonstrates how to headload toilet paper. Guides make a tremendous difference in the success of any tour and Samantha is among the best that Peggy and I have ever had. She was knowledgeable, efficient, and fun. Hats off to the Collette Travel Agency for hiring her.

The waterlilies along the Chobe River were magnificent.

Before moving on to Hwange National Park, here’s a photo of sunset over the Chobe River.

We stayed at Iganyana Tented Camp when we visited Hwange National Park. The swimming pool where the elephants came to drink while we were eating dinner is just off to the right.

Iganyana is the name for the African painted dog. This one was located in a shelter designed to provide care for the painted dogs that had been injured.

This was our tent, which was quite comfortable, glamping at its best! The dark spot to the right of the trail was where the Cape buffalo left its calling card.

Terry Anders, who co-owns the Iganyana Tented Camp along with his wife Sheona, took us on a safari walk through the area surrounding the camp. He and one of his staff were both armed in case of a wildlife attack. Here he stopped to talk about termites. Peggy’s brother John and I were persuaded to sample what the termite mound tasted like. Dirt.

Large termite mounds were found wherever we traveled in Botswana and Zimbabwe, as they were in West Africa when I served there as a Peace Corps Volunteer. We called them bug-a-bugs in Liberia.

Cal Nyer, a photographer and videographer from the Collette Travel Agency joined us on our journey through Botswana and Zimbabwe and added a lot to our trip. Here he has climbed the stump near the Iganyana Tenanted Camp that the lions had climbed up to escape the rampaging Cape buffalo that I blogged about. I can pretty much guarantee that the lions got up there much more quickly than Cal. But had he been chased by an angry Cape buffalo…

I’ll close today with this photo of Cal and me. Next up: South Africa and our last Safari post.

Bo-Kaap is a colorful neighborhood in Cape Town South Africa.

A Slightly R-Rated Post on Baboons: On Safari 15

February 23, 2024February 29, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 12 Comments

Mom checks us out. Given the ‘look,’ I don’t think I would mess with the baby. We were at a water hole in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe when we came on this mother and her baby.

In the animal kingdom, baboons are close relatives of ours, sharing 94% of our DNA. While others are closer (chimpanzees at 99% for example), 94% is close enough to feel a sense of identity, or at least imagine one. This mom’s interactions with her baby were about as ‘human’ as they get.

Assuming we were harmless, junior trotted out for a closer look…

And received a lecture from Mom for his boldness. At least that’s the way it looks!

Like us, baboons are omnivorous. This one has found a tasty stick to chew on….

While carrying on a conversation with another baboon. He may be talking, in a way. Baboons have 10 or more vocalizations they use to communicate.

The baboons here were harvesting the fruit in this tree. Our guide told us they chewed off the outer rind, which was spicy, and ate the sweeter fruit in the middle. Impalas, apparently liking spicy, waited under the tree to gulp down the rinds.

An impala feasting on the rinds is at the base of the tree. Several more baboons can be seen on the ground. Groups of baboons are called troops.

I’ve already featured baboons sifting through elephant dung to find ‘tasty’ tidbits.

Two of them were hard at work with the chore.

We saw lots of baboons going about their business in Chobe National Park. This little fellow seemed to be in a hurry. Maybe mom was calling.

A distant photo caught a mother carrying its baby that was hanging on underneath. We saw another baby riding on its mother’s back like a cowboy rides a horse.

Mom and a teenage baboon make their way through the grounds of the Safari Lodge where we stayed next to the Chobe River.

This handsome dude seemed to be focused on something other than food. (Warning: Now’s the time for the R-rated part of this post.)

And found her. Females have patches on their rear that turn bright red when they are ready to mate. If males are a little slow on the uptake, the females ‘flirt’ by backing up to them. No flirting was required here. That’s it for today. And no more R-rated posts until we get to the mongoose. Monday’s post will feature a number of birds we saw on the safari that I haven’t covered yet: They range from sublime to ugly.

Old Dude and Other Warthogs… On Safari— Part 9

February 2, 2024February 1, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 24 Comments

The Chobe Safari Lodge in Kasane, Botswana was the first place we stayed on our African Safari. In addition to being on the Chobe River and a short driving distance from Chobe National Park, it was the home of several warthogs. I called this one Old Dude, for obvious reasons.

The name warthog derives from the ‘warts’ on their faces, which actually aren’t warts but are made from a combination of bone and cartilage. They protect the face of the warthog in battle and I’m pretty sure that girl warthogs consider them quite attractive. Old Dude was searching for dinner here, which I think was small nuts from the tree. He wasn’t praying to the tree god, it’s just how warthogs eat— on their knees— so much so that they grow callouses on their knees, i.e. kneepads.

Here’s another perspective on Old Dude. I’d say the white hair sprouting out of his ears, the pouches under his eyes , and his broken upper tusk all speak to his age. (Or at least they would in a human.) Warthogs have four tusks (two upper and two lower) that are based on their canine teeth. While the warthogs at Chobe Lodge weren’t tame, they certainly weren’t concerned with people photographing them. We were about 10 feet away.

Warthogs seem to love their mud baths as much as elephants, if not more. It’s for some of the same reasons: Cooling off, protecting against sunburn, and killing parasites. Our balcony at the Chobe Safari Lodge looked out on a mud hole where these warthogs were frolicking.

One of them was giving new meaning to “down and dirty.” And possibly “joy.”

We had just finished feeding the elephants at the Wild Horizons Elephant Sanctuary near Victoria Falls when this fellow came slipping in. I think he had assigned himself clean-up duty. Their usual diet is grass but they will use their tusks to dig for roots and bulbs, and, as we have seen, apparently, nuts. Being omnivorous, they will also scavenge meat occasionally.

A group of warthogs, consisting of moms and kids, is called a sounder. Why, I don’t have a clue, but it is the name applied to other feral pig groups as well. We found this group at Matusadona National Park next to Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe. We surprised them so they were on the run with their tails up: Danger! Danger! Danger! While warthogs will fight if cornered, they prefer to escape, which is probably wise since lions find them quite tasty. Being able to run 30 mph (48 k) helps. As does having burrows to escape to. Moms send the kids in first and then back in with tusks pointed out. Warthogs don’t dig their own burrows, they steal them from other animals with aardvarks being their preferred target.

This pretty lady warthog had found a mud hole in Hwange National Park and was eager to check it out.

Aren’t I beautiful? That does it for today. Next up, you will meet, the Judge, who is known as the ambassador of white backed vultures, and is one impressive bird. I’m serious.

How a Guinea Fowl Led Soldiers to Pound on My Door at 4 AM, Plus a Red Billed Hornbill… On Safari— Part 8

January 29, 2024January 28, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 34 Comments

This Guinea fowl was part of a flock that scurried across the road in front of us as we traveled by safari vehicle through Chobe National Park in Botswana. Three thoughts flashed through my mind. The first was weird. Check out the head. I like weird. The second was plump. Dinner, perhaps? The third was a memory: The time Liberian soldiers tried to arrest me because of a Guinea fowl, or make that two.

First the story about the soldiers. I’ve told it before in my book about my Peace Corps experience, The Bush Devil Ate Sam, and on my blog. Because it involved Guinea fowls, it deserves being told again. It was 1967 and I had just returned from my Peace Corps job of teaching history and geography at the nearby Gboveh High School in Gbarnga, Liberia. Much to my surprise—and dismay— I found soldiers standing in our yard pointing guns every which way. It was an ‘Ut-Oh’ moment. Liberian soldiers were scary.

“What’s up?” I asked, trying not to sound nervous. You learned early on not to mess with Liberian soldiers. There was a reason why the government refused to issue them bullets.

“Your dog ate one of the Superintendent’s Guinea hens,” their sergeant mumbled ominously. The Superintendent of Bong County was the equivalent to a governor except that he had more power. He lived a quarter mile away and his Guinea fowls strutted around on the government compound squawking loudly.

“Which one?” I asked innocently.

“What does it matter which Guinea hen the dog ate?” the Sargeant sneered.

“No, no,” I responded, “I meant which dog.”

He glared at me for a moment and then pointed at Boy. I relaxed. It didn’t seem like the three Liberian dogs who had adopted Jo Ann (my first wife) and me would have done in the Supe’s Guinea fowl. They were three of the best-fed dogs in Gbarnga.

Boy was something else: A large, obnoxious, always hungry dog. He normally lived across town with Holly, another Peace Corps Volunteer. A second dog she owned, however, had puppies and drove Boy off. She was afraid he would eat her kids. Since Boy didn’t like Liberians, he had hightailed it across town to live with us. Normally I wouldn’t have cared. But given his attitude toward black people and the fact he thought of our cat Rasputin as dinner, I wasn’t fond of him.

“Why don’t you arrest him?” I offered hopefully.

“Not him,” the sargeant shouted. “You. You come with us!” Apparently, the interview wasn’t going the way Sarge wanted. A Liberian might have been beaten by then. I decided it was time to end the conversation.

“Look,” I said, “that dog does not belong to me. He belongs across town. I am not going anywhere with you.” With that I walked into our house and closed the door. It was risky but not as risky as going off with the soldiers. They grumbled around outside for a while and finally left.

Jo and I relaxed “small,” as the Liberians would say, but really didn’t feel safe until that evening. It was a six-beer night. Finally, around ten, we went to bed, believing we had beaten the rap.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

“What in the hell was that?” I yelled as I jumped out of bed. It was pitch black and four o’clock in the morning.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

“Someone is pounding on our back door,” Jo Ann whispered, sounding as frightened as I felt.

I grabbed our baseball bat, headed for the door, and yanked it open. Soldiers were everywhere. The same friendly sergeant from the afternoon before was standing there with the butt of his rifle poised to strike our door again.

“Your dog ate another one of the Superintendent’s guinea hens,” he proclaimed to the world. I could tell he was ecstatic about the situation. He had probably tossed the bird over the fence to Boy.

“This time you are going with us!” he growled.

In addition to being frightened, I was growing tired of the routine. “I am sorry you are having such a hard time guarding Guinea hens,” I said, trying to sound reasonable, “but I explained to you yesterday that the dog does not belong to me and I am not going anywhere with you. Ask Mr. Bonal (the high school principal who lived next door) and he will tell you the dog is not ours.”

Sometimes the ballsy approach is your best option.

I closed the door and held my breath. Sarge was not happy. He and his soldiers buzzed around outside like angry hornets. Still, yanking a Peace Corps Volunteer out of his house and dragging him off in the middle of the night over a guinea fowl could have serious consequences, much more serious than merely reporting back that I was uncooperative. I could see the headlines:

Soldiers Beats Peace Corps Volunteer Because Dog Eats Guinea Fowl. Liberian Ambassador Called to White House to Explain

I hoped the sergeant shared my perspective. At a minimum, I figured he would check with Bonal. John might not appreciate being awakened in the middle of the night, but it would serve him right for laughing when I had told him the guinea fowl story the night before. Anyway, I suspected he was up and watching the action.

We had a very nervous thirty minutes before the soldiers finally marched off. In the US, this is the point where we would have been calling an attorney, Jo’s mother, and the local TV station. Here, my only backups were the Peace Corps Representative and Doctor: one to represent me, the other to patch me back together.

Happily, our part of the ordeal was over. It turned out that Peter, a young Liberian who worked for Holly, actually owned Boy. The soldiers finally had someone they could bully.

Peter was pulled into court and fined for Boy’s heinous crimes. Boy, in turn, was sold to some villagers to cover the cost of the fine. As for Boy’s fate, he was guest of honor at a village feast. Being a Bad Dog in Liberia had rather serious consequences.

Complete with wattles, a top knot, bright colors, and fluffy neck feathers, a guinea fowl checks us out.

Guinea fowl, like the ones the Superintendent of Bong County owned, have been semi-domesticated for several hundred years. They are said to make great ‘watch dogs,’ keep your property bug free (including ticks) and be quite tasty. (The French have a number of recipes for cooking them.) They are cousins of chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, and other edible members of the Gallinaceous species. We didn’t see any on menus on our trip.

And now for the southern red billed hornbill, another unique looking bird we first saw in Chobe National Park.

This one was roaming around on the ground searching for insects, its primary food. It’s also known to eat small lizards, eggs and baby birds, should the opportunity present itself.

We caught this hornbill up in a tree talking to us: “kokok-kokok.” I liked the way its head was backlit with the sun shining through its bill.

As parents, the hornbills have a unique approach. The male finds a tree cavity where the female lays her eggs and then seals herself in, leaving a small hole for the male to provide her with food. While she is in her self-imposed exile, she molts, regrows her feathers and takes care of the young hatchlings. When the babies are around three weeks old, she breaks out to help in catering food for the hungry brood. The youngsters reseal the openings with their droppings and food remains. Hmm. Eventually, the chicks knock out the barrier when they are ready to fly.

Peggy and I will be on the road again for a month starting on Tuesday, this time traveling to Florida to spend time with our son and his family and once again visit Everglades National Park. I plan on maintaining my regular blog schedule. But, we’ll see. Grin. Friday’s post will be on one of Africa’s more amusing animals, the warthog.

An Intro to Africa’s Amazing Bird Life: The African Darter and the Yellow Billed Stork… On Safari: 7

January 22, 2024January 21, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 22 Comments

We were boating up the Chobe River in Botswana when the captain pulled over to the shore so we could watch this yellow billed stork on a fishing expedition.

Peggy and I joined her brother John and his wife Frances on an African safari to see elephants and lions, and giraffes, and hippos, and crocodiles, and zebras, and baboons, and… the list goes on. And we did, in glorious profusion. What we weren’t expecting was the bird life. A serious birder would be in heaven. In fact, there are specific African bird safaris one can sign up for. While our passion doesn’t run that deep, we do enjoy bird watching and always have. Time and again on our trip, we found ourselves stopping to admire their beauty, character and antics in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. We have the photos to prove it.

Altogether, we photographed over 20 species. You will be meeting up with many of them in my bird posts, including ostriches and penguins, but today, we are going on a fishing expedition with a yellow billed stork and an African Darter we met along the Chobe River in Chobe National Park, Botswana.

The yellow billed stork stands around three feet tall. It prefers fishing in shallow water where it shoves its large bill into the water and then stirs the water plants and mud with one of its feet to herd dinner toward its waiting bill. Small fish, frogs, and water insects are all welcome. It’s an open bill policy. It fishes by feel. When a suitable meal hits its bill, the stork captures it with a lightning fast reflex snap. But I’ll let the stork tell you the story.

Hi, my name is Big Bill. Today I am taking you on a fishing expedition where I am going to catch a monster. This is one of my favorite fishing holes. All sorts of delectable treats like to hide out in the grass. I’m drooling in anticipation.

My fishing technique involves me dunking my bill into a likely spot. I’m using my left leg for balance while stirring the pot, so to speak, with my right foot to herd tasty morsels toward it. One never knows what might be hiding in the grass. I call it pot luck.

Here’s a head on view of me, up to my eyeballs in work. The waves you see are from my stirring efforts.

And here’s a rear view shot that I did not approve. Curt and Peggy will be held accountable.

Wait! Something just hit my bill! A monster!

And now on to the African Darter or anhinga, also known as a snake bird. These birds are closely related to cormorants. The 36 species of cormorants and four of anhingas make up the family Phalacrocoracidae. The African Darter swims through the water in search of its prey, often with only its head showing. When it finds a fish, it literally spears it. ‘Darter’ refers to how fast. The alternative name, snake bird, derives from its sinuous neck. Now, in its own words:

Hello, I’m Handsome, or, if you prefer, Pretty. Either way, I am much better looking than Big Bill. You might think I am posing for you. Well maybe, I am preening. But mainly I am drying off my wings. Unlike most water birds, we, and our cousin cormorants, don’t have oil in our feathers to repel the water.

This is me with a freshly speared fish. Catching it was easy…

It’s swallowing it that creates the challenge.

It has to go down head first. Check out the wicked fins on this catfish. If I swallow it tail first, they get caught in my throat. Then it’s not just bye-bye fish, it’s bye-bye Handsome as well. That’s not a good ending.

I have to position the fish just right. So I take it back to the water and spear it again. Some fun. I wonder how many holes I can poke in it?

Upsy-Daisy. Whoops, I mean upsy-fishy. Now don’t blink…

Did you catch that? Did you catch my great flip? I’m very good at flipping.

Hmmm. I don’t think I’ll be swallowing this.

Maybe if I use the sand this time. More holes. Think of it as tenderizing. Note my big feet! I’m surprised they didn’t name me Big-foot as opposed to Snake-bird. Oh, you say Bigfoot is already taken.

Wow, I think I’ve got it! Thereby hangs a tail. Heh. heh.

Ah, happy tummy, happy bird. Now I can go back to preening and being beautiful. (Don’t pay any attention to that skeptical pied kingfisher on the lower right. He’s just jealous.)

That’s it for today. Hope you enjoyed our talking birds. On Friday, we will be reaching for the sky and featuring giraffes.

Come on in, the Mud’s Fine… Plus a Dramatic Rescue Effort by Elephants in Chobe National Park: On Safari (Part 1)

December 4, 2023December 3, 2023 / Curt Mekemson / 46 Comments

This baby elephant had just wrapped up a mud bath in Chobe National Park, Botswana. It was about to become part of a dramatic rescue effort.

Today, I am starting my series of posts on Peggy and my recent safari to Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. It was an incredible adventure, one of our best ever. We owe a large vote of thanks to Peggy’s brother John and his wife Frances for asking us if we would like to join them on the Collette Travel Agency organized trip. Along the way, we visited four national parks, Victoria Falls and Cape Town— staying in accommodations that ranged from a safari lodge, to a tent camp, to a house boat, and comfortable hotels.

Peggy, Frances, John and I with an elephant backdrop on safari in Chobe National Park, Botswana. We were in an open-sided river boat on the Chobe River that provided great views of the wildlife. Since elephants are my subject for the next three posts, I decided repost this photo I used in my last blog.

As for the wildlife we saw? It was incredible! That’s the only way I can think to describe it. In addition to seeing a great variety, we watched them going about their daily business of eating, sleeping, fighting, breeding and even pooping. (Elephants do a lot and hippos whirl their tails like a fan when going. It’s best not get caught in the splatter zone.) What we hadn’t expected to see was the colorful birdlife. It was a plus. Our guides also went out of their way to introduce us to local African culture, which I appreciated a lot, given my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa.

While we weren’t on a photographic safari, per se, we took a few. Make that 5,000. Grin. We will share some of the best. Exploring in open safari vehicles and boats, plus a “walking safari” provided excellent opportunities for both observation and photography. Our approach will be to feature one animal per blog for the major animals and then move to combined posts for the the birds and animals we saw fewer of.

I’m starting today with elephants. I was going to do two posts on these large, intelligent, family oriented animals but decided on three after I noted a rescue effort by family members when I was reviewing our photos of elephants enjoying a mud bath in Chobe National Park. It reflects an important aspect of how elephants care for one another.

But first, let me begin by noting that elephants take lots of baths, both by cavorting in mud and spraying water (and muddy water!) on themselves. Getting clean isn’t the objective, obviously. With minimal hair and few sweat glands, keeping cool in the hot African sun isn’t easy. The mud baths provide an opportunity to cool down, but they also serve as sunblock, and, to a degree, insect repellent. Elephants can get sunburned. And what blood sucking bug wants a mouthful of mud?

Many of the elephants we saw had mud caked on their wrinkly skin like this one in Matusadona National Park, Zimbabwe.

This family of elephants had been grazing on an island in the Chobe River and then crossed over to the shore through the river. Along the way, they had washed off much of their mud. It was time for another mud bath.

The bath was located conveniently on their way back into the trees where they would feed on leaves, even if they had to knock over trees to get them. Mom, and the baby shown at the beginning of the post, seem to be having a grand time.

Not all was well, with the family, however. One was down and obviously having problems, possibly with a rock embedded in her foot. A concerted rescue effort was about to take place.

Members of the family were able to persuade her to stand up and worked out a plan. What happened next was dramatic, to say the least.

At first I thought that all of the elephants had crowded together to share the mud hole. Now I am convinced that they joined together to help push the young female out of the hole. Even the calf was lending a shoulder. The young male on the right may have been offering a trunk for support.

The adults, having achieved their objective of starting the injured elephant on her way, moved on. The two younger elephants continued to provide support.

But then, she fell again, despite their boost…

And ended up back in the hole. The youngsters switched locations to encourage her to get up again.

And put their whole bodies into the effort.

They succeeded and she began crawling out on her own. It wasn’t easy.

Note how she is using her trunk for leverage and balance, pulling it toward her and making the dust fly. I’ll write more about this marvelous appendage in my next two posts.

Between pulling with her front legs and pushing with her hind legs while using her trunk for balance, she inched toward success. The other elephants moving on likely provided incentive.

Finally, she made it! Ears flapping she rushed off to catch up with her family.

Searching on the net, I found where moms help their babies out when they are stuck in mud holes. I also read that when an adult went down, possibly because of old age, the other elephants gather around and help it stand, leaning in to provide support. Such behavior suggests the caring, empathetic nature of elephants. My post today provides a unique example, particularly the role played by the younger elephants.

I’ll conclude today by providing an example of another mud bath, this time traveling into Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. Several artificial water holes have been established in the park to provide wildlife with water in dry season. It also serves to spread the animals out to reduce overgrazing. Peggy and I took these photos from an observation tower that had been set up beside one of the water holes.

One elephant left its bath while another remained, seeming to play submarine and blow bubbles. Actually, it was using its trunk and possibly its tusks and feet to stir up mud for its mud bath.

Having stirred up enough, the elephant surfaced. We were amused by the secretary bird who seemed shocked to see this ‘dark creature rising from the black lagoon.’

It seemed to offer a salute. Maybe it was scratching its head…

And who knows what it was up to with this pose. The photo-bombing secretary bird didn’t seem impressed.

It finished off its bath by spraying itself with muddy water it had sucked into its trunk. I’ll leave you with the vision. In our next post, we’ll continue to explore the fascinating world of elephants, plus visit an elephant graveyard.

Hippos and Lions and Elephants, Oh My… African Safari 2023— Up Close and Personal

November 10, 2023 / Curt Mekemson / 47 Comments

Come on in, the water’s fine. How fast can you swim? I can manage 5 miles per mile galloping along the bottom and 19 miles per hour on land.

It took me a while to get back to Africa after my Peace Corps assignment there from 1965-67. When my feet first touched African soil at Roberts Field in Liberia, Peace Corps was a baby of four and I barely qualified as a young adult at 22. That was 58 years ago. I always wanted to go back, but there was a lifetime of other things that needed to be seen and done…

A very young me as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Gbarnga, Liberia in 1967 with the senior class. I taught African History, World History and World Geography at Gboveh High School. My students took top national honors in Social Studies that year.

Peggy and I made up for our lack of African travel this year. In February we flew off to Egypt and boated up the Nile to celebrate my 80^th birthday. It was an incredible experience, packed with ancient history and magnificent structures stretching back over 5000 years.

Peggy and I doing the tourist thing after we had just re-entered the world of the living from our trip deep under the pyramid of Khafre at Giza.

Now, we have just returned from a journey to the southern part of the African continent that included national parks in Botswana and Zimbabwe, Lake Kariba, Victoria Falls and Cape Town. It was equal to, if not more impressive than our Egypt adventure. Imagine a herd of several dozen wild elephants joining us for dinner by drinking out of a swimming pool located next to our dining table.

Elephants kept arriving to drink out of the swimming pool which was located about 20 feet away from our dining table at Iganyana Tented Camp in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. One group would finish and another would arrive to take its place. This went on for at least an hour. I was kept busy with our iPhone taking photos. Best dinner show we have ever had!

Our recent trip started with a call from Peggy’s brother, John Dallen. Eleven years ago we took a delightful repositioning cruise with him, his wife Frances and friends Lee and Kathy Saaga, exploring the Mediterranean before sailing across the Atlantic back home. Since then, John has called several times with offers to join Frances and him in exploring the world. There were some great trips. But, as John likes to note, our travel styles differ substantially. If he is going to be out for six months, each day is carefully planned and reservations made, normally at four and five star hotels. If Peggy and I travel for six months, we have a vague idea of where we are going and make reservations a day in advance, if then. We once travelled for a year without making one. Our normal mode of travel is with a van or small travel trailer— or, putting our backpacks on and disappearing into the wilderness.

Frances, John, Peggy, Kathy and Lee in Santorini, one of the many places we visited in the Mediterranean.

This time, John made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. “Would you like to go on an African safari with us?” It took us five seconds to say yes. There would be hippos and lions and elephants to see, not to mention leopards, wart hogs, baboons and numerous other animals and birds. I will be featuring the places we visited and the wildlife we saw in our next several posts.

Today’s photos will give you a taste of what to expect. Peggy was traveling with her usual camera, a Canon EOS Rebel with a 20 to 300 mm Tamron lens. For Africa, I upgraded from my pocket Canon Power Shot to a different version, a Canon Power Shot SX 70 HS. Due to the miracle of modern technology it comes with a 21 to 1365 35mm equivalent lens and weighs just over a pound. It made it possible for us to capture photos like the hippo above.