Safari Adventures

We always enjoy our p-days. This day we are back to the Pilanesberg National Park. It is a wonderful game reserve about two hours drive from our flat. If you come to visit us, you will likely get to come here. We love it here. You can see all of the big African animals here in their natural environment. Here with us are The Smith's, from England, The Ashcrofts, from Taylorsville, and The Sagers, from Canada.

Not only is Pilanesberg excellent for viewing the big animals, it is excellent for bird watching. This is a Pied Kingfisher and he is actively plying his fishing skills.

We got a little more adventure here than we bargained for. Anyone who knows animals, knows that when they pin their ears back, as this old bull is doing, they are about to do something drastic. Just after this picture was taken, he let out a loud snort and charged straight for our van. All we saw was 2.5 tons of mad rhino coming at full speed. We don't know why, but he stopped suddenly about 2 feet short of our van and retreated.

After we moved the van down the road a bit, the old boy retreated back into the shade by his two girlfriends. Note the size of that nose horn. It is probably near two feet long. It would have penetrated the door of our van quite easily.

The majestic Dung beetle. He is a most interesting creature. They attack a pile of elephant dung and proceed to make golf ball sized dung balls which they roll away to their homes by pushing the ball from behind using their back legs to push the ball and their front legs to push on the ground, in a backward direction. It is very fascinating to watch the whole operation. It is illegal to run over a pile of animal dung while in the park boundaries.

The always photogenic Giraffe.

Juvenile elephants at play.

Getting a drink.

We found a blind at a water hole and set up for a while to see what would happen along. One of the visitors was this huge bull hippo.

He lumbered right down in front of us and plopped in this mud hole, where he closed his eyes for a nice mid-day nap.

The zebras were warily drinking at the same water hole.

City Scenes

Ahhh, springtime in South Africa. The beautiful Jacaranda trees are very prominent everywhere you look in the city this time of year. We love it!

The scenic falls at Walter Sislulu Botanical Gardens.

A view of where we live from the hill. The Killarney Mall is in the center, our apartment complex is just behind and to the left, and Jacarandas trees are everywhere.

Beautiful Pretoria, the capitol city of South Africa. It is located about 30 miles North of Johannesburg.

Odds and Ends

Grocery shopping the easy way. Unlike our Madagascar adventure, grocery shopping is amazingly quick and easy here. No stopping between store and kitchen.

Elder Bird has found someone to talk to. She can't talk and he can't hear. They make a great pair.

The smaller cell towers in and around the city are made to look like palm trees. Who are they trying to fool? Actually, it is a fairly nice way to beautify the skyline. I hope no Sierra Clubbers see this.

What does "hooting" mean? I don't even know how to hoot.

Slug Bug of many colors. So, if you were playing slug bug, and you came across this machine, and you punched your friend and hollered "slug bug", what color would you pick?

Visit to Lion Park

Standing on a platform about ten feet high, Susan is feeding the giraffe, which is very handy with that monstrous tongue. The tongue feels like a wood rasp and can flick every pellet out of your hand in one swipe without dropping a single pellet.

This is what big male lions do best. They are content to find a nice comfortable area and lounge, only getting up to stretch or eat, like many teenagers and old men.

Susan is brave enough to pet these well sedated white lion cubs.

"Oh, yessss, Jasmine, that's the right spot, don't stop now."

This big lioness was just off the road, and when this picture was taken from the van window, she acted like she wanted me for lunch. At this park, the lions are kept in large fenced in areas and you view them from your vehicle on self guided tours. Lion park is on the northern edge of the Johannesburg area, not far from where we attend church.

Where We Go To Church

We go to church in an area called Cosmo City. It is a suburb about 45 minutes drive North from where we live. Our little unit is not even a branch yet. You might call it a Twig. Above is the site of the new modular meetinghouse being constructed for our unit. We hope to be in it sometime early in 2012. Below is the school where we now meet. We share the school with several other denominations and at times it is so noisy with the loud music, that you can hardly think.

This subdivision is in the neighborhood where our church is. It is government subsidized low income housing. The homes are small but sturdy with fairly nice streets and utilities. There are thousands of these units in Cosmo City. Some are equipped with solar water heaters on the roof. Others use plastic bottles with water on the back lawn. Why not? There is plenty of sunshine here.

A more close-up look at the area housing. Most of our unit members live in this type of home. They are very modest but seem to be adequate. Quite a step up from the shanty town areas farther out in the country.

Temple Pictures

This is the entire working staff of the Johannesburg Temple. It includes the Presidency & Matrons (in front), Recorder, Office Staff, Laundry Staff, Building Engineers and Ordinance Workers. About half of the Ordinance Workers are Full Time Missionaries.

The Johannesburg Temple and grounds. This is the only spot that a full view of the temple can be taken from, due to the close confines of the Temple location. There are many lovely gardens around the Temple. It was completed and dedicated in 1985. It is the same design as the Boise Idaho Temple.

The different colored stone in the brick wall on the Temple grounds is a stone from the original Nauvoo Temple.

The view of the Temple from Jubilee Street which runs by the front of the Temple. The beautiful Jacaranda trees are now in full bloom all over the city and make for a very magnificent scene. They have been in bloom for about three weeks and are now dropping their blossoms on the streets and sidewalks, which gives the appearance of a lavender carpet everywhere. The fragrance is as sweet as the trees are beautiful.

Swaziland

Susan at the border crossing entering into The Kingdom of Swaziland. We found this little country to be very friendly, safe to the traveler, and beautiful in almost every way. Simply a great place to visit. We spent three days here.

The beautiful Summerfield Resort and Botanical Gardens. We spent some time here just browsing before a fine meal at the restaurant.

A humble little homestead along the road to Piggs Peak. This is typical of life in the Swazi outback.

Elders Bird, Lewin, Smith and Blackburn at the parking lot by the Silversmith shop. In the background is the legendary "Execution Peak" where those who were found guilty of serious crime were either pushed or voluntarily jumped to their deaths.

The beautiful restaraunt At Summerfield. We had a lovely meal here.

A roadside merchant tending his market. One of the Sisters had some muffins and a pass along card which she gave him. He was very happy.

Elder Smith, an Englishman, is the ultimate missionary. His motto is "you have to be proactive". He gave away 12 Books of Mormon and numerous pass along cards on this trip, as he is doing here.

Part of our traveling group are gathered at the entrance to the beautiful Summerfield Restaraunt.

Susan at the market where we purchased the platter the merchant is holding. He is proudly displaying the Book of Mormon he has been given.

Safari @ Pilanesberg National Game Park

We are at the entrance to Pilanesberg National Game Park. This is our second visit to this park and we love coming here. It is about a 3 hour drive from Joburg. You never know what you are going to see.

The majestic giraffe.

An old lone bull elephant.

Elephants, young and old. This herd contained about 30 animals.

The herd bull.

The awsome white rhino, the second largest of the wild things of Africa.

These big birds have no fear.

Along the Road

Interesting sign.

Caution, Hijacking Hotspot next 4 KM.