During our 2 week temple closure, Spencer and Dayna flew to South Africa to visit us. We wanted to give them a real view of what wild Africa is all about, so we took them East to Kruger National Park then Northwest to
Pilanesberg National Park. We saw more than we had ever hoped. The African "Big 5" are the elephant, lion, leopard, cape buffalo and the rhino. Our goal for the whole time was to see all of the Big 5. We saw them all in one day at Kruger Park. The one Leopard we saw, got into the bush before we could photograph it.
We stayed three nights in the beautiful
Protea Lodge at
Hazyview, just outside the Kruger Park
boundaries.
The wonderful African scenery in Kruger Park.
Picnic at
Pilanesberg. It was here that the old man walked right by an erect Cobra without even noticing. The others told me of my near
disastrous blunder.
Young Lion pair relaxing near the road in Kruger.
The ever dangerous Cape Buffalo. He seemed ever so calm as we photographed him.
Walkway to the hide at
Ratlhogo Waterhole in
Pilanesberg Park. This is the waterhole where we see the big hippo.
This was a bonus we never expected. The elusive Black Rhino is nearing extinction due to poachers and is rarely seen by Park visitors. There were two large adults here and, thanks to Dayna, we got several nice photos of one of them.
The magestic and ill-tempered Black Rhino was seen by all of us and photographed by Dayna Bird in Pilanesberg Park.
Another photo of the old bull Cape Buffalo.
A beautiful Water Buck.
Mama Hippo and Calf.
Which end is the front? We will never know.
A small herd of beautiful Springbok. The symbol of the national rugby team.
Steenbok Buck.
Large Kudu Buck.
The shy and secretive Klipspringer.
Fun in the mudhole.
The roar or the yawn?
Mud fight.
Vervet Monkey
Impala Buck.
Mr. Big.
The always photogenic White Rhino. Note the tip of his horn has been cut off. The horn of the rhino is reportedly worth $99,000 per kg (2.2 lb.) on the Asian black market. Hence the poacher problem is great here.
During our 2 week temple closure, Spencer and Dayna flew to South Africa to visit us. We wanted to give them a real view of what wild Africa is all about, so we took them East to Kruger National Park then Northwest to Pilanesberg National Park. We saw more than we had ever hoped. The African "Big 5" are the elephant, lion, leopard, cape buffalo and the rhino. Our goal for the whole time was to see all of the Big 5. We saw them all in one day at Kruger Park. The one Leopard we saw, got into the bush before we could photograph it.
We stayed three nights in the beautiful Protea Lodge at Hazyview, just outside the Kruger Park boundaries.
The wonderful African scenery in Kruger Park.
Picnic at Pilanesberg. It was here that the old man walked right by an erect Cobra without even noticing. The others told me of my near disastrous blunder.
Young Lion pair relaxing near the road in Kruger.
The ever dangerous Cape Buffalo. He seemed ever so calm as we photographed him.
Walkway to the hide at Ratlhogo Waterhole in Pilanesberg Park. This is the waterhole where we see the big hippo.
This was a bonus we never expected. The elusive Black Rhino is nearing extinction due to poachers and is rarely seen by Park visitors. There were two large adults here and, thanks to Dayna, we got several nice photos of one of them.
The magestic and ill-tempered Black Rhino was seen by all of us and photographed by Dayna Bird in Pilanesberg Park.
Another photo of the old bull Cape Buffalo.
A beautiful Water Buck.
Mama Hippo and Calf.
Which end is the front? We will never know.
A small herd of beautiful Springbok. The symbol of the national rugby team.
Steenbok Buck.
Large Kudu Buck.
The shy and secretive Klipspringer.
Fun in the mudhole.
The roar or the yawn?
Mud fight.
Vervet Monkey
Impala Buck.
Mr. Big.
The always photogenic White Rhino. Note the tip of his horn has been cut off. The horn of the rhino is reportedly worth $99,000 per kg (2.2 lb.) on the Asian black market. Hence the poacher problem is great here.
2 comments:
Wow! What exciting safaris and how fortunate that you & your kids got to see all that you did, especially the big 5. Glad you are able to get out and about to see South Africa. Such cherished memories and even more are those memories of serving in the Temple. It is wonderful to be blessed by going on a 2nd mission and getting to see friends, from your first mission in Madagasgar, in the Temple. We really enjoy your emails and blog, thanks for sharing.
Wow, incredible pictures! Thanks for posting the adventures and the spiritual stories!
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