Cruise day 3 with photo
Here are the photos that go with these entries on our third day on the cruise in Africa:
https://fbhjr.dreamwidth.org/1528544.html or https://fbhjr.livejournal.com/1533550.html
Wednesday we woke up and had breakfast with a good view of the coal.
Then, we walked across the compressed coal to the bus and headed out past the long miles of eucalyptus trees.
Even where harvested they replant quickly.
Again, past ostriches.
My father loved power lines and I still take photos of them occasionally, despite it being 2 dozen years since he died.
We went past the exit for Hippo Haven from the day before and kept going for another 45 minutes.
We slowed down a bit with a large load ahead of us, but it got off the road.
More animals shared the road as we got into the hills.
Then out and into the safari vehicles.
I’m not sure exactly what they were. Pickup trucks with chairs?
I don’t think this woman was saying "goodbye you tasty, tasty tourists", but I don’t understand Zulu, so maybe…
There were a bunch of rules to avoid being eaten.
The driver/guide carefully counted us to make sure he would bring back the same number.
Then, off into the reserve.
The guide told us that starting out at 10:30 meant we may not see many animals. He had to stop this warning to point out animals.
Then, just to double down on that, they blocked the road.
They did get out of the way eventually.
There were signs of larger animals around too…
And, on the side of the hill were some rhinos.
We couldn’t linger as we needed to make sure all tours got a look.
There were nice views, even when we didn’t see animals there.
I’m told there is a giraffe in these photos, but I never saw it.
I did see more weaver board nests.
Then, buffalo.
And a type of antelope that I don’t know the name of.
Then across the river to look for other animals.
We did find more buffalo and some warthogs.
Then, more ungulates.
Finally I spotted the animals I had hoped to see.
The younger one to our side came out of the bushes and convinced us to back away from it.
It did eventually veer off the road again.
It was pointed out that when the elephant seemed mad at us, vultures appeared overhead.
I had not been so worried about the elephant, but I was in the back of the vehicle.
We then headed up the fairly high hill where lions had been seen.
It was a bit strange to find a buffalo up there.
Maybe admiring the view.
There work folks working on keeping the roads clear. Dangerous work.
We were told the lions were on the next hill. Some folks had driven by them standing up in a pickup and they chased them. So, the rangers chased the lions away.
I’m told they are in these photos.
I could see them through our binoculars, but couldn’t really get a good photo. Despite the guide trying to give specific directions
We were not the only group trying to see them.
It then became obvious there was a rhino trying to see them too.
After pooping at us, it kicked its poop into the grass and walked off.
We tried to get a good look at the lions again, but no better.
Suddenly the driver turned us around and went racing down the hill as a cheetah had been seen.
We did see some zebras on the way.
And, another warthog.
We got down to the bottom of the hill and found the spot the cheetah had been seen. But, no cheetah.
We waited a while and then were told it had gone around the corner.
As soon as we left we were told it was behind us.
But, we still didn’t see it.
Then, deciding it was playing with us, we gave up and headed away.
But, only warthogs were along the road as we drove off.
Do you see the giraffe? I do not…
But, we did see other animals ahead.
And, a bit more in the distance.
We got back to the start point and found that warthogs were there all along.
We had a quick lunch at the picnic tables and then back on the bus to the ship.
We we had dinner, we set sail.
Then we walked around the deck as we sailed south.
We did also spend a lot of time looking at the stars of the southern hemisphere.
