Africa

[Lamar]

  Just got home from being in Southern Africa for three weeks. I will say Christmas and New Years felt a little odd but we'll have our get together next week with the grand kids and kids. I highly recommend going there. We did game drives twice a day for three hour each and saw an amazing amounts of animals. Then end the trip for a few days at Victoria Falls.

[ctom]

Wow. That sounds like a trip.

I've heard from others that those falls are something else for beauty. The buff looks as though he wasn't enjoying your presence, lol.

[Lamar]

Wow. That sounds like a trip.

I've heard from others that those falls are something else for beauty. The buff looks as though he wasn't enjoying your presence, lol.

I've been wanting to see Victoria Falls for a long time now and it wasn't disappointing. The Cape Buffalo is one bad dude. The guides kept us away from them at all times. We slept in tents in the middle of the bush and were not allowed to leave them by ourselves in the dark. One of our group members got chased by a big male bull elephant and had to jump into another members tent to get away. They all demand respect and we all learned fast to give it. So long as you stayed seated in the trucks they ignored you. Here's some more pics

[Lamar]

More Pics

[Lamar]

Last Ones

[ctom]

Love that leopard pic.

I hear ya staying put in the vehicles. Last fall while in Alaska the sister-in-law wanted to visit a musk-ox ranch. The first thing we were told was to stay standing, not to get to eye level if one of the beasts was nearby. I dropped my sunglasses and did a quick pick up and in the two seconds it took to bend over and stand up one bull postured to charge. That quick. I think an African photo safari for me will involve enjoying other people's pic. I'll stick to the bear and occasional moose in the cabin yard.

[Muskygary]

Lamar, What was the food like while you were in the bush? Any exotic dishes?

[Lamar]

Lamar, What was the food like while you were in the bush? Any exotic dishes?

Baked beans and Polenta were their staple foods. The polenta they would roll up in a ball in their hands and grab food with it instead of a fork. At one tribe they gave me a grub to eat ( wasn't that bad ) and a bowl of small minnows that were salty. But other than that it was a lot of fruit and fruit juices. The chicken and fish were good. They would cook both wrapped in banana leaves over a fire. The beef was tough and chewy and I learned in Tanzania to stay away from beef and pork. I've learned even in Argentina where they brag about their beef if you want a good steak or hamburger just wait till you go home. Nobody has the money to gain feed them at the end so they're free range grass feed and just not the same. As a rule my wife and I when we travel like to eat like they eat and leave our American traditions at home. Just makes for a better learning experience.

[Lamar]

Love that leopard pic.

I hear ya staying put in the vehicles. Last fall while in Alaska the sister-in-law wanted to visit a musk-ox ranch. The first thing we were told was to stay standing, not to get to eye level if one of the beasts was nearby. I dropped my sunglasses and did a quick pick up and in the two seconds it took to bend over and stand up one bull postured to charge. That quick. I think an African photo safari for me will involve enjoying other people's pic. I'll stick to the bear and occasional moose in the cabin yard.

 These were the trucks and tents we stayed in. You can see sitting in the truck you had very little protection. These were Nation Game Reserves and the animals were use to seeing trucks like ours. Some were ok with us and some were not. The guides were very good at reading their moods. We were told if we stood up or touched them they could look at it as a form of aggression. So low voices and no pointing either. I had a big male leopard 10 feet from me and many times had elephants up against the truck.

[Lines]

Very Cool Lamar!

[Lamar]

Very Cool Lamar!

 Most of these animal were farther than they look. A few years back I bought a Canon 60X SLR camera that was refurbished. I have a 64meg card in it so I can take thousands of pics before running out of space. It does a pretty good job and I for the most part keep it on auto or scenes. It's like my fish locators and will do way more than I'll ever need. This was the third time I've been to Africa and it always amazes me how many people just use their iPhones and don't even bring cameras or binoculars.

[Les Young]

Great pics. I think that would be a trip of a lifetime.

[basscatlildave]

That looked like an amazing trip. I would so LOVE to do that.  Thanks for sharing.

[Do-It Corp.]

Yep.  Great pics.

[anyfish]

 Very cool.  Thanks for sharing.