We just arrived in Malawi after a great time in Zambia. The last few days were spent camping right outside South Luangwa National Park. When I say "right outside", it really doesn't mean much, as the park has no fences and animals are free to wander through the campsite. Our outdoor dinner was moved inside due to a crazy elephant one night (who also destroyed some random tent), a hippo decided to practically rub its fat ass up against our truck another night, last night there was allegedly a leopard roaming around my tent about an hour after I stepped outside to relieve myself, and this morning a monkey's poo almost fell directly into my cereal bowl from the tree above. The monkeys are cute but also a nuisance, and, upon close inspection, have very sharp teeth. We also went on a couple game drives in the park, and on our night drive were meters away from a pride of lions, including three cubs. One of the lionesses was roaming quite closely around our vehicle at one point, and although I knew we probably looked like one solid object instead of individual potential snacks, it was still a bit daunting!
The next week will be more about the people and the lake here in Malawi, and I'm looking forward to a possible beach soccer match with local children!
Showing posts with label safari. Show all posts
Showing posts with label safari. Show all posts
12 June 2008
21 April 2008
Flickr sucks!
Some photos have been posted instead on google picasa.... sorry about the randoms, I was trying to back up all my photos. After two hours most still wouldn't upload. I've gotten up through my first day of safari. Here you can see a hyena and her pup! (assuming this whole post works as planned too...)
Editing to add... I'm a little cranky today. The weather in Durban is rainy and damp. I've spent too much time and money on things I really didn't want to - like sending a broken pair of sandals home because I want my money back for the damn things and buying cheap flip flops here to replace them. Or, because the internet is slow, and I am desperate to back up my pics online, I spent heaps on internet. Then, certain places seem to have problems with my credit card. Of course, this type of thing should be expected, right? It's still annoying! And since I'm no stranger to complaining, you can all share in my irritation. But tomorrow I will be heading to the mountains and peace and quiet. I think I may not be uploading too many photos along the way, unfortunately. I'm not trying again until Cape Town, unless I see a giant welcoming sign that says, "upload your photos fast and easy and cheap here!"
20 April 2008
Small Snippets of South Africa
Greetings from the Happy Hippo backpackers in Durban, South Africa! There's so much I want to tell you all... so I thought I'd throw out a few amusing anecdotes and snippets to hopefully give you a sense of what I'm doing and seeing and learning about while I'm here!
Let's start with the convo I had this evening with an Afrikaner in the hostel bar. He was an attorney in SA during apartheid, and having received gov't funding for his studies, actually prosecuted for the state until he had a crisis of conscience and left his job and paid back the penalites on his student debt. He had some crazy stories, including one of a magistrate who he thought was going to stop some police officers from beating a defendant who had fled during trial. No, the magistrate was going to beat the defendant too. Of course, the police officers and the magistrate got off with just a warning. After that, he became a banker and now likes to dive and fish a lot...actually, it sounds like he avoids civilization most of the time!
Polygamy seems to be quite the status symbol. If you have the 11 or 12 cattle necessary to purchase the additional wives, of course. Actually, for the young barman at the last backpacker I stayed at in the middle of Zulu area, it is stressful enough trying to earn the money to buy the 11 cattle for the first wife. It is hard to be "culturally sensitive" when people are talking about paying for their wives.
I went on another game drive in Hluhluwe Game Reserve (this is of course pronounced the only way possible - "schluh-schloo-weh"), and saw some more amazing elephants ("stormed by elephants" as one co-safari-er described it, though that might be an exaggeration), lazy rhinos, funny baboons, and stunning scenery. At the backpacker bushcamp itself there were funny colored lizards and lots of bushbabys and monkeys. It was great being out in the middle of nowhere.
Lane markers here are really more of a guideline or a suggestion. The shoulder is apparently where you move to when someone wants to pass you. It is also where pedestrians frequently hail rides, sell fruits and veg, or just hang out. According to Sascha the German backpacker, however, he heard rumors that jumping out in front of cars from these shoulders is a common method of suicide. I'm glad I'm not driving is all I can say about that.
There may actually be an opportunity for me to post photos tomorrow. I'll give notice on the blog if this is so. Next, I'm heading to the Drakensberg Mountains and hopefully into Lesotho. Til then... email me updates from home. I'd love to read them!
Let's start with the convo I had this evening with an Afrikaner in the hostel bar. He was an attorney in SA during apartheid, and having received gov't funding for his studies, actually prosecuted for the state until he had a crisis of conscience and left his job and paid back the penalites on his student debt. He had some crazy stories, including one of a magistrate who he thought was going to stop some police officers from beating a defendant who had fled during trial. No, the magistrate was going to beat the defendant too. Of course, the police officers and the magistrate got off with just a warning. After that, he became a banker and now likes to dive and fish a lot...actually, it sounds like he avoids civilization most of the time!
Polygamy seems to be quite the status symbol. If you have the 11 or 12 cattle necessary to purchase the additional wives, of course. Actually, for the young barman at the last backpacker I stayed at in the middle of Zulu area, it is stressful enough trying to earn the money to buy the 11 cattle for the first wife. It is hard to be "culturally sensitive" when people are talking about paying for their wives.
I went on another game drive in Hluhluwe Game Reserve (this is of course pronounced the only way possible - "schluh-schloo-weh"), and saw some more amazing elephants ("stormed by elephants" as one co-safari-er described it, though that might be an exaggeration), lazy rhinos, funny baboons, and stunning scenery. At the backpacker bushcamp itself there were funny colored lizards and lots of bushbabys and monkeys. It was great being out in the middle of nowhere.
Lane markers here are really more of a guideline or a suggestion. The shoulder is apparently where you move to when someone wants to pass you. It is also where pedestrians frequently hail rides, sell fruits and veg, or just hang out. According to Sascha the German backpacker, however, he heard rumors that jumping out in front of cars from these shoulders is a common method of suicide. I'm glad I'm not driving is all I can say about that.
There may actually be an opportunity for me to post photos tomorrow. I'll give notice on the blog if this is so. Next, I'm heading to the Drakensberg Mountains and hopefully into Lesotho. Til then... email me updates from home. I'd love to read them!
17 April 2008
To Do in Africa: See the "Big Five"
Well, I can check that one off my list! I had a SWEET first day of safari in Kruger Park, and saw all five of the "Big Five" hardest animals to hunt and/or kill.
First, the amazing elephant. They are pretty easy to spot, and very cool to watch. They are quite deliberate in their movements, and if they wanted could topple any of the vehicles that pass through.
Next, we came across lions and a cub crossing the road. The little cub gave out the teeniest tiny "rawr" as it ran past. (And in case anyone is wondering how this affected my fear of cats, well, the lions look a bit more like a cross between a bear and a dog if you ask me. Later in the day, when we saw a leopard (another of the Big Five) tearing apart an impala it had killed earlier in the day I was a little grossed out. Leopards are definitely creepy cats.
We also saw a HUGE herd of buffalo. As my fabulous guide Pasta said, "When the buffalo looks at you, he look at you like you just stole his money." Hilarious in its accuracy. I have a TON of photos of all these animals, but uploading them seems next to impossible, and the expense of the internet is preventing me from trying to solve this problem. I am not making this up though.
Finally, on our night drive, after seeing impala after impala after impala, suddenly right on the side of the road our spotlights found two white rhino! Rhinoceros are notoriously shy, so this was a very cool sighting. I took video as they chomped grass only about 20-30 feet away from us.
In addition to seeing the Big Five, I also got to see zebra, wildebeest, steenbok (which mate for life), giraffe (their coats are really beautiful), kudu, hyena (and one with little pups), jackal (another animal which mates for life), hare, many many bird species, hippos (from a long distance away), crocodiles, turtle, baboons, lizards, civit, bushbaby, waterbuck (they have a funny white ring on their bottoms that look like toilet seats), warthog, vervet monkeys, monitor lizards, dung beetle.
Some day I will prove this all to you with pictures. :)
First, the amazing elephant. They are pretty easy to spot, and very cool to watch. They are quite deliberate in their movements, and if they wanted could topple any of the vehicles that pass through.
Next, we came across lions and a cub crossing the road. The little cub gave out the teeniest tiny "rawr" as it ran past. (And in case anyone is wondering how this affected my fear of cats, well, the lions look a bit more like a cross between a bear and a dog if you ask me. Later in the day, when we saw a leopard (another of the Big Five) tearing apart an impala it had killed earlier in the day I was a little grossed out. Leopards are definitely creepy cats.
We also saw a HUGE herd of buffalo. As my fabulous guide Pasta said, "When the buffalo looks at you, he look at you like you just stole his money." Hilarious in its accuracy. I have a TON of photos of all these animals, but uploading them seems next to impossible, and the expense of the internet is preventing me from trying to solve this problem. I am not making this up though.
Finally, on our night drive, after seeing impala after impala after impala, suddenly right on the side of the road our spotlights found two white rhino! Rhinoceros are notoriously shy, so this was a very cool sighting. I took video as they chomped grass only about 20-30 feet away from us.
In addition to seeing the Big Five, I also got to see zebra, wildebeest, steenbok (which mate for life), giraffe (their coats are really beautiful), kudu, hyena (and one with little pups), jackal (another animal which mates for life), hare, many many bird species, hippos (from a long distance away), crocodiles, turtle, baboons, lizards, civit, bushbaby, waterbuck (they have a funny white ring on their bottoms that look like toilet seats), warthog, vervet monkeys, monitor lizards, dung beetle.
Some day I will prove this all to you with pictures. :)
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