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April 2013: South Africa
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For the second week of Bruce's stay,
he and several members of the family went to Mjejane Game Reserve,
as guests of Debbie and Phil. |
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Friday 26th April 2013Two of the three vehicles which were needed to carry us plus our food and baggage! |
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A few hours along the motorway and
we had arrived at Debbie and Phil's little piece of paradise in
the bush, overlooking the Crocodile River. |
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Saturday 27th April 2013 |
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In the morning we were up bright
and early (well some of us were anyway) for our first early morning
game drive... |
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...with morning tea and snacks served
at a water hole. |
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Thanks to Jenny Gamble for this
photo (and a few others later on) |
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| Video: Elephant Behaviour described - too close for Mom (3:15) | |||||||||
The evening game drive proved to
be a little too much for Mom, who was sitting in the front seat. |
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The first of many amazing African
sunsets |
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Sunday 28th April 2013 |
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| Video: Ndlovu at Close Quarters (2:04) | |||||||||
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Morning tea again. Note our vehicle,
which was parked on a slight incline. This was necessary because
it would only start by free-wheeling downhill. We hoped that an
angry elephant would appreciate this contraint if we had the misfortune
to encounter one... |
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The bridge linking Mjejane with the Kruger Park |
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Des assumed the responsibility of
opening and closing the gate each time we went out on game drives,
at the risk of being eaten by a wild animal! |
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Inbetween game drives, we simply
relaxed and did whatever we felt like doing. |
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| Video: Warthogs eating the grass (0:24) | |||||||||
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| Video: Bush Track (0:23) | |||||||||
| Video: Tree Blocking the Track - No Problem! (1:23) | |||||||||
| Video: Suckling Elephants in the Bush (1:28) | |||||||||
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Monday 29th April 2013 |
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Lion bones! |
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This poor tortoise didn't make it,
sadly. |
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In the evenings, competition was
fierce amongst the Rummikub players (not to mention the Scrabble
players) |
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Tuesday 30th April 2013 |
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| Video: Elephants and Birds on the Far Riverbank (1:03) | |||||||||
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All that effort was too much... a little nap
was called for! |
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| Video: Luxury Game Viewing (2:15) | |||||||||
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Another of Jenny's photos below |
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More impalas spotted... just saying... |
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| Video: Rhino Eating (0:53) | |||||||||
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| Video: Sparring Elephants (5:58) | |||||||||
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Was it something I said? |
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| Video: Rhinos Drinking at Waterhole at Dusk (2:06) | |||||||||
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Wednesday 1st May 2013 |
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| Video: Hippos (1:40) | |||||||||
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If I have to pick a best day (actually
all of them were pretty wonderful!) it would probably have to be
today, when we were treated to hours of game activity right in front of the lodge. It was very special. |
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| Video: Crocodile River Panorama (3:51) | |||||||||
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Another of Jenny's photos below. |
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...and another one from Jenny below. |
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| Video: Elephants in the Crocodile River (4:20) | |||||||||
| Video: Elephants in the Crocodile River 2 (4:29) | |||||||||
| Video: Elephants in the River (0:47) | |||||||||
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...another couple from Jenny. The
one of Edna (above left) and this stunning Kudu. |
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| Video: Black Rhinos (0:55) | |||||||||
| Video: Black Rhinos (1:31) | |||||||||
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Thursday 2nd May 2013Sadly, it was time to go home, but we did have one more sighting before we left. |
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What an amazing time we had. Thank you so much to Debbie and Phil for inviting me and to the rest of the family for making it such a special week! |
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| ©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble |