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Showing posts from July, 2024

Don't Mess with Carla

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The last morning at Tintswalo, we climbed into the vehicles one more time, and our guides drove us to the nearby dirt airstrip to board two Federal Air Cessnas bound for Kruger International Airport. Once again we squeezed into these guys - I swear the aisle was about 9 inches wide - within minutes we were airborne and for the most part, it was a smooth trip.  We landed, taxied to the farthest end of the airport, and trudged inside the terminal. What a neat building! We had been here once before on the way to Phinda for a change of planes, but didn't see anything other than the baggage carousel and restrooms. This time, a very nice lady led us through a door and surprisingly we were in the terminal with little shops! So we did what any red-blooded American would do - we went for the kill! We didn't have much of a layover, and soon it was time to board our Airlink Flight to Victoria Falls Airport (in Zimbabwe). As we walk the tarmac, we spot the plane with stairs (again with the

'Git along, little doggies'

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Our guide Ryan took us out one evening in search of a Water Buffalo herd with hopes we'd  spot some lions or leopards following them. We had quite a bit of area to cover to get to these guys. On the way, we saw two ostriches, some giraffes with a baby, jackals, impalas, leopards and lions. We went off-road through ditches and dips, ducking sideways to avoid branches to get close to the herd and came upon a leopard stalking them. We followed the leopard and parked nearby to keep an eye out. The herd was restless, and clouds of dust rose as they moved on bellowing...It made me think of the theme song from Rawhide.....'Rollin' rollin', rollin', keep them doggies rollin' - rawhide!' We were in the center of their movement watching them doggies go by.    Ryan explained the leopard was no match for a water buffalo, but might try for a calf. We drove around a bit more until we heard a commotion nearby. The leopard had gotten an Impala, and in the short time it took