May 21,2011-Kruger National Park

Fantastic!

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Kruger National Park

That's all we could say after spending six days in South Africa's Kruger National Park. In all of our years cruising we have never had an adventure ashore that matched this. We went into the animals' environment, where they are the masters, and we watched them live as they would in the wild. It is their world, not ours, we felt that, and we had to stay in the car. That was OK because the animals were everywhere to be found and the roads got us right into their midst.

And we did see Lions. Click here or scroll down.

Click each of the photos below to see more shots from Kruger, or click here to go to wingssail images for all the animal pictures (and more).


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Antelope

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Hippos

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Zebra, Giraffe, Buffalo

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Cheetah

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Hyena (also Jackel)

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Baboons (also Monkey, Rhinoceros, Elephants,& Warthog)

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Lions

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Birds

Judy got some shots of the the African countryside while we drove home from Kruger National Park.

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Scenes on an African Road

So, yes, we had a great time.

We're glad we came to Africa.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, South Africa

May 10, 2007-Visiting Bush Camps in Africa

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Elephant on the move

George slammed our Hyundai “safari” car into gear and we sped up the road, dust flying, looking in the rearview mirrors at the big bull elephants charging over spot where we were sitting just a moment earlier.

We got out of there in time but it was too close for Judy and Ellen who were beating on George’s seat back and shouting, “Go, Go” while I, hanging out the window with my camera, was yelling, “Not yet, not yet, just one more shot”.

George settled the debate and we beat feet.

But it was exciting. We’d followed this herd of a hundred or so elephants up a river, we on one side and they on the other, part of the morning and we been in this clearing on our side of the river as they lolled around in the water on the far side for half an hour or more. A few elephants ventured further into the stream and we thought they might cross but they didn’t seem to be in any hurry so, other than turning the car around for a quick get away, we stayed put.

Then they started swimming, and the first ones came onto the shore on our side, about 100 yards from us, but mostly out of sight on the embankment below.

When they started to meander up the trail and we knew that our car was right in their way Judy was the first to get nervous. “Let’s go” she said, but the elephants weren’t moving very fast and I reckoned we had a few seconds more and I knew the shots would be good once they came into sight so I insisted we wait. The other three in the car weren’t happy.

But suddenly the big bull emerged from the front of the pack and decided to get us moving. He came up at us waving his trunk and ears and making quite a scene and a couple of his buddies were right behind him. It was a great photo opp but I couldn’t keep him framed as the car bounced over the ruts and out of that place.

Great fun.

We spent three days driving around Hluhluwe-iMfolozi game preserve (pronounced shoee shoee meflozi) looking for, and finding, wild game. It was great. We didn’t find the lions (or, should I say, they didn’t find us) but we saw plenty other exciting animals.

Click any image to see more animals at wingssail.images

Elephants

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Rhinos

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Impalas & Nyalas

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Wildebeasts & Cape Buffalo

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Wildebeasts & Cape Buffalo

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Birds

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Monkeys & Baboons

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Girraffes

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Zebras

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Warthogs & Bush Pigs

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Landscapes

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Our Bush Camp & Our Friends

You can click any image above to see more photos or click here so see all of them.

Tomorrow we head off to Kruger to further our quest.

Stay tuned.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, South Africa

May 02, 2011-Drying out in Zululand

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Drying the 3A

We are in Zululand Yacht Club in Richard’s Bay, South Africa, in the warm north east of the country famed for game parks and quiet living. Things are pretty easy going here especially in the boatyard where quite a lot of funky boats are getting refurbished. This is where we plan to work on our mast after we get back from some land travel.

The weather in Zululand has been great for drying out the boat and we’ve pulled the last of our damp sails out of the forepeak. Here the 3A kite gets some fresh air before being stowed for God knows how long. There's been an occasional rainy day but mostly we’ve had sunshine and blue skies.

That land travel promises to be exciting. We’ll go to a Safari Camp in one of the oldest game reserves, Mmfolozi, and then to a hilltop lodge in HluHluwe, another reserve nearby. After these visits we plan to venture further, to Kruger National Park. In fact we might be there already but for all the holidays which have jammed up the bookings.

But we’ve got the time and things will get organized. We’ll do our trips.

Meanwhile, we'll dry a few things, do a few little projects, and enjoy the weather.

Click here to see more images from Zululand Marina

Click here to see the Log Book Page

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Zululand Marina, Richards Bay, South Africa