Finally!!
It's Africa-picture time. Prepare to get spammed something awful, because there are a LOT of pictures under the cut. a lot. but some are really good. some are a bit blurry, so forgive.
Let's start with Christmas, then. We had to do it early, and it was fun, and felt like family.
My family is crazy. But obviously I fit right in with that aspect...
Then two planes and a 16 hour layover in Heathrow (dear lord, that was AWFUL!!), we were there! Barely got in on time, as well, because with all the delays, after we landed and went through customs, we grabbed a car and started driving the 4+ hour trip from Johannesburg to Kruger. ..in the rain, of course. We got into the main gate at about 6:15 pm, and the park closed at 6:30. Mind you, we still had to get to our camp. After filling out the paperwork, we started driving, this time of course minding the speed limit, cause they'll pull your ass over in the park in a second. When we got to our camp, after 6:30, the gates were already shut, and a car that had been following us for a while came over to talk to us. The guy in charge asked us how we were, we said fine, asked how he was, and got a brusque "i am NOT fine. You are LATE." His seriousness, combined with the accent, had us all in laughter for the rest of the trip about that one. But they finally let us in and it was all good.
The next morning we were out, dark and early, at 4:30. Aside from the impala - the antelope that are worse over there than deer in terms of overpopulation - one of the first things we saw were..
Giraffes! Gorgeous creatures, although so goofy looking.
(Don't worry, guys, I'm not posting ALL the pictures I have, only about 50.)
We almost ran over this litte critter. I thought chameleons were supposed to blend in. He wasn't doing a very good job.
This trip was rather different than the rest of the ones we used to take to Kruger. What used to happen is when we'd see someone stopped on the side of the road, we'd pull over, try and find what they saw, mutter "damn birdwatchers!!" and drive off, because they were looking at a pretty bird. Unfortunately..my parents have turned into the damn birdwatchers.
The Lilac Breasted Roller is an amazing one though.
That would be a Ground Hornbill. Ugly ass creatures, that supposedly cannot fly. Yet he's in a tree.
Now this was /incredible./ Two hippos just started fighting like the end of the world was there. My mother caught it on video, so I may try to upload it to youtube, because just..wow.
Baboons. Everywhere. /everywhere/. They came into the campsites and tore apart tents, cabins, everything. It was crazy.
One of the 20,000 elephants we saw. One of the days, we easily saw over 150 elephants. You'd just watch herds bust out of the thicket. Watch them cross the road. Blink, and then they were GONE. Animals like that shouldn't be able to hide that easily, but they can. So maybe they ARE hiding in the cherry trees.
Raaaaar!!!!!!
This guy was trapped on a bridge (only big enough for one lane of traffic) with lines of cars on either side of him, and he was getting real upset that there was no where for him to go. We realized why he was so upset a little later.
Those guys were chilling on the side of the road.
And that would be called 'get out of the road NOW!!!'
Some creatures felt the need to expose themselves. Which resulted in a 'He's showing us his little red THINGIE!!!' squeal on the part of my mother.
Bushbuck. Aptly named, obviously, and cute as hell.
Kudu. I love those horns, they're gorgeous. We saw all these animals lying down, including rhinos, giraffes, creatures that DONT lie down, because by 730 in the morning, it was already in the high 90s. Ugh, was it hot.
Warthog! They crawl around on their knees when they're eating. And yes, like in the Lion King, they really DO throw their tails up in the air when they run away.
Zebra!
More Kudu. How magestic could they possibly be?
Christmas morning, this little bugger woke us up. We heard him throughout the cabin, and he and a friend of his were just shouting away.
No real surprise that the ground hornbills are so ugly, look at what they eat! Elephant dung, its whats for dinner.
Even my mother squeed over the babies. Again, another video I'll try and get up.
yum, water. screw bending down to get it, i'll just reach up.
Cape Buffalo. Ugly picture, and this definately doesnt beat the 100+ of them we saw at a watering hole, including babies, butyeah.
hyenas!!! These were the ones who were breakfasting on an animal that we could only identify as a giraffe because of the 2 square inches of giraffe skin we could see. It was that destroyed.
I love those flowers.
Impala. Complete with oxpecker in ear. he wasnt too thrilled about that.
one of the camps we stayed at had lots of Bushbucks who decided that inside the camp was a better place to live.
Waterbuck. Absolutely no mistaking this guy. No one else has a white horseshoe on his ass.
Vulture. What you don't see below is the dead hippo.
"I'm cold, I'm wet, and I'm about a foot away from you. Leave me alone!!" (right before I was yanked back in the window by my neck)
Peekaboo!
"shit, i'm late!! wait up!!"
Hippos outside of the water. That was a rare sight.
A beautiful sunset.
If you couldn't tell, I have a bit of a thing for hyenas.
Blue Wildebeest!
White Rhinos, trying to stay cool by rolling around in the mud.
I have never seen a snail this big in my life.
...that's just funny.
It was amazing though. I was stressed out just dealing with family and stuffs during the trip, but I still loved it. Part of me felt like finally I was back home where I belonged. I miss it there. I already want to go back. And I got the opportunity to go swimming. Again, awkard family bullshit, but that aside, so much fun. Finally swimming without layers upon layers that just drag me down (and getting a NASTY sunburn in the process, of course!)
It was a great time. Just wow.
Let's start with Christmas, then. We had to do it early, and it was fun, and felt like family.
My family is crazy. But obviously I fit right in with that aspect...
Then two planes and a 16 hour layover in Heathrow (dear lord, that was AWFUL!!), we were there! Barely got in on time, as well, because with all the delays, after we landed and went through customs, we grabbed a car and started driving the 4+ hour trip from Johannesburg to Kruger. ..in the rain, of course. We got into the main gate at about 6:15 pm, and the park closed at 6:30. Mind you, we still had to get to our camp. After filling out the paperwork, we started driving, this time of course minding the speed limit, cause they'll pull your ass over in the park in a second. When we got to our camp, after 6:30, the gates were already shut, and a car that had been following us for a while came over to talk to us. The guy in charge asked us how we were, we said fine, asked how he was, and got a brusque "i am NOT fine. You are LATE." His seriousness, combined with the accent, had us all in laughter for the rest of the trip about that one. But they finally let us in and it was all good.
The next morning we were out, dark and early, at 4:30. Aside from the impala - the antelope that are worse over there than deer in terms of overpopulation - one of the first things we saw were..
Giraffes! Gorgeous creatures, although so goofy looking.
(Don't worry, guys, I'm not posting ALL the pictures I have, only about 50.)
We almost ran over this litte critter. I thought chameleons were supposed to blend in. He wasn't doing a very good job.
This trip was rather different than the rest of the ones we used to take to Kruger. What used to happen is when we'd see someone stopped on the side of the road, we'd pull over, try and find what they saw, mutter "damn birdwatchers!!" and drive off, because they were looking at a pretty bird. Unfortunately..my parents have turned into the damn birdwatchers.
The Lilac Breasted Roller is an amazing one though.
That would be a Ground Hornbill. Ugly ass creatures, that supposedly cannot fly. Yet he's in a tree.
Now this was /incredible./ Two hippos just started fighting like the end of the world was there. My mother caught it on video, so I may try to upload it to youtube, because just..wow.
Baboons. Everywhere. /everywhere/. They came into the campsites and tore apart tents, cabins, everything. It was crazy.
One of the 20,000 elephants we saw. One of the days, we easily saw over 150 elephants. You'd just watch herds bust out of the thicket. Watch them cross the road. Blink, and then they were GONE. Animals like that shouldn't be able to hide that easily, but they can. So maybe they ARE hiding in the cherry trees.
Raaaaar!!!!!!
This guy was trapped on a bridge (only big enough for one lane of traffic) with lines of cars on either side of him, and he was getting real upset that there was no where for him to go. We realized why he was so upset a little later.
Those guys were chilling on the side of the road.
And that would be called 'get out of the road NOW!!!'
Some creatures felt the need to expose themselves. Which resulted in a 'He's showing us his little red THINGIE!!!' squeal on the part of my mother.
Bushbuck. Aptly named, obviously, and cute as hell.
Kudu. I love those horns, they're gorgeous. We saw all these animals lying down, including rhinos, giraffes, creatures that DONT lie down, because by 730 in the morning, it was already in the high 90s. Ugh, was it hot.
Warthog! They crawl around on their knees when they're eating. And yes, like in the Lion King, they really DO throw their tails up in the air when they run away.
Zebra!
More Kudu. How magestic could they possibly be?
Christmas morning, this little bugger woke us up. We heard him throughout the cabin, and he and a friend of his were just shouting away.
No real surprise that the ground hornbills are so ugly, look at what they eat! Elephant dung, its whats for dinner.
Even my mother squeed over the babies. Again, another video I'll try and get up.
yum, water. screw bending down to get it, i'll just reach up.
Cape Buffalo. Ugly picture, and this definately doesnt beat the 100+ of them we saw at a watering hole, including babies, butyeah.
hyenas!!! These were the ones who were breakfasting on an animal that we could only identify as a giraffe because of the 2 square inches of giraffe skin we could see. It was that destroyed.
I love those flowers.
Impala. Complete with oxpecker in ear. he wasnt too thrilled about that.
one of the camps we stayed at had lots of Bushbucks who decided that inside the camp was a better place to live.
Waterbuck. Absolutely no mistaking this guy. No one else has a white horseshoe on his ass.
Vulture. What you don't see below is the dead hippo.
"I'm cold, I'm wet, and I'm about a foot away from you. Leave me alone!!" (right before I was yanked back in the window by my neck)
Peekaboo!
"shit, i'm late!! wait up!!"
Hippos outside of the water. That was a rare sight.
A beautiful sunset.
If you couldn't tell, I have a bit of a thing for hyenas.
Blue Wildebeest!
White Rhinos, trying to stay cool by rolling around in the mud.
I have never seen a snail this big in my life.
...that's just funny.
It was amazing though. I was stressed out just dealing with family and stuffs during the trip, but I still loved it. Part of me felt like finally I was back home where I belonged. I miss it there. I already want to go back. And I got the opportunity to go swimming. Again, awkard family bullshit, but that aside, so much fun. Finally swimming without layers upon layers that just drag me down (and getting a NASTY sunburn in the process, of course!)
It was a great time. Just wow.