That day, after seeing the monkeys at breakfast, we were immersed in African critterness. Animals only seen on TV or in the zoos were now right outside my car window (or not too far from the boat on a tour we took). Now, before you start thinking there are critters wandering all about in ZA, most of these were seen in national parks. Sort of like if us Americans wanted to see a bear or an elk, we’d wander to Yellowstone national park. Still, that did not diminish the awe and excitement felt in the least.
First that day was the hippo and croc boat tour where one of the first we saw were a mama hippo and her little one. Okay, I use that adjective “little” in a slightly skewed context. That sucker was big even though he was just a toddler.
Mom and baby
Further down the way on the tour, we ran into a whole flock… herd?… pod… ummm… flock… pack… whatever…
Just hanging out...
And, yep, that’s a crocodile just lazing in the background. They know not to mess with each other.
On the boat, they passed around a hippo tusk. Hippos have four of these tucked in their heads, just to give a perspective on their size.
No, I've no clue who the lady is holding the thing...
After the boat tour, we wandered into a nearby national park on our way to swim in the Indian Ocean. This park was where I first got REALLY close to critters. These female Kudu were just hanging out not 5 feet off the roadway.
The ladies...
And a mister Kudu–
Kudos to this Kudu
Saw some other critters, but didn’t get good pictures of them. Ended up snorkeling at a beach where I got my first chance to swim in my third ocean (Pacific and Atlantic being the first two) – –
Nope, not my sand castle
Ended up this day taking a side tour of the park before heading back to the lodgings. Found a smaller pond with some hippos in it, just at sunset… I’m liking this.
The money shot...
A hell of a first day…
[happy sigh]
Tags: boat tour, critters, phallic tusks, point and shoot cameras can take good pics, yep Africa
The Wilds of Ohio 
May 5, 2010 at 21:49 |
are you sure that’s not your sand creation? looks like a ‘sand boobie’ to me!
May 6, 2010 at 08:49 |
That Money Shot is MONEY!
How cool it must be to see things “in the wild”…
You must be a mean MF to not want crocs/hippos to mess with hippos/crocs.
Why aren’t the hippos wearing Tutus?
Was the Indian Ocean on par with the other two oceans? As far as salt density, warmness, etc.?
May 6, 2010 at 10:54 |
your hell of a first day was cool as hell… can’t wait til you post again.
May 6, 2010 at 19:43 |
So, the gal holding the tusk wasn’t part of the “wildlife” then?
Those kudu’s….do they realize some wag spray painted white stripes on them?
Seriously, dude, looks like you were enjoyin’ the vacation. Cool!
May 7, 2010 at 06:48 |
I love those curly antlers
May 7, 2010 at 11:03 |
vacation photos are awesome. Love them. The Kudu’s are my favorite.
I told my hubby that I’m afraid to move to Dubai because of the poisonous snakes..I can’t imagine going to any “real” wildlife area. I won’t even move to southern ohio because of snakes.
Did you see any big snakes? “shudders”
May 7, 2010 at 13:36 |
You can see from her body language that the woman holding the tusk is uncommonly excited. I wonder why? Ja, so anyway… are there pictures of gnus in the pipeline?
May 7, 2010 at 16:52 |
Yeah, I’m with the others…the photos are amazing, and you know we appreciate them and their amazing incredible-ness, but really we just want to comment on the Lady with Tusk one because it’s really funny and SO accidentally DIRTY! And we are all 12.
But…Look at her boobs! They’re all askew with excitement over that tusk!
May 8, 2010 at 04:09 |
Aaaah – ain’t Africa a winner. When she’s not being a big frikkin’ laaaahoooosssser!
May 8, 2010 at 16:10 |
Great pictures! One of the things they teach you at the San Diego Zoo is, “Hippos: Avoid.”
May 11, 2010 at 12:16 |
I have sent one of my most murderous squirrels to Ohio and you are in Africa.
http://www.cleveland.com/sunstarcourier/index.ssf/2010/05/animals_in_the_news_strongsvil.html
May 12, 2010 at 16:32 |
daisyfae – nope, my sand boobies are much more realistic…and bigger!
stephanie – their tutus were in the cleaners that week. and that ocean was pretty much like the others. okay, a bit warmer.
lynn – it was a hell of a trip. i’ll only be posting a fraction of the pictures taken.
rob – there were a lot of paint jobs in that country on the animals. this animal vandalism must be stopped! and, no, unfortunately there was no human wildlife pursued. i was with Daughter Person, ferchrissakes.
nursemyra – there were lots of curlies abounding there.
hisqueen – i didn’t see any snakes but one little grass snake. Daughter Person did see a cobra outside her front door one morning.
kyknoord – stealing my thunder again, are ya? why i oughta… [chuckle] those pics are coming up next.
sally – i didn’t post the one of me with the tusk. there are laws to be followed and all.
dolce – yeppers. i saw the beauty and the beast that is South Africa.
dennis – we got the same advice. and were sure to follow it.
uncle keith – damn you, sirrah. think of the children. good thing i wasn’t here or there would’ve been squirrel hell to pay.
May 15, 2010 at 10:28 |
Wow! Fantastic! Until my children grew up, I saw monkeys at breakfast daily!
May 17, 2010 at 19:46 |
S. Le – [chuckle] they do tend to fling poo about and make a ruckus, don’t they?