Tag: photography

South Africa Safari 2025 Day 9 The day of the Blue Wildebeest

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We set off from Lower Sabi to Satara a 138 km drive. Taking the direct route on the tar road led us to cross The Sabi river and enjoy its multitude of various mammals, reptiles and bird life…it did not fail to deliver.

We continued up the H10 viewing large herds of Blue Wildebeest. We were delighted as the last twice we have visited they have been few and far between. Our count soon recorded 99+ of both the wildebeest and its companions the zebra. The Blue Wildebeest is a dark grey colour often with a brown sheen, but more often it stands out looking jet black amongst the dry landscape. Both sexes have horns and its tail is horselike. They like the zebra are grazers…..our former sunset drive guide told us they tend to group with zebras because there is safety in numbers. However many years ago a very knowledgable game ranger told us that the zebra and wildebeest eat different sections of the grass. The zebra eats the top sweeter grass and leaves behind bacteria in its saliva. The wildebeest eats the lower part of the grass and the zebras bacteria helps with the wildebeests digestive system. Who knows which of these philosophies are correct.

The road takes you up and over an escarpment. From the top you can see for literally miles and miles in every direction. There is not a building, industry, road or track, other than the one we were on, to be seen…this really is raw, unspoilt wilderness – untouched by humans and their progression of time …it takes your breath away …miles and miles of nothingness except nature at its very best…magnificent, this is why we keep returning…unless you’ve seen it you can’t imagine the feeling this vista gives you.

We had nearly reached the H1-4 at Tshokwane picnic/ rest site, when we saw a few cars on a bridge. Looking along the almost dry river bed on a low lying branch of a big tree was a leopard. It was in a typical, textbook leopard pose.

We stopped at Tshokwane for the toilets, a look around the shop and a stretch of our legs.

Not long after this we spotted a hyena cooling off in a muddy pool. We sat watching it while we ate our cheese sandwiches. This is the usual way in which hyena stay cool. Further on toward Satara we came across a big herd of buffalo.

During our day we saw 99+ impala, 99+ elephant, 10 hippo, 3 crocodile, 15 waterbuck, 2 warthog, 1 leopard, 99+ Wildebeest, 8 kudu, 99+ zebra, 4 vervet monkeys, 23 Chacma baboons, 2 nyala, 2 bateleur, 1 spotted hyena, 50 buffalo, 3 ground hornbill, 4 quail, 1 lion, 1 black backed jackal.

We arrive at Satara slightly after 2pm….the booking in queue was about 20/25 people long. So while John queued I nipped into the shop opposite to pick up bread, cheese, fruit, yogurts, eet-sum-mor biscuits , water, chocolate and crisps….alas it was very badly stocked, no bread or fruit at all, I came out with water, crisps, eet-sum-mor biscuits and chocolate a really great combination for someone who tries to eat healthily and reduce the sugar intake🤣🤣🤣…having paid the non smiling assistant I joined John in the queue.

We were eventually greeted by the stern check-in lady…I tried all the usual niceties but failed to raise a smile…but we did get our room key….geeeze F144 chalet was defiantly a museum piece…I don’t think it had been updated since I first stayed in Kruger in 1989🤣 The curtains almost met in the middle on one window the other had a foot gap…hey ho I could be accused of flashing if anyone was looking in but what the heck🤣 The air conditioner was an original model which rattled so loudly it even smothered the rumblings of the fridge it was next to….It had only three working settings, on, cold or hot. The cold worked very well blasting the pillows on each bed with winds from the Arctic…unfortunately there was nothing in between so I spent most the night turning it off, dozing and sweating and then turning it back on again. The fridge and the air conditioner took up the only plug socket apart from the one over the sink…so we plugged in the extension lead and hoped we didn’t electrocute ourselves during the night.🤣

Our late afternoon 2 hour drive was of course along the S100. This is a favourite dirt road we have driven hundreds of times because it always shows us the unexpected . We had been going on it for about 3/4 of an hour and seen very little, a few wildebeest, zebra, impala, ground hornbill, a giraffe and a massive tusker of an elephant who stood hidden in a bush next to the road and nearly gave me a heart attack when it suddenly moved. We asked several other vehicles coming in the other direction if they had seen much but they said nothing, it was very quiet. We decided to U-turn.

We were just saying that it was the first time ever the S100 had failed us when!! …….both myself and a car coming towards us jammed on our breaks….walking out from behind some tall grass across the road in front of us was a massive male lion. We sat and watched him for 3 minutes before he disappeared from sight again. We pulled up alongside the other car to compare our elation, they had actually seen a lioness cross first of all….wow…the S100 never fails to deliver the unexpected.

We headed back on the H1 and past Satara camp gates, deciding to head up the tar for 30 minutes and see what was about. It was prolific with elephants, zebra, wildebeest and impala. Just as we were about to turn around we saw a black backed jackal…these are one of my favourites.

We returned to camp highly satisfied with our days game viewing and a magnificent sunset.

We went straight to the Cattle Baron restaurant. We were as usual greeted with a smile and highly attentive service. Thank you Permission you certainly earnt your big tip….we thoroughly enjoyed our Chateaubriand flamed in Brandy followed by ice cream and chocolate sauce…naughty but nice…and to be even naughtier I had my first Savannah Light of the holiday…it all came to the princely sum of £32…..

We retired to our museum chalet for a few games of cards and an uncomfortable nights sleep.

Portugal & Southern Spain Trip – Day 9 – Sunday 18th May 2025- Donana National Park – El Rocio.

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A fitful nights sleep was had in our cupboard…too hot without the aircon and too cold with it, even set to 21…. So it was a very rude awakening, having finally gone into a deep sleep around 4.30 am, when the alarm invaded my musical snoring chorus at 6.40 am….does this time really exist ….cant believe that I used to be on my way to work at this time 7+ years ago….But needs must….I quickly showered and dragged on some suitable clothing whilst cursing John for being so awake and jolly at this unearthly time!!!!!
Breakfast was hard rolls which you toast to make them even harder, with nice cheese, ham, Salami, yoghurts, fruit, cereal and some fairly decent strong black coffee. By 7.15 we were ready to go in search of the National Parks office……back along the deep sand road we’d walked the previous evening. It was only about a 10 minutes walk. We queued to get to the ticket desk where we handed over our voucher. We thought we had paid at the hotel but the really nice English speaking parks board receptionists explained we had paid €24 to the hotel for the convenience of them booking it and now we pay €54 for the actual trip….ummm we’ll see if we’ve been ripped off when the Mastercard bill arrives…but we felt this was genuine so we handed over the Euros…cash only…and we were given a ticket stating Lucia 5, and told Lucia would call us to her bus….so we waited outside with the other eager visitors.

Sure enough at 8.00 am a couple of drivers arrived and shouted out their names. They were taken to the 24 seater 4×4 high tyred buses. Then a nice young lady came and shouted Lucia and we hurried after her to another identical bus. The number on the ticket was the number you were allowed to board the bus and choose which seat you want. We selected two seats next to a sliding window which we could open, so that John could stick his camera out of it…….

Lucia gave the commentary in Italian, Spanish and, thankfully, English. She told us the town of El Rocio had 1000 residents. In June they have a religious week/ festival which involves over 1 million visitors and 100,000 horses….Wow, unimaginable. She informed us a lot about the National Park. For the first time in 15 years the heavy rains had filled the marshes and the horses and some birds had retreated into the forest section of the park because the water was so high in the marshes. We saw a heron nesting in the wooded area, which she said was unheard of. We soon came across a couple of groups of deer browsing in the forest. There seemed a lot of excitement about seeing rabbits…they evidently are the bottom of the food chain for foxes and lynx to survive. But the rabbits survival had been threatened by the eucalyptus trees which drain the moisture out of the soil and prevent the natural undergrowth, which rabbits feed on, from growing. So the eucalyptus trees had been felled with only two remaining. Their stumps were moved to another area where the dead stumps were placed as a memorial to the trees and a good breeding ground for the rabbits. Lucia pointed out many species of birds including the black kite and the many storks, herons etc.

Before continuing into the wetlands Lucia explained that farmers were allowed to graze cattle and sheep etc and that they belonged to farmers where as the horses were just wild. The horses were managed by the parks board. We continued along a causeway which the farmers had built, across the marsh land, to make access to their cattle easier.
We stopped and stretched our legs on the causeway. There were dozens of different species of birds, flamingos, ibises, little and greater egrets, several types of heron, loads of different ducks like the poacher, teal, coot, moorhen , grebes, plovers and even the endangered Marbled teal……an ornithologists’ paradise.

We continued along the track to a visitors centre. This had toilets……but take your own paper!! ….. a coffee shop and a huge glass viewing area overlooking some Lakeland. We learnt there were over 4000 nesting birds in this area alone. Lucia set up her telescope and I managed to get a picture through it of a couple of flamingos….

There were plenty more pictures taken to capture the moment

On walking back to the bus we noticed not only the vibrant flora but also a stork nesting on an electricity pylon. There was a chick in the nest.

We were just about to re-board the bus when we heard the thunder of many hooves….it was a “Round-Up” with “Gouchos “ driving them along the road….there must have been 200+ horses and 4 herdsmen. We followed them down the road and they were driven into a corral through some water. Evidently they will be divided up into different areas from there.

On our return to El Rocio Lucia told us that the cork tree was now protected, not least because the Lynx often have their cubs in holes in the cork tree because it helps regulate their temperature. She told us there were several hundred Lynx in the park…she had seen one the day before.
At the end of our 3 hour tour we went back into the office and booked the 5.00 pm tour the following day with Lucia again. It had been a splendid experience. We wandered back to our hotel along the lake shores promenade which was a lot easier than trudging through the deep sand. The square in front of the hotel was again buzzing…a hive of activity…

We had a bite of lunch …a hamburger or so it was described but a rubber frisbee would have been a more accurate description. We wandered back to our cool, quiet hotel stopping on the way to chat to a very pleasant Australian couple who had been on the same bus as us……they are visiting Kruger South Africa at the same time we are later in the year…perhaps we’ll run into them again. After siesta on the terrace and a few games of cards we went in search of an earlish evening meal. We ordered grilled chicken which came with fries….unfortunately it was very tough and my gums are struggling with all the hard food and also the lack of vegetables…but hey Ho….a huge horse rode in behind John and breathed down his neck while his well manicured very smart rider had a fantastic brought to her.

What a surreal place this is…very busy, but an experience we wouldn’t have missed for the world…. Looking forward to tomorrows venture and fingers crossed for a sighting of a Linx.

Portugal & Southern Spain trip – Day 4- Tuesday 13th May – Sagres.

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We planned to have a beach day, however when we woke up there was hardly a hint of blue in the sky and a chilling breeze…in fact it was a jeans day rather than a shorts and t-shirt….or so John informed me and he was right. Just as we were having breakfast we received a phone call asking if the management could bring a photographer around. A building is planned for the plot next to our apartment and they wanted photos incase the new building caused cracks in the apartment. We agreed to let them come as we weren’t going out for a while. The General manager was a nice gentleman and asked how our stay was going. We explained that we really liked the luxurious, massively spacious apartment. During the day there is the sound of traffic from the Lagos road but at night it was very peaceful. There was no noise from other residents, if indeed there were any and we loved our door step guests, the swallows. We did explain that although we had been a bit put out by the receptionist’s attitude, when we arrived, we were actually delighted by the peace and tranquility of being so far away from the complex’s main amenities. We can’t fault where we are. They soon finished their business and off they went, shortly followed by us.
We took advantage of the cooler day and drove along the coast to the west. We took the A22 and then the N125 to Vila do Bispo where we turned south on to the N268 to Sagres. Sagres has been known for many years as the most Southernly point of Europe – although the mudflats near Faro are now a national park and they do protrude a little further south, however they are not inhabited. So I think it’s fair to say that Sagres which jots straight out into the Atlantic is the most southernly inhabited place in Europe. Although surrounded by the Atlantic it does have a Mediterranean climate.
At the end of the peninsula is a fortress and then a lighthouse. We did a reccy and found a parking space. All the car parking is at the bottom of the hill……We wandered up the cobbled footpath to the entrance of the Fort.

We queued a short while and then paid our €10 for two senior admission tickets…we were asked our ages because obviously we look so youthful….. in we went. It was a large courtyard with a museum, a chapel, toilet block, steep ramps up to the fortification/ fort’s outer wall. There was a long cobbled path straight down to the light house and a smooth foot path going down both sides of the top of the peninsula. We opted to go straight down the middle. It was a strange landscape. It was described as limestone pavement – but nothing like the smooth walkable ones we get in Yorkshire- we thought it looked like how we would imagine a “Luna Landscape”.

On reaching the point we decided to take different paths back. John took the more northerly path which was much longer. My little legs were feeling tired so I decided to take the more southernly shorter, smooth path back and we would reunit at the fort. Both sets of views were magnificent. There were information boards all the way around, describing the fauna and flora. I could see John most of the way around and some 4000 steps later we met in front of the fort. By now the sun had burnt the clouds away and the heat of the day was tiring, so we made our way back to the car.

We retraced our drive back to Luz, stopping firstly at Lidl ( they get everywhere!) and buying some lunch, then dropping down into the fishing village and beach area of Salema. We struggled to find a parking spot and in the end we drove onto the cliff road. Here we found a seated area overlooking the view of the village. An ideal place for our late picnic lunch.

Returning to Luz we drove to the beach and indulged in an ice cream. After a siesta back at the apartment, I prepared the evenings meal. This time it was very large prawns – which took me longer to clean and peel than it did to eat – and salad. It was yummy, the prawns very fresh and meaty, the beetroot sweet and the cherries to follow delicious. ..oh!! I forgot to say on returning to our apartment there was a half bottle of Grahams 2017 Late Bottled Vintage Port , two port glasses and a message of thanks for letting the photographer in, from the General Manager, whom we had met in the morning….what a lovely gesture.
What can one say…another day in paradise….oh!!! just remembered we passed Guadelupe on our trip…but because it’s missing an “o” and it’s in Portugal and not the Caribbean, there was no “Death in Paradise” and we didn’t see Selwyn !!!!!

Caribbean Cruise 2024- Day 8 – St Maarten

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Today we docked at the port in the Dutch side of St Maarten. The island is split in two with one half owned by the Dutch and the other side owned by the French…they even speak their own language depending on which side you are at, although English seems to be universal reflecting the islands reliance on tourism.
After breakfast, an amusing affair which left us chuckling, we packed a beach bag and headed on out. It’s quite a walk to the water taxi. They charge $7 return fare for the ferry over to Philipsburg, the Dutch side capital. Disembarking the ferry you are swarmed upon by tour and beach touts… we bargained hard with one lady who started at $35 for 2 loungers, parasol and 5 drinks and finally agreed with $20 for 2 loungers and no drinks.
Our loungers were at the waters edge and we were quick to strip down to our swimming suits…water shoes on and in we went. It has a steep shelf with the sand shifting under your feet, so it’s not the easiest to get into …however we managed it with some decorum!!……Bliss, warm water, clear and bright blue who could ask for more…

We even managed to get out without falling and doing my usual beached whale impersonation!!
After several sunbathing then cooling off in the sea sessions we took the ferry back to the ship and had a light lunch followed by an afternoon nap.

We went up to the Photo studio at our appointed time. We were once again sat down and all yesterdays photos were shown to us. We were given choices between similar pictures. We never have individual photos but the photographer had insisted and there were some very nice ones of us both together. He had us select 20 in total. Then came the crunch ……..I did say that the photo session had been complimentary didn’t I??

ummmmm…well ….we were given a choice of either a photo album or the photos on a memory stick …. And our 20 selected photos at the discounted price would ONLY cost a $1000 on a memory stick…….well!!!!! ……They might have had to of put one of the individual photos on our coffins because we both nearly dropped dead……The photos started at the discounted price of $99 each but the more you bought the cheaper they got. So if you bought 20 they were discounted to $50 per picture. Absolutely no way …..he tried several combinations with us eventually saying that we could have an album with actual photos, plus a memory stick plus two canvasses with our 2 favourite photos on for the bargin price of $650 ….. I am not certain which bit of “ we’re not in the market for buying photos at that price and anyway how do we get the canvasses home” he didn’t understand. I was all for walking out at that point, but the COMPLIMENTARY PHOTO SESSION had been a big part of our special day… he asked what we would pay and we agreed $200 for just 2 photos on a memory stick.
I asked which part was complimentary and he said the photo session, to which I asked wasn’t that complimentary to ALL guests which he agreed it was. …….we said the letter was a scam to which he replied that Princess Shoreside gave them the names of all cruisers celebrating an anniversary or a birthday and they sent the personalised letters out to each of them. So we have been to guest relations and told them how we feel the letter scams people….it is ambiguous in the fact it leads you to believe you are being gifted a photo …in-fact nothing at all is complimentary because the photo sessions are free to everyone…..I can’t think of anywhere in the world where complimentary doesn’t mean free of charge…..it’s a bit like saying your bingo game is free but you have to pay for the prize…..So at the moment we have two lovely pictures at a huge price …but they are a memory of our special day…even though we will always think that Princess Cruises has pulled a scam on us….we will wait and see what guest relations comes back with but we’re not holding our breaths.

After our massively disappointing session in the photo studio we went for supper and enjoyed some nice seafood antipasto …Ernesto knows us well!!! …when I said that it was a much bigger portion than usual he just laughed and we knew he’d given us one and a half portions….. we both had veal escalope as our main courses and John had a soufflé whilst I had the sugar free option of a coffee moose desert. Feeling much more relaxed again we settled in Princess Live lounge for a quiz before having an early night.

Caribbean 2024 Day 1 & 2

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Yesterday we set off from home for a 3 week holiday. It is to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. Those of you who know us will remember John proposed to me in the Caribbean.

We flew directly to Miami..good flight…spoilt by the huge queue to get through immigration….just under 2 hrs we made it through…for the first time ever we used Uber for a lift to our hotel in Fort Lauderdale…it was $68 a good price…..how were we to know that there are several Marriott Courtyards of Federation Highway !! Another Uber for $21 got us to the right one. We were exhausted and went straight to bed…..Unfortunately our old red 10 year old cases had expired and we had brand new John Lewis yellow ones….one is already smiling at us!!

We woke up very early 3.00am ….Uk time was 7.00 am body clock all adrift!
After the necessary trip to the bathroom we both managed another long sleep and finally made it down for breakfast at 9.30am…USA time. We used our new skill to call another Uber and for $45 he took us to the port…dropping us at pier 21 to embark on the Enchanted Princess. Wow!!!… to say we were amazed is an understatement…the queue for the terminal went right the way to the end of the pier and back around again. It took us an hour to join the end of the queue and another hour and three quarters to embark on the ship…nearly 3 hours most of it queueing in the hot sun….come on Princess that is not good enough…..they should have allocated embarkation time slots like they used to, so that customs scanning doesn’t get overwhelmed … the actual embarking with Princess staff and getting our medallions was only a matter of minutes.
After dropping our carry-on bags off in our cabin…..an obstructed view balcony especially selected as it looks over the middle of the roof of the lifeboat…so I can’t look down and feel seasick…..there is always method in my madness!!! ….we hotfooted it up on to the sun deck for a Key West Cooler mocktail…”Cheers everyone!” And a light lunch – hummus, pitta bread, olives salad. Followed by fresh melon and pineapple…….lovely….two glasses of water and we are ready to fight the crowds for a slot on top deck to watch the sail away……..The usual array of singing, dancing, shouting, cheering, the “love boat tune” played on the ships horn and the pilot boats guided us out of the port 50 minutes late but yeah!!!! We are on our way.

Deciding we needed a rest we descended to our cabin….and our suitcases were already inside awaiting the unpacking….John kindly helped me and we soon had it all in the draws and wardrobes and the cases stashed neatly under the bed. Our cabin Steward for the next 20 nights came and introduced himself…”Lucky” from the Philippines. I think we are lucky because he instantly said he’d change the bar fridge for Diet Coke and he went and got us a kettle for our early morning coffee….which incidentally I bring with us….he also made certain that our shower has a flexible removal pipe, as I don’t like the fixed ones which don’t allow you to deep clean individual areas!!!!! I was very impressed with him so he will be lucky as I can already feel a big tip going his way..

So far so good….we have booked a table for supper at 6.20 every evening, so hopefully we won’t have to queue…but if we do we do…..

Two sea days now, then an island which is new to me..Tortola….but in the mean time let’s eat, drink and be merry…..