A little bit of fun

When I arrived home from visiting Sarah in Botswana earlier this year I sorted through my thousands of photos, chose just a few (yes, I can hear your sighs of relief!), and created this video/slideshow of our happiest times together.

I've only now discovered how to share this little 3 minute show on YouTube, and consequently here on my blog. 

The sound track I chose was a no-brainer for me, Pharrell Williams' Happy. I love that song, but if you're over it you might want to step away from that Play button right now.

If not, I think you're in for a happiness overload. Enjoy!

Some days are diamonds...

As Wednesdays go this one's been very ordinary indeed. We were awake on and off from 2am till dawn after being woken by unfamiliar noises outside. Fortunately they turned out to have been animals rather than what we had feared, a return visit by our would-be thief. 

Then we piled all our goods for the day into the back of the ute Sarah had kindly been lent, hopped into the cabin and started out for CARACAL, only to discover that one of our tyres had deflated overnight.

A couple of 'good Samaritans' came to our aid and changed the tyre, but when they tossed the flat into the back of the ute it crushed a 6 pack of raw eggs that Sarah had bought as a treat for the mongooses. Ouch!

Before we left home I took a chance on the weather and hung out our washing in the bright sunshine. A torrential downpour around lunchtime proved I'm rubbish at predicting Botswana weather patterns. And I'm not 100% well.

Yesterday was another matter entirely. 

The Chobe River glinted and the late afternoon sun was a photographer's dream as we set out on another river cruise, this time with guests from The Garden Lodge in Kasane. 

These Namibian builders sped past, their boat laden with bundles of thatching stalks, the traditional roofing material in Botswana. That far bank of the Chobe River is Namibia.

Kudu, like this one, were in abundance.

As were the many brightly coloured birds that build their nests along the river bank.

Even this tiny dragonfly was easy to see, glowing scarlet against the reeds.

Our boat was very similar to this one, able to navigate the shallow reaches of the river and get in nice and close to the animals on the bank or on the reedy islands.

There's nothing quite like sipping on an ice cold gin and tonic and observing the incredible abundance of wildlife that comes down to the river at sunset. If you can bear to stop pressing that shutter button for a few seconds!

The hippos were in a playful mood.

As were the elephants.

But the big croc beneath these bubbles just wanted to play hide and seek.

Super-cool Sunday

It's Sunday night, we've just enjoyed a home cooked meal of fish cakes, gem squash and fresh boiled beetroot, and now we're ironing our underwear to kill the putzi flies.

After a week of information exotic animal overload and excitement it was relaxing to just put my iTunes playlist on at top volume, bop to the strains of tunes like "Happy", "Riptide" "Corner of the Earth", "Night Fever" and "Get Lucky", and become acquainted with this little gadget.

We weren't alone in the garden as we washed our clothes. There was a camera shy warthog. Probably just as well since warthogs have faces only a mother warthog would love.

A pretty little bush buck and her mate who were quite happy to graze nearby.

This one just stood and watched me, even when I walked back and forth past him.

Families of banded mongoose scurried through from time to time.

Finally the cheeky baboons had to get in on the act, checking out the washing on the line.

Sarah lives in a very basic little house in the spacious grounds of a safari lodge, well away from the guest accommodation. The lodge is currently closed, this being the quietest time of the year for tourism. So in the afternoon, with no one around, we walked down to the river front.

It's ok, Sarah's house is well back from the water where neither crocs nor hippos wander. Still, I don't think I'll be venturing down there after dark.

We walked back via the Nature Trail.

I didn't get bitten by a snake, but I did step on a prickly acacia branch and managed to skewer my foot on a long thorn, right through the sole of my joggers. Not a problem (so far).

You're wondering about those putzi flies, aren't you?

It seems these nasty bugs like to lay their eggs on washing left out to dry on the line, and the only way to kill them is to iron every piece of clothing that will touch the skin before wearing it. If this isn't done the eggs burrow deep into your tissue where they cause boils. Then the larvae hatch and move around beneath your skin causing you grief until they're mature enough to dig their way out (or can be excised).

Nice 😟

Living (just a little) dangerously

On a late afternoon game drive in Chobe National Park, just when we had all but given up hope of seeing a lion, there she was, majestic and beautiful. Our safari guide was the first to see the lioness, making her stealthy way down the hill through the long grass, towards the road.

We stopped, and our guide Kembo turned off the engine. She seemed oblivious to us, her eyes firmly fixed on this distant giraffe, otherwise known as 'dinner'.

We sat watching her in silence for around twenty minutes. The only sounds were our whispers and the clicking of our cameras. She would advance a few steps, then sit, then advance again, never for a moment taking her eyes off her prey.

As she padded across the road in front of our parked safari truck we could see that she had recently given birth, though a later search for the cubs was to prove fruitless even though others had sighted them.

She sat down in the shade of the thicket where she would be less noticeable, still holding her head high, and waited, keeping her eyes fixed on the giraffe. At one point she rose to stand, tail up and pointing like a dog, and we thought she might have been ready to attack, but we were wrong.  

She settled down again and turned to look straight at us. Look at that photo in the middle of the bottom line of my collage. Doesn't she look as if she's grinning at us?

 "Just kidding", she seems to be saying.

It was time to move on, but shortly afterward, in the last rays of daylight, we came upon this big male watching the sun go down. He looked right out of Central Casting, rolling and posing his magnificent physique for the cameras, and at around 6 meters away he was so close!

When our eyes met my knees went to jelly - and not in a good way!

This was our campsite for the night. No fences. Just a canvas floor and a zippered opening between us and the lions, buffalo, hippos, elephants, snakes and bugs.

How did this city chick find herself sleeping on a bedroll in a tent pitched on the red African soil under a sky lit by a million more twinkling stars than I've ever seen before?

I blame thank this 'Hokie girl' for opening my eyes to the wonderful experiences I can have if I just grab a little courage.

Camping purists would scoff at a camping experience like ours, with Kalahari Safari Tours, where the tents were already pitched and the bedrolls fitted with fresh sheets, the meals were cooked, and there was a canvas water receptical between every two tents for washing our faces.

For me, though, this was just perfect.

Except, maybe, for the bush toilet 😊🚽

Quilters!

There's no doubt about it, we quilters have a knack of finding each other, wherever in the world we might be.

I hadn't been at CARACAL more than half an hour on my first day before Trish called in to have her dog vaccinated. She had heard on the very efficient grapevine that I was a quilter, and asked me to her Friday morning quilting group.

What joy!

So I've spent the last two Friday mornings stitching, chatting, and swapping tips with Trish, her daughter Bronwen, and another friend Rentia on a cool tiled deck overlooking Trish's beautiful tropical garden.

Rentia started on this cushion cover, made from furnishing off cuts. It's going to look perfect on her couch.

Bronwen finished hand quilting and slip stitching the joining strips on this quilt-as-you-go baby quilt that she and Trish have been making together.

Trish patiently drew up a full size pattern for a block from a historical quilt she saw in a quilting magazine.

Then there was the "show and tell", including Bronwen's first quilt. 

An intricate puzzle quilt by Trish.

This purple beauty, also by Trish. Can you imagine piecing all those flowers?

And a warm, African toned Wedding Quilt Trish made for Bronwen, where every block has a special significance in their lives.

Just look at the rich colours in this colour wash quilt Trish is currently working on, made from thousands of batik scraps (some as small as an inch!) given to her by her friend Jenny from Kalahari Quilts. Trish prefers the quilt-as-you-go method for making her quilts and I'd love to see this one finished and bound.

I've already planned a visit to Kalahari Quilts when I'm in Gaborone next weekend. So what a bonus it was to find a shop selling traditional African Shweshwe cottons here in Kasane. Look at those colours!

And in case you're wondering, I've finally managed to complete a whole flower for Princess Plenty while I'm here!

Taking lessons

I have to admit I've surprised myself with the way some of my wildlife photos have turned out on this holiday. I haven't had my Nikon D5200 for long and it's still firmly on Auto, but the radiance of the African sunlight and the beauty of the animals and bird life combine to produce so many winning shots.

Then there are the rubbish shots like this one. I've managed to capture in fine detail the grasses in the middle distance, while making nothing but a fuzz ball out of the bird, my actual subject.

Clearly in need of a little extra tuition I took up the opportunity of joining another couple on a morning Photographic Tour on the Chobe River with Pangolin Photographic Safaris and threw myself on the mercy of our guide, Sue, who soon had me taking half decent photos like this one of an African Jacana lightly stepping through the lily pads.

Our specially designed boat was equipped with eight swivel seats in a single row down the middle, allowing each photographer a clear view out of both sides of the boat. 

I could have used my own camera if it had possessed a bracket for mounting it onto one of the camera fittings designed by Pangolin's head photo guide Gerhard ('Guts') Swanepoel along the lines of the machine gun mountings used by the South African army.

I doubt, though, if I could have captured such a clear close-up of this malachite kingfisher mother feeding her baby as I did using one of the Nikon D7000 cameras supplied free for us to use.

The early morning light was just amazing.

I'm still haven't found how to take multiple shots in quick succession on my D5200, so I was very excited when Sue showed me how to use this function on the D7000. Finally I could get a semi-respectable photo of birds in flight.

When I say the water was glassy I'm not exaggerating. This composition of elephant and water is one of my favourites.

This water monitor, or legovan, was sunning himself on a log when I intruded on his personal space.

I had to laugh at this huge hippo draped in grasses. He looks as if he's trying to do the impossible and disguise his portly body.

Don't be fooled by that grin. The only way to approach a huge croc like this is with a very long lens! Fortunately he was on the shore and I was in a boat. We looked into each other's eyes and it was loathing at first sight.

Another favourite shot.

These shots of a hippo running into the water, which I've made into a collage here, were only possible with the multiple shot function. This is only a very small selection of the action shots I took of his surprisingly nimble charge.

More elephants, having their morning bath.

This fellow was following his mates into the bush after giving us a spectacular display of rolling in the sand when he stopped momentarily, turned back, raised his trunk to me and trumpeted loudly as if to wave goodbye. Another 'pinch me' moment.

My morning on the Pangolin boat was incredible. Let's see how well I can put Sue's tips into practice.