Today I took some candid photos suited to today’s challenge from Cee
Ground squirrel in Mountain Zebra National Park – we stared at them so they stared back!
Cheeky Vervet Monkey – taking a drink from a rocky puddle in front of our caravan.
Southern Boubou – not too shy to invite himself into our caravan/trailer
Then he hopped onto our picnic table
Short-sighted black rhino eyeballing these strange creatures in a tin can on wheels.
We had great plans for a long road trip in the second half of this year but a few things caused us to change our minds. Our big trip of the year was the cruise from Mauritius to Venice and we have also done a few short caravan trips. We have had some family events to attend and our little home in Struisbaai needed some attention so we decided to just do a short trip before we have to start thinking of the Christmas Season.
We packed up the Gecko Xtreme Off-Road caravan and left Struisbaai on Thursday 5 September then spent the weekend with our sister-in-law at Great Brak River. She was celebrating her 60th birthday and there was a bit of a family reunion there. Diane and Carey live on a small farm and some of us camped in the garden! It was awesome fun.
On Sunday we headed to Addo Elephant Park – our third trip there this year! It was not as exciting as last time but very enjoyable nevertheless. We only managed to get two nights when I booked and we planned to spend a third night at a private camp outside the park. I asked if there were any cancellations when we checked in but no luck. However, the next day I asked again – and there was a vacancy so we got our three nights saving us an extra pack-up day.
The weather was awesome – very hot on Sunday and Monday then cooler morning and evening on Tuesday but still shorts and t-shirt temperatures during the day.
Tiny baby enjoying the mud
Protected by his elders
This is so refreshing
I’m just gonna sit here and enjoy the waters
The warthogs seem to have no fear of the giants above them
AAAH a lovely trough of cool, fresh water.
Early on our second morning, we came across this strange looking goose!
It looks like a shelduck
Then we saw a more familiar-looking one a little further away.
Mr. Shelduck
And soon we also saw his wife
Mrs. Shelduck
So the odd creature must have been their youngster not yet in his full adult plumage.
A better photo of Mom.
Usually, we see them near water but they must have been out foraging.
It is hot and dry in The Park at the moment and even the birds were scarce. We did, however, manage to see and photograph a few
Streaky-headed seedeater
Bokmakierie
Common Fiscal
Ant-eating chat
Pale-chanting Goshawk on prey
The guts are delicious!
Southern Boubou
Hoepoe
Emerald-spotted wood-dove
Cape Glossy Starling
Jackal Buzzard
Karoo Scrub-robin
One doesn’t often see suricates so it was really rewarding to find some so close to the road
This lot greeted us in a friendly manner
What was he thinking!
The rest of the gang dug furiously for breakfast
Perhaps because of the heat, the animals were hiding in the bushes and trees. We usually see herds of them on the open plains. This time they were more scattered.
Zebra eating the dry grass
A lone red hartebeest
Male Kudu trying to get some juicy leaves
There were not many buffalo around but this one got a beauty treatment from a crow! The crow tried to impersonate an ox-pecker but didn’t quite have the skills. He jumped up and pecked at the long-suffering buff and managed to get a tick or three.
I see some parasites annoying you – shall I get them off?
Be my guest – I haven’t had a spa treatment in ages
oooh – that’s better!
These jackals were hiding from a kudu who was trying to trample them!
Other tourists reported seeing lions at various places in the park but we only saw one female about to take a nap.
We left Addo this morning and made our way to Mountain Zebra National Park near Craddock. More about that in my next post.
Great questions from Sparks this week. Here is my contribution.
What’s the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery or came into a huge fortune?
First I’d have to buy a ticket to win the lottery – so hopefully there is a very wealthy long lost relative that’s pissed off with his offspring and would rather leave his fortune to me!
My generous side says I would use it to alleviate the poverty around me BUT you can’t help others until you’ve helped yourself
SO
The first thing I would do is buy property in Greece or Italy and start the ball rolling to get permanent residence/citizenship there. Then I would become a human swallow – summer in Europe April to September and Summer in Africa – October to March
THEN
while I languished in the lap of luxury I would consider how I could help the poor! The more you give the more you get, Right?
Which decade do you think had the best sense of style?
I rather like the 1920s fashions. Stunning hairstyles for men and women and the clothes were awesome.
Would you rather be half your height or double your weight?
Well – if I were half my height of 165cm I would be 82.5cm which is probably what I measured at 18 months old. And then I would have weighed between 11 and 12kg. I weigh 52kg now and if I understand the question correctly, I can’t adjust both height and weight so I would be 82.5cm tall and 52kg fat. That simply wouldn’t work. I would be 5 times as fat as I should be and probably unable to move or lead a normal life.
Doubling my weight to 104kg would at least be manageable if not desirable. I could still function as an adult and live a reasonable life. The possibility of doubling my weight is definitely there – halving my height – that can’t happen. Thank Goodness I am in control of the former! With a healthy lifestyle, I guess I can stay in the fifties for a long time yet to come!
If you wanted to get away from everyone totally, where would you hide?
Probably the best place to hide would be somewhere in the bush. My choice would be The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. There is no internet connection in most of the camps and I could hide out there without anybody being able to contact me. At the same time, I would be in a place that I simply love. Usually, I go with my husband but if even he is excluded from this question then I could survive perfectly well on my own for a while. I would take the Ford Everest, pack a pup tent and what I needed to survive and enjoy the peace until I started to miss him and then return home!
What do you do that you love? 
I try to enjoy everything I do while I am doing it. If it’s doing chores that are boring, I listen to a BBC Podcast while I’m doing them and then I have the added pleasure from the completed task that I hardly noticed doing as I was distracted.
I love interacting with my family and friends. I love bird watching and going to game parks. I love blogging and reading blogs. I love going to Yoga. The list goes on. Basically, I’ve reached an age where I am just very happy with my life. I am full of awe and wonder that I am privileged enough to live in a beautiful place, have a comfortable lifestyle and good health that allows me to travel both locally and abroad. I feel very lucky and grateful that Life is Good.
Right now we are camping in Addo Elephant Park! I adore my caravan!
Some great questions from Sparks
When you’re 90 years old, what do you suppose will matter most to you?
I have warned my children and grandchildren that I plan to be a burden to them when I’m old! Of course, this is a joke! I will probably still be looking after them at 90!
What will matter is that I am NOT a burden to anybody and that I still have all my marbles. My independence will matter the most.
What’s the best way to spend a rainy afternoon?
When I was teaching, rainy day procedure was a nightmare. We had to keep the children in and take turns with a colleague to fetch a cup of coffee. It wasn’t missing the coffee break that was so traumatic – although it was irksome – it was the behaviour of the poor kids – they would be desperate to get out there and PLAY! It was up to the teacher to invent active indoor games for their motoric release – but it was just not the same. When the rain let up I would take the kids out for a walk. Oh, the fun of splashing in the puddles and smelling the cold, fresh air! Their shoes would get wet – but we didn’t care.
Here in the post-drought Western Cape we are very grateful for the rainy days we are having. I can’t say I do anything special on such days – I just do what I normally do – housework, Duolingo, hobbies. I even quite enjoy a drive out on a rainy day.
What is one thing you don’t understand about yourself?
I understand myself perfectly. It’s other people that I don’t understand – and perhaps that’s what I don’t understand about myself – Why don’t I understand other people?
When was the last time you tried something to look ‘cool’ (hip), but it ended in utter embarrassment? Details?
I had spiky hair and maybe it was embarrassing to some people but I didn’t care.
GRATITUDE/I’M SO THANKFUL!
This is an opportunity to share a picture, a story or event that shows your gratitude.
I am grateful for my Gecko and that I can explore so many amazing places in my country with it.
I am grateful for this lot – They bring me so much joy!
Here is my contribution to this week’s Share Your World from Sparks
If you had to sum up the whole human species in 3 words, what would those words be?
Unique, gifted, confused!
Where is the strangest place you’ve relieved yourself? Obviously in an emergency situation.
When you pitch your tent in an unfenced campsite of an African Game Reserve it is not advisable to walk around at night – not even to go to the long-drop toilet. If you need to go, it is better to take your trowel, dig a hole and have someone stand guard with a torch. I have had to do this on one or two occasions when the urge could not be ignored till morning. The problem is, the duty guard is always my husband. Hurry up, he will say. I see eyes – probably a lion! This does nothing other than to produce nervous giggles and a perfectly natural function becomes the most difficult thing in the world to perform.
What is the worst smelling place you’ve ever been?
Strandfontein Sewage Works. It can pong if the wind blows a certain way. But it doesn’t stop me going there! It’s a beautiful place and the birdlife is prolific.
How drunk is drunk enough?
When you’ve had enough to make you a little merry but still know you shouldn’t drive.
Gratitude Is An Attitude!
If you’d like, please list five things that are priceless to you.
My husband
My amazing daughters
My fabulous grandchildren
Caravanning in the bush
The Kruger National Park
Here is my contribution to this week’s SoCs from Linda
Astronomical is a word from my vocabulary that I use fairly frequently. It comes out of my mouth when I want to describe something that has a big impact – never for anything that is awful.
I did an astronomical amount of work yesterday – that means it was a lot but it went well and I achieved a great deal.
She had an astronomical influence on my life – that means – I spent a great deal of quality time with her – her advice was always useful – she made me feel good – I enjoyed her company.
I went on an astronomical shopping spree – and got stuff that I really needed, found it easily and came home totally satisfied with my purchases.
Astronomical also conjures up images of planets and stars, space travel and aliens The universe and how endlessly enormous it is. I like to think I’m in tune with the universe and allow its energy to influence my life.
Here is my contribution to this week’s Black and White Challenge from Cee
![[000534]](https://adventuringintoretirement.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/000534.jpg)
It’s an elephant life for me
![[009687]](https://adventuringintoretirement.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/009687.jpg)
Garden Statue
![[009761]](https://adventuringintoretirement.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/009761.jpg)
What did you catch?
![[010054]](https://adventuringintoretirement.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/010054.jpg)
Backside of camping
![[010249]](https://adventuringintoretirement.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/010249.jpg)
Running Ostriches
![[010280]](https://adventuringintoretirement.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/010280.jpg)
Warthogs
![[022595]-1.jpg](https://adventuringintoretirement.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/022595-1.jpg)
Zebra with elephant retreating in the background.
Here is my contribution to Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge – Animals
Tree Squirrel
Playful young zebras
Prowling cheetah
Hippos in conversation
Close encounter with an elephant
Dinner time for leopard
Here is my contribution to this week’s black and white challenge from Cee
Namaqua Sandgrouse -Kgalagadi National Park
Rufous-naped Lark – Kgalagadi National Park
Scaly-feathered finch – Kgalagadi National Park
Crimson-breasted Shrike – Kgalagadi National Park
I am joining in on this week’s One Word Challenge
Thanks to Fandango for the word Camp
Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.
I love to travel. This involves being able to adapt to staying in hotels, guest houses, self-catering cabins, etc. I have stayed in some pretty awesome places from simple to luxurious but CAMPing is what I enjoy most.
We used to do rooftop tenting which was amazing fun, but we now have an off-road caravan which combines luxury with simplicity.
While staying luxurious accommodation where you don’t have to think about cooking, cleaning or laundry can be great for a short time, I still prefer to CAMP. I just love my caravan.
Of course, you need to be very organised before you set off on a caravan camping holiday. Over the past few years, I have it just about down to a fine art. Packing up to go is easy. I have two picnic baskets – one for the flask, mugs, tea and coffee, etc. Another for breakfast/lunch needs. All these things live in those baskets and there’s no need to rush to pack caravan crockery into them each morning.
The caravan is perfectly equipped for our needs and so when we pack up it’s just a matter of making sure we have food and clothes.
Then the actual camping is just fabulous. Not even cold and rainy weather can spoil it. We have air-con in the caravan, a table to sit at if it’s raining and a cozy double bed to snuggle into.
The places we go camping are usually warm and dry though and I just love sitting out in the evenings, sipping an excellent Cape wine, watching the sun go down while the fire burns down for the Braai!
In South Africa, we are privileged to have awesome game reserves to visit. Camping ranges from glamping luxury to rustic unfenced sites where the wildlife could wander through at any time! One just needs to be aware and one is perfectly safe.
Adventuring into Retirement 