Exchange

For 2 weeks I won't be in "contact", because I'm "exchanging" sunny if wintry South Africa for hopefully warm summer weather in Germany & Slovenia - flying via Dubai.

In transit - Dubai airport

Differently framed

Today's entries represent a slight variation to the "frame"-theme (SEE: previous blog-entry).


A cloud cover acts like a frame - reconstructed farm houses at the museum complex in Swellendam (Western Cape province).







A hippo warning sign - in the Hazyview area (Mpumalanga province) these wild animals represent a real danger!











Can't this dassie (= hyrax) read?? LOL









A mural in the tourist office at the Moffat mission station near Kuruman (Northern Cape province).








San engravings framed by rocks, which forms the entrance to the Twyfelfontein lodge (Namibia).











The setting sun "caught & held".














Shadowy legs? A paparazzi on the lurk & "framed"?

Framed

Today & "in tune" with a whistle-stop tour (SEE: previous blog entry) I'd like to take you on a photographic journey (= with "framed" photos) around our beautiful country.



Boats "framed" at the Waterfront in Knysna (Western Cape Province).









The Beacon Island hotel in my favourite coastal town, Plettenberbay (also in the Western Cape province).







The entrance to the Neethlingshof wine estate (just outside Stellenbosch) "framed" by an alley of trees.






Going north - "little" Mapungubwe (in the Limpopo province) illuminated by the rising sun & framed by branches.







A male lion detected through a "hedge" of dry branches in the Kruger National Park.














A Lesser Masked weaver checking if it constructed a 'safe' nest.












Revealing "typical" primate behaviour - a Chacma baboon 'relaxing' in the fork (= frame) of a tree.












Framed by vegetation - a "perfect" highveld sunset.

Whistle-Stop Tour

South Africa in 12 days - that encompassed the tour I've just returned from, guiding a fantastic group of 14 German tourists & "first-time" visitors to our country, which must be said, presented itself "gloriously" (weather-, people- & sight-wise!).

Wherever we went the weather "played along" - even God's Window on the PANORAMA ROUTE had no curtain drawn close (= covered in clouds/mist = as is often the case). Also: everywhere we went, various aloes "added colour" to an otherwise 'drab' winter-environment.



Aloes in bloom = sunbirds in "attendance" - as this Double-Collared Sunbird signifies.






As is to be expected when entering the KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, the first animals we encountered were impalas.





But we also were privileged to see 4 of the BIG 5 - of which this elephant cow & cute youngster are an example.






And when we stopped for breakfast at the Skukuza Camp, there was even a "customised" waiter 'on hand' (= Vervet monkey).


Carrying on in our open safari vehicles, we encountered a troop of Chacma baboons. On closer inspection, a newborn baboon 'appeared', highly interested in what was going on (& becoming a much photographed "paparazzi object").



As those who've come to know me (personally or through this blog) are aware, I tend to "target" birds - of which this Brown Snake Eagle is a 'fine' example.










As impalas are 'synonymous' with the Kruger National Park, so are rhinos "on display" in the Hluhluwe Game Reserve (in KwaZulu-Natal). On top of that we had the luck to 'find' a White rhino crossing the road ahead of us.

Although it was somewhat cloudy & a strong wind was blowing when we visited the Tsitsikamma National Park at the Storms River mouth (in the Eastern Cape Province), we had no rain & an excellent opportunity to enjoy this 'jewel' of nature!