Jun 22, 2010 | Travel..ling Tuesdays
Happy Tuesday! And apologies in advance that I don’t have more World Cup related pictures! We don’t have tickets to the games, but perhaps I’ll take some pictures of the “fever” when we’re showing my brother and his girlfriend around — they get here Friday! Whoo-hoo!
Anywho, not long after HH, the Bear and I arrived in SA we went for a wee hike on a lovely trail in the nearby Helderberg Nature Reserve. I can’t believe I’ve forgotten to show you pictures before now! It is indeed picturesque, and makes me miss the long summery days in these parts since we are in the throes of short days and chilly winters. Not as short as the days in Scotland, and usually not as chilly, but nevertheless, I’m too much like my Dad. I don’t like wearing socks much either. Side note: Helderberg means “Clear Mountain” in Afrikaans. The “Helderberg” is one particular peak that is often clear and free from cloud when the rest of the nearby Hottentots Holland mountains are swimming in clouds.
These shots are pretty self-explanatory, so I think I’ll let you explore at your own pace today. As usual, if you let your cursor linger over a photo, you’ll see the title and that may give you a bit of insight… maybe not!
I interrupt briefly to mention: There are some amazing flowers in this part of the world. Lots that aren’t found anywhere else!
Look out little Bear!
Do you think the one on the right is pregnant or just well fed?
So that’s a slice of life around here when the sun is shining and the weather’s warm. But I can’t complain because we were outside for a while in t-shirts one afternoon last week. 🙂
Hope your week is off to a great start and that you’ll enjoy wherever your journey takes you next!
xCC
P.S. Want to join in the Travelling Tuesday fun? Let me know and I’ll add a Linky again today.
Jun 15, 2010 | Travel..ling Tuesdays
As previously mentioned friends, and thrice promised, it is so: the fun and blessing on our excursion at Kruger Park included lots and lots of elephants, but that was NOT the sum total of the adventure! (Another reason to say thanks this Tuesday!)
Would you like to see some more?
Well good!
We started out praying to just see anything because the bush was so high things were not looking good, (it was so high it was like we were driving with walls on both sides of us). But as the day progressed our prayers were answered, and while the game rangers were seeing very little, we were blessed beyond belief!
It all started with a little baboon action.
And then we stopped at a rest camp to ask where the bush would be lower so that we might more easily see some game, and an impala gang popped in to say hi.
We headed back out to greet those baboons again, and then the first couple of elephants we saw, which you’ve seen already. The Bear was sleepy and not interested.
Can you spot Mommy Elephant back there?
Shortly after, the Bear decided to nap while we pressed on. We spotted a warthog but the photo wasn’t so good. And then someone mooned us!
And then someone else mooned us!
And you would’ve thought the animals all planned it ahead of time because then Pumba from the Lion King got into the mooning act!
Now that’s enough sillyness. I shall give you a few more highlights to peruse and enjoy. In the end, we were blessed with a TON of wonderful sightings, including seeing FOUR of the big five. Which is a big deal on a day when the bush is so high! (Our four were: elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard. We just didn’t see lions, probably because it was so stinking hot they were snoozing in the shade. Lazy cats!)
At one point these monkeys looked like they were holding hands and playing a game. Sweet!
It’s a big deal to spot a leopard, by the way! HUGE! An answer to prayer! (The leopard is the least often spotted of the big five — pardon the pun.)
Another Pumba, willing to pose. Isn’t he gross? And somehow still amazing and special?
Towards the end of the adventure we spotted two rhinos…the lighting was getting low so it was tough to get good shots! Sowwy!
Rhinos are so amazing to me. They look so prehistoric!
And last but not least, our hopes became a reality: the Bear saw his ZUH ZUH!!!
I said, “Bear Bear, what’s THAT?” And he said “Zuh zuh! Zuh zuh! Zuh zuh!” It was lovely. He looked at the picture just now and said it again! I need to tell you more about this zuh zuh another day.
By the end of this special adventure, we unwrapped many unexpected gifts…I don’t even have time to tell all the tails! 😉
This TravellingTuesday has a Nutshell Sermon worth considering: If we’d just listened to everyone else’s report, high bush and few sightings, we wouldn’t have driven around and looked in earnest, believing we’d see something if we kept looking. But instead we prayed and believed, and we did our part, by driving and carefully looking out with the hopes of seeing some special animals up close and personal. If we’d given up, we would not have spotted half of what we saw. But the persistence and belief paid off!
The Sermon in a Nutshell: Sometimes the best thing you can do is choose not to let what everyone else tells you define your reality. Dream big, believe for greatness and earnestly look for those blessings with expectation. Then you’ll be in the right position to receive them!
I hope your week is off to a great start and you’re enjoying your adventure today!
xCC
More gifts are yours for the enjoying and celebrating at Chatting at the Sky today!
Jun 8, 2010 | South Africa, Travel..ling Tuesdays
I feel totally confident no more than twelve at least twenty of you are absolutely gutted that Travelling Tuesday hasn’t hit the web yet today.
Perhaps you want to yell at me like this?
Maybe you’d rather give me a good shot of your back side.
Or mayhaps you just want to give me a disdain-filled ignore like this?
Well maybe once you take a wee travel to see what I’ve been working on today you’ll forgive me. Preez?
Cos I sure didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. And I promise that the previously promised pictures from Kruger Park are coming your way soon. They’re even friendlier and more exciting than the ones posted here!
Are we still friends?
xCC
Jun 1, 2010 | Stories, Travel..ling Tuesdays
I told you guys a while ago … or better put I’ve been telling you for a while, that I see too many coincidences to believe in coincidence any more. God is actively at work in our lives in marvelous and mysterious ways.
This month’s mystery? The case of the big paycheck and the roaming potato.
Say what?
Well, this month we had a bigger than usual paycheck. We didn’t run out to celebrate and blow half of it, mind you, we just trusted it was there for a reason (if nothing else to pay off more of Mr. Potato Head!) and we didn’t change our pace.
So last week we were busy at a Samaritan’s Feet South Africa staff meeting. All two of us. In the cafe at our gym with the Bear in the nursery (where they let him watch Barney and paint and colour and jump in the big ball pit — perhaps more aptly named Toddler Heaven). Only our meeting was interrupted by a request from the front desk that the owner of a certain Citroen with licence plate number lalala should come to the desk.
Hero Hubs said “Hey that’s our car!” while I was completely oblivious and busy typing.
When he didn’t return after, say, ten minutes or so, I thought, Hmm, guess it wasn’t our headlights. I asked at the front desk what had happened and decided to pack up our laptops to further investigate.
What had happened, yo?
Well, Mr. Potato Head apparently felt a little lonely and went on an adventure. His handbrake wasn’t pulled, and the seemingly invisible to the naked eye gradient of the gym parking lot was enough to get Potato rolling. And rolling. And rolling.
You need some visuals?
Well, here’s where we left Tato.
And here’s where Tato ended up.
Yes, I am standing where Tato should be. And past that parking guard, and that stop sign and that red car turning left, there in the distance with the crowd of people is where Tato’s solo adventure ended.
Against the front of a BMW.
It went a lil something like this.
Oh yeah, and then the BMW’s adventure ended. Against the side of an old Fox or Polo or something.
Apparently this parking guard was attempting to direct reversing Potato for some time before discovering Potato was an unmanned ship. I really wish I could’ve seen that go down.
Meanwhile the police officers who arrived on the scene struggled to piece together the exact details of this unusual incident…
Ugh, what?
It’s a considerable distance, I suppose.
Ya know, I saw cars kiss while we were in France…
Yes, they were really parked like that! I suppose carkisses around these parts are a bit ‘rougher’…
But at least the mystery of the big paycheck has been solved! Deductible! And thank goodness for car insurance — we have TOTALLY scored considering we’ve only had it for eight months. Unfortunately, those folks just bought that beamer last year. We sure do wish they didn’t have to be a part of our mystery!
That my friends, may have been a bit of an usual Travelling Tuesday for the books. But when Mr. Potato Head goes travelling of his own accord, I think it’s worth documenting. So laugh with me. Potatoes do roam.
xCC
Keen to join in the Travelling Tuesday fun? Well folks, don’t try this at home. Just kidding. If you’d like to post your own TT (let’s hope it’s a bit less expensive) just paste the link to your scrumdiddlyumptious post in the Magic Link Robot below. Whether it’s an adventurous accident or a well-planned outing, we’re jonesin’ to see it! Make sure to drop a link in at your post as well. Or Potato might roam in your direction. 🙂
May 25, 2010 | Travel..ling Tuesdays
Happy Tuesday! Hope your week is going great! Did you see the LOST finale? Wow. Anyway, this Tuesday I am very excited to share some special photos with you that have a special backstory!
You see, there are five animals (lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, and elephant) that are considered the “Big 5” that most folks hope to see when they view game in South Africa. It’s special to get to see all five. On my first visit to a game reserve, we stayed for a week (that was back when Hero Hubs asked me to marry him!) and we saw four of the big five, along with a ton of other animals. It was the adventure of a lifetime. Seriously amazing.
The only animal I hadn’t seen yet of the Big 5 was elephant. I had high hopes for seeing ellies on our day off when we drove through Kruger in Mr. Potato Head, and I prayed the Lord would bless us with some good ellie sightings!
We arrived at Kruger and because there had been so much rain the bush was really high, and seeing any game was going to be challenging… we were driving along with bush taller than Mr. Potato Head on both sides of the road! Hero Hubs stopped and spoke to some guides and they said they were struggling to find game that day, so things weren’t sounding good. But we kept driving, and we prayed the Lord would bless us with some good sightings. Within MINUTES of us praying that, BOOM, we spotted two elephants on the side of the road!
Whoo-hoo, was I excited! There was a Mommy and a baby! We watched them spray themselves with muddy water to cool off.
But the fun wasn’t finished there. We were driving along again after lunch and had an even more special sighting! We spotted something on the side of the road and HH backed up Mr. Potato Head quickquick to investigate! Something spotted us and came to investigate, too…
At this point I was letting the Bear ride along in my lap and we had the window down. He pointed at this big ellie and shouted “BAAA!” and she put her ears out big style. Hero Hubs said Roll up the window! And we decided to move forward a little bit just in case she decided she didn’t like us. It was hilarious, I was taking video and everything gets a little hectic for a second. By this time a truck full of more folks looking for game that had been in front of us had backed up behind us, and we looked back to see…
It was the beginning of a crossing!
Seriously, look how big that guy is compared to that vehicle!
This one came out flapping his ears as if to say “You better be scared! I’m a big guy!” And, yes, their field guide is taking photos with his mobile phone.
While those guys were crossing we realised these guys were coming down the road and Hero Hubs thought it might be a good idea to move the car again!
We moved out of the way, and a little further away, and the ellies just kept coming! Look at this little guy hurrying along to catch up!
I’m not sure I can draw arrows with numbers for you, but by the end of it we counted close to 30 elephants who crossed the road right by our car! It was awesome!
I think my favourite part was seeing this gal soooo close to the car. Putting her ears back is not such a good sign, so it’s probably a good thing we moved the car! 🙂
It was such an amazing moment to see these beautiful creatures in their natural environment. An answer to prayer when things didn’t seem so hopeful! Did you guess I’d be unwrapping such a ginormously big gift this Tuesday? 🙂
xCC
Keen to join in the Travelling Tuesday fun? Sweet potato! Just link up your Travelling Tuesday post below. Whether it’s a mini-adventure to the neighbourhood mini-mall or a trek in the Himalayas, we’d love to see your shots! Just be sure to link up to your Travelling Tuesday post (not your home page), and post a link back here so others can join in the fun!
May 18, 2010 | South Africa, Travel..ling Tuesdays
Happy Tuesday, dear friends! This Tuesday is scheduled to be yet another actual Travelling Tuesday as we will be making our way from our beloved Bloemfontein down to Gordon’s Bay, and our whirlwind of travels will be done! Thank you so much for your prayers — although it has been a very busy and slightly tiring adventure, we’ve also been incredibly blessed during these travels. I’ve come down with a cold and the Bear has a runny nose, so please keep our health in your prayers. I cannot wait to show you pictures from so many of the spots we visited!
Today, since we have been on the road so much and I’ve been pressed for time, I thought I would simply arrange a special post “From the Backseat” for you, so you might feel like you were able to come along for a bit of the journey. Ready to hop in? Sorry, but you can’t ride shotgun.
Check it out! Kids sliding down a hill on cardboard boxes. Wanna stop to join in?
Too bad. We’ve got a long way to go.
We spent a long time passing through roadworks in a town called Mthatha.
I watched this fella with the front-end loader almost hit three people passing by.
If only we could’ve stopped to look at those dresses! I bet we would’ve gotten a good price!
Slow down, Cow Crossing!
Sometimes things feel a little like home…
That could be a North Carolina overpass, besides the names I guess.
And this made me think of Hamburger at Lee Chevrolet Pontiac Buick in Washington…”All Roads Lead to Lee.”
And this Chicken place smelled like B’s Barbecue back in Greenville, North Carolina. Funny how a smell can transport you 8,000 miles in 3 seconds.
It’s amazing how things can be so similar and so different at the same time. I could get some Kentucky Fried Chicken, but this sure ain’t Kentucky.
I think this seems like a reasonable name for a river.
And look! We finally reached another of our 7 destinations, and the Bear decided he’d do the last leg on his own!
So that was a slice of Africa from the backseat! Did you enjoy being along for the ride? I’m excited to share some awesome shots with you over the next few Tuesdays! Whoo-hoo! I’ll write you again from Gordon’s Bay!
xCC
Keen to join in on the Travelling Tuesday-fun? Whether you’re documenting an adventure at your local Wal-mart or last year’s schlep to Timbucktu, we’d love to have you along! Drop your Travelling Tuesday post’s link in the Magic Link-Up Robot below, and be sure to link your post back here. Otherwise you’re just being cheeky. 🙂
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