Photos by Marius

Life goes on without Susan - even the laundry gets done!!

Marius spent almost three weeks alone in the Kruger Park driving where ever he wanted and taking as much time as needed to capture some pretty amazing photos.  He learned first hand that having a first mate (extra pair of hands) is a good thing when it comes to making fire, cooking food, doing the dishes, setting up the tent, doing laundry, spotting animals, etc. etc.

One evening Marius had a close encounter with a Honey Badger at Satara Campsite.  He put up the tent and cooked his dinner, put the scraps in a garbage bag and then went for a shower.  Upon returning the garbage bag was missing.  After hearing a couple of crunches and warning snorts he found the garbage bag under the Cruiser along with a very grumpy Honey Badger.  It was devouring the contents of the bag while Marius stood by to watch from a good distance as Honey Badgers can be quite ferocious.  Even lions give them their space!!

The Honey Badger finished the raid on Marius’ campsite and then left in a huff leaving a huge mess to clean up.  Ha Ha.  Unfortunately, since Marius could not get close to the Cruiser in order to get the camera to photograph the situation, the encounter will live on only in memory.  The photo is not ours but one I downloaded for those who have never seen one!

Some of Marius' Great Photos:

Dagga Boy

Water Buck Females

A Kruger Cheetah

Lilac Breasted European Roller in flight

White Fronted Bee Eaters

Ostrich Girls

Bateleur

African Fish Eagle

Brown Spotted Hyena

Crocodiles and brave Egyptian Geese

Blue Wildebeest

Baobab Tree

A Nyala near Punda Maria in Kruger National Park

Marius returned to Riaan and Lynnette’s from the Kruger Park to prepare the Cruiser for the next leg of our journey.  Liam and he had a great time together!

Our nephew - LIAM

Marius' friend Collin, from Tsitsikamma, had just returned from a forestry project in Mozambique. He and his partner Carol were keen to travel with us.  We were thrilled to have them join us!!   Not only are they two of the coolest people on earth, there are less worries about breakdowns and getting stuck when there is more than one vehicle.  Plus it is always nice to have someone to discuss alternate routes and to sit at the campfire with discussing the day’s events.  So plans were made for Collin and Carol to travel with us.  They met up in Palapaye, Botswana on May 10 and after spending the night at Elephant Sands campsite, complete with wild elephants roaming through the camp, they drove on to Kasane to pick me up at the airport.

Collin at Elephant Sands - Botswana Campsite

Photos by: Carol W.

This was only the beginning of our adventures with Olifants!!