I finally made it to South Africa. A country I knew very little about apart from the ‘A’ word and Nelson Mandela.

On the wildlife front, spoilt me after the abundance of Kenya, was expecting to be disappointed. Much to the amusement of my husband who kept reminding me that no where, other than Kenya, were Big Five sightings practically guaranteed in every outing and in huge numbers.

Ho Hum I thought, What charm a safari without a big cat?
Well the closest we got to a big cat in South Africa, was a distant lion roar in the dark on our way back from Pilanesberg National Park on our first evening.

BUT,
back home, looking at the photographs…

oh Deer! The Antelopes we saw!

Up really close.

In a variety unbelievable.

The almost constant rain, that flooded the parks and made the grass high, added another unusual charm to the photographs. One that’s impossible to capture on bright sunlit days.

You tell me what do you think about them. I’m fully amazed 🙂

Trying now to identify the various species, Google keeps taking me to hunting websites. Websites full of photographs of smug trophy hunters. While I understand and accept being part of the food chain, the desire in some people to kill for sport makes my stomach churn.

All in all, South Africa is beautiful and I had a really nice time there but from humans to wildlife, it’s a difficult country to come to terms with.