Back from two months in Africa

Back from two months in Africa. Completed a harrowing river trip on the Zambezi, toured several national parks in South Africa, Botswana and Tanzania. I will write more later but I thought readers may enjoy my wildlife tally. The wildlife in Africa is truly astonishing. Anyone that calls Yellowstone America’s Serengeti has never been to the Serengeti. We worked hard getting into the parks before sundown and staying till closing and we had amazing guides, but the wildlife viewing was almost beyond belief. At any moment you can watch dramas unfold all around you. Clicking off 145 lions…. 40,000 Wildebeest…. 22 Cheetahs…. flabbergasting. The stalks, the chases, the kills and the scavengers, it was as if I was living inside of a National Geographic film. Africa is also the most expensive place I have ever traveled. I came home 2 weeks early flat broke, but with a smile on my face. Oh yeah, and I did use up a couple of my nine lives, nothing like a few scrapes with death to add some fillip to a holiday. Seasons Greetings to all. more later – Rob

PS I have chosen to experience Africa through my eyes not a camera lens, but could not resist taking a few iPhone and “point and shoot” snapshots included here.

I cannot exaggerate this trip, here is the data:

UNGULATES:

Roan Antelope 2
Sable Antelope 1
Cape Buffalo thousand+
Bushbuck 15
Dik-Dik 200
Common Duiker 15
Eland 29
Grant’s Gazelle 1000+
Thomson’s Gazelle 1000+
Giraffe 3OO+
Red Hartebeest 6
Cokes Hartebeest 100+
Impala thousand+
Klipspringer 8
Greater Kudu dozens
Lechwe dozens
Nyala 4
Oribi 4
Puku 8
Reedbuck 200+
Steenbok dozens
Topi 15
Warthog hundreds
Defassa Waterbuck 100
Common Waterbuck dozens
Black Wildebeest dozens
White Throated Wildebeest dozens
Western White throated Wildebeest 40,000
Zebra 10,000

PREDATORS:

African Wild Cat 1
Serval 2
Cheetah 23
Wild Dog 1
Bat-eared Fox 11
Large-spotted Genet 1
Black-backed Jackal 24
Golden Jackal 8
Honey Badger 1
Spotted Hyena 91
Leopard 10
Lion 145
Banded Mongoose 100
Dwarf Mongoose dozens
Slender Mongoose 1
Large Gray Mongoose 2
Otter 1
Nile Crocodile dozens
Water Monitor 4

PRIMATES:

Vervet Monkey 100+
Blue Monkey 6
Baboon thousand+
Lesser Bushbaby 2
Greater Bushbaby 5

PACADERMS:

Elephant hundreds
Black Rhino – 3
White Rhino 12

OTHER:

Scrub Hare 5
Hyrex 6
Hippopotamus 250+
Ostrich 100+ (plus over 250 species of other birds, list coming soon)
Ground Squirrel 3
Tree Squirrel dozen
Elephant-Nose Shrew 1
Indian Ocean Bottle-Nose Dolphin dozens
Zanzibar Crocodile 2
Litter Mouse 4

BEHAVIORS

Leopard stalking kudu KRUGER
Elephants playing in water CHOBE
Petting wild cheetahs KRUGER
Ground Hornbills picking through elephant poop KRUGER
Elephant nearly bumping vehicle TARANGIRE CHOBE SERENGETI
Jackal chasing baby Impala CHOBE
Crocs eating poached elephant CHOBE
Leopard in tree KRUGER
Vultures on wildebeest kill TARANGIRE
Giraffes running KRUGER
Impala giving birth CHOBE
African wildlife panorama TARANAGIRE
Baboon invasion ZAMBEZI
Leopard outside hut KLASERIE
Playing warthogs piglets VICTORIA FALLS
Lion pride in shrubbery CHOBE
Leopard in tree KRUGER
Diving in coral reefs ZANZIBAR
Swimming with 20 Dolphins ZANZIBAR
Baobabs TARANGIRE
Secretary bird in tree TARANGIRE
Zebra bumping into tent TARANGIRE
Lion stalking wildebeest NGORONGORO CA
Cheetah killing thompson gazelle NGORONGORO CA
Hyena stealing cheetah’s kill NGORONGORO CA
Lions on fresh alive wildebeest kill NGORONGORO CA
Wildebeest and zebra great migration NGORONGORO CA
16 basking lions NGORONGORO CA
Mating cheetahs NGORONGORO CA
Great migration SERENGETI
Zebra kill – lions, hyena, jackals vultures SERENGETI
Serval stalking and pouncing SERENGETI
Lion den with 3 tiny cubs SERENGETI
Lion stalking wart hog SERENGETI
Lions pull down Buffalo but he is rescued by herd SERENGETI
Leopard hunting SERENGETI
Lions strategic attack on Zebra SERENGETI
Elephant and lion next to my tent (eyeball to eyeball) SERENGETI
Lions stalking wildebeest in swamp NGORONGORO
Lion on warthog kill NGORONGORO
Herd of 40 running Giraffes NGORONGORO