Seriously, again?!?!?!??!??!?!

Well, as most of you know, I am a mentor in South Dakota Youth Hunting Adventures facilitated by the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters.  This weekend has been SDYHA major fund raising event, organizing the Northern Plains Ultimate Outdoor Expo (an outdoor show) along with both a silent and live auction and gun raffle to raise money for the cause.  You might remember that INCREDIBLE deal we fell into last year with the South African Photo Safari to Zulu Nyala.  This year the deal of the century was a tiger fish fishing trip to Mozambique on the live auction. 

Just as last year, NO one wanted to bid on this thing.  Seriously?????  There was so much money in that room, you could smell the hob knobbers.  Bidding stalled out at the exact price (with me as high bidder) as what we paid for last year's trip so the guy that had secured this package stopped the bidding to talk it up and garner some interest.  It worked - sort of.  It stalled out yet again on my next bid, with the guy stopping the bid again trying to get some excitement built up about this package.  OK, another bid comes in, and it stalled out on me again!  I give them this bid only this time, I stopped the bidding to give this big ol' speech about how amazing our trip was last year and how stupid people are to not out bid me as we are just poor workin' folk with not a lot of budget to bid this thing up.  Really.......bid on this thing!  It's for the kids and think about what your return on the investment is!!!!!

(Now, you MUST realize, I am giving my bids on the 3rd "last call....I...." - somebody - bid on this thing!)  I got outed, I'm great with that and the auctioneer comes back to me, so I stop the bidding yet again to find out how long a person has to book this trip thinking someone will realize what a steal this is.  OK, we can deal with those parameters and still make our financial goals for this year happen so I say, OK, I'll give you that bid.  REALLY???????????  Somebody....bid on this thing!!!!!

Just like last year....no one is really interested in this package and we come away probably with a bad reputation for stealing packages.  Well, guess what....not my fault that ya'll don't know how to advertise your awesome cool stuff creating excitement to get bids to go crazy on the good stuff and not just the stupid stuff.....

We are going on a 7 day inclusive tiger fish fishing safari on the Zambezi River in Mozambique, Africa. Seriously????!!!?!?!?!?  Again???!?!?!?!?? 

We can't afford to not do business with you all!  Right now, I'm just really thankful that no one seems to have any interest in this awesomely cool stuff and we are getting these incredible opportunities!

Now, tell me, this fish doesn't look like fun to catch!!!

Chawalo Safaris

Sunset 1/26/2012

The sun was going down quickly last night when I realized there was a beautiful sunset.  Between the sun fading and a dead battery in the camera, I had to hurry, but was able to get one descent shot.  This is a different view from the front deck than I normally post.

Life is good!

Good Morning!

Most of the time winter in North Dakota is just grey and depressing....One has to take advantage of seeing spectacular sights!  Mother Nature has the best paint pallet!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

To all our friends, and family, may your day day be filled with laughter and great times surrounded by the ones most important to you.

Remember to be true to yourself and positive in all you do.

Life is good!

Our Final Game Drive #10 - Sept. 13, 2011

Our last evening we had an impromptu "Booze Cruise, BYOB". Welcome had never heard the term, "BYOB" so we were able to teach him something! We didn't see much game this night, as we stopped at a spot that was going to be a great sunset watching place if the clouds hadn't of rolled in, but we did get some great pictures of the elephants. Things got a little dicey with the elephants at one point - someone buzzed them in a helicopter, and needless to say they didn't like it. None of us was real happy about it. For a short bit, Welcome was literally hiding us behind some trees as we weren't sure they weren't going to charge us.

Notice, he is NOT close enough to steal my sunglasses!  LOL

Elephant butt!

Right about now, they aren't real happy.

By now, they have calmed down and are showing themselves again.

I think I'll just push you over, Mr. Tree.

Playing with the exposure on the camera, I was really able to bring the colors out.

I had to pay Welcome for his ball cap this night.  It's part of the uniform, so he had to have an "issued" hat.

Katie and Pat

Penny, Welcome and Bill O'Connell

Welcome joined us for dinner our final evening. 

Saying good-bye to our new friend.

Spending a week in the bush of South Africa was an absolute spectacular, amazing experience.  Bill and I have talked about it, and given the chance, we would absolutely go back again!  However, with that said, there are so many things here in the states and around the world we haven't seen, unless we fall into another deal like this one, we'd rather continue expanding our travel horizons.  Africa was never a spot on my bucket list to experience, but I am so glad and thankful for the opportunity.  If you ever have the chance.....jump on it!  You will not be disappointed.  Just understand, you are in the bush, and you will see many of the same things a lot, but each sighting is it's own unique experience.

Next up.....a week in the Cape Town area.

Elephant Interaction Side Excurtion, Day 6 (Sept. 13, 2011)

Elephants are one of the coolest animals on the planet! There was no way I was going to go ALL the way to South Africa and find out I had the opportunity to get slobbered on by an elephant and NOT take it! The first thing I asked when we got there was "Can I ride one?!" Sorry to say I didn't get to, so am very jealous of everyone out there that has been able to fill my bucket list item. These three elephants are wild, and just decided one day to be tame.

Cow on the left, baby in the shadows in the middle and the bull on the right.

The baby's stay with the bull's as they are so much bigger than the cows they provide far more shade.

 

You can see on her ivory how it has a little bit of damage on the end.  Elephants are very side dominate; cows are left handed and bulls are right handed.  You tell their gender by looking to see which ivory has been used the most over time.  (Now, just as in humans, this doesn't ALWAYS ring true!)

This baby was a little poop.  If you didn't feed him fast enough, he would just steal the pellets out of the bowl.  Obviously, Bill was NOT feeding him fast enough!

Elephants have really BIG  feet.  Don't let anybody tell you any different!

Splashin' some water to cool off a little. 

This excursion was horribly over priced, but I am S-O-O-O-O glad we did it!  The bull is the tamest of the three, and after feeding we were able to put our head's up in his mouth and look at his mollers and I swear I saw elephant tonsils!  Their hide was bristly, but not as rough as I had expected it to be; it felt like it just have millions of stiff hairs all over it.  The ivory was super smooth, and when you put your hand up under the skin that covers the end of the ivory, the skin was incredibly smooth.  They "flap" their ears to cool themselves and it was amazing how much air is moved.  Yes, you feel that air moving, while having your head stuck in it's mouth.

Game Drive #9, Day 6 (Sept. 13, 2011)

Our last morning at Zulu Nyala the group decided to take an early morning drive. We were hoping to get another glimpse of the elephants, baby rhino, and well, one of each, but it just wasn't in the cards. I did get a couple of nice shots of the sun rise, and we found 2 additional cheetahs that we hadn't see before.

The last glimpse of the moon.

Mama and baby.

Sunrise over one of the "hotel" facilities on the preserve,  I'm very sure this is one of the facilities that is used to house hunters when they are on the preserve.  (The hunting operation is done under a different name.)

Geese just taking flight.

Wildebeest!  No, he wasn't fixin' to charge us.

"What are you lookin' at?!?!??!"

We saw a lot of birds this morning, but it was difficult to get good pictures of them.

Two brother cheetahs.

Marking his territory.

Even as painted and deliberately marked as they look, it is amazing how they just blend into their surroundings.

It was time for breakfast this morning.

This guy has an injured foot or leg.  When the guides first noticed there was a problem, they had a vet come out to the preserve but he didn't feel anything needed done other than to watch him and just see how Mother Nature handled the situation.  His brother now hunts for him, keeping him relatively healthy.  There are no lions on Zulu Nyala so he doesn't have any predators to worry about (other than poachers) and appears to be doing just fine.

With the vegetation really starting to show some green, I think it gives more depth to the vastness of the country.