Pat Sloan Elephants, Giraffes and Hippos..oh my!

What would a trip to Africa be without some Animals! I took a one day tour to Pilanesberg with Kim Brunner, Gul Laporte and the Moda men, Mark, Brian and Josh Dunn.

http://www.pilanesberg-game-reserve.co.za/

Click the photos as most will give you a larger view

This was our roomy chariot for the day.

2 hours out to the park in the morning...

Here we are!

Part of the traveling team... Gul, Brian and Mark

This tree was right at the entrace. The hanging orbs are nests.  The male bird makes them then the female decides if she 'likes' them. If not he makes another!

There were Wildebeest everywhere.  I thought their faces were particulary interesting. Very long fronts on them.

The most exciting FIRST moment was finding the Elephants! Mommas and babies... And they were walking and talking to each other.

And the older male was just a bit further up the road. We were only a few feet from him. He was eating right at the side of the road.. it was Spectacular!

I think these are springbok. there are a LOT of them!  And they are tiny. The Natinal Soccer team of South Africa is named for them as they are agile and can jump high.

The giraffe's are incredibly graceful and beautiful. I seriously wanted to take one home.

The one eating at the tree was just to the left of this one. It was wonderful to see two at the same time.

Do you see how brown everything is? Right now it is winter in South Africa.The animals blended into the landscape and it was very hard for me to see them. Right now it is winter in South Africa.. I wonder how they blend when it's more green?

one of the least attractive animals was the warthog. Even the babies could not be considered cute.. LOL! See the baby butt on the left?

our guide stopped here and told us to look across the pond

Look very closely

holey cow the 'rocks' are actually Hippos!

And they are HUGE! We only saw them laying around... imitating rocks.... such a life.

It's hard to share in my photos how beautiful this park it. I love the wide open area

Next it was onto a lunch stop.. and what a stop it was!

This is a lodge on the reserve... we ALL picked up a brochure!

Can you stand it? Look at this VIEW!

We had a nice relaxing lunch

These gorgeous birds visited us.. well we did help the visit by feeding them bread and french fries... gotta do what ya gotta do!

I got very excited to see this cactus in bloom! Being winter in South Africa there was not much greenery or flowers.

I found this painted canvas by a contemporary artist.

A Bird, Hippo, Elephant AND a Giraffe... in the exact colors I needed for my living room

PERFECT!

This was an amazing trip.

I loved meeting all the South African People.

I loved learning about the country

I loved seeing the animals.

Thank you South Africa for giving me such an incredible visit!

xoxo!

Read Post 1 of my South Africa Trip HERE

And post 2 HERE

post 3 is HERE!

Comments

[Danel Muller]

Your pictures are fab! Those beautiful birds are Crested Barbets. They nest in hollowed out tree trunks. The cactus in bloom is an Aloe and closely related to Aloe Vera. Both these bring some life and color into the drab winter scenery. Great to see you in love with our beautiful country. Hope to see you back here shortly!

[Debby, Chester NY]

Wonderful! Great pictures. I love animals (who doesn't?). Thanks for posting so many great pics. Sounds like you had an awesome time.

[Stephanie in MI]

So jealous of you! Africa is on my bucket list. Next time, take me along as your roadie/groupie! Please! :-)

[Linda in Calif.]

I've always wanted to go there. Thanks so much for sharing your trip with me. It was wonderful to see all the animals. (Those birds were amazing!) Your new wall hanging is perfect! I'm so happy for you that you had such a nice time.

[Nancy]

Ohhhh you lucky girl!!! I am a nature lover and will never get this opportunity to see this in person, so thank you for sharing these pictures for us to enjoy.

[Debbie St. Germain]

I agree, an amazing trip and so many wonderful things to see and do.
I love the safari photos and nice that your an go in an enclosed van;) Love your new painting, beautiful piece of art to remember the trip, by.

Debbie

[Beth]

And I thought it couldn't get any better than the quilting, quilts, fabric, and making new friends.
The animals are amazing and your photos are great. Maybe some of the animals will show up in a new design?

[Sarah in Houston]

How fun to see all the animals! The elegance of the giraffe is amazing and I love the coloring and pattern on those birds who loved your fries. I'm so glad you had such a great experience.

[Pat Sloan]

I so enjoyed myself Maureen, the people and country are lovely! And when I was a child I had South African neighbors for 4 years. It was amazing to see where their homeland

[Kris]

What great pix! Thank you again for sharing your wonderful trip.

[DianeP]

Thank you again, Pat, for sharing your wonderful pictures from Africa! Glad you had some time to explore the country, instead of only the quilting conference. Great pictures and great memories for sure!

Had to check back to a previous post to see your living room. I wondered how you knew to hang the quilt over the sofa so far to the right? Now I know - to make room for that fabulous hanging from Africa - perfect fit!

[Maureen Terblanche]

We are so very glad you all had a wonderful visit. When we tell the friends overseas about our beautiful country, the first thing they say when they see a pic of me is "but you are white!" Hahaha, yes you do white South Africans LOL Next time hopefully you will have time to come down to George on the Western Coast, considered as the "Garden of Eden". We have a totally different kind of beauty. Sea, mountains, caves, ostriches and so much more. Take care. Maureen

[Jackie]

Fantastic!! I just love all the photos. It is amazing how much wildlife is in Africa. I can't possibly imagine the wonderful time you had, but glad you are back safe and sound!