The sighting, September of last year, was our second time seeing this vulnerable species in Kruger National Park. It was around sunset on our way back to our campsite at Pretoriuskop. This bird not only looks strange, but apparently has some breeding habits that make it very slow to reproduce. According to wikitardia, Southern Ground … More Southern Ground Hornbill in The Kruger
On our last vacation to Kruger National Park, we were fortunate to see several rhinos. While we’re far from experienced game viewers, we learned pretty quickly to watch the path of a grazing animal and look for areas around us (some game paths are not as obvious as others) where it looked like it might … More Rhino Crossing
I almost missed him. Arriving more than an hour before the procession was to begin, I drove around looking for parking several blocks from the procession route, but all was cordoned off by security and police. One police officer saw my camera and tried directing me to a bus for media, but since I didn’t … More There and Gone: Procession of Mandela Before Lying in State
Yesterday our friends asked us if we would like to go with them to visit Mandela’s house in Houghton, a suburb of Johannesburg. I wanted to share a few photos of that trip with you, as well as a video, but I’m not able to get the video uploaded yet today, but hopefully my internet … More Mandela’s Houghton House: Day of Prayer
I haven’t had an Advent calendar in a long time, so when I remembered this Advent house, left for us by the previous tenant, I knew I wanted to do something fun with it for Kurt. [SPOILER ALERT: Kurt – do not look at the photo. It will give away future items in the advent … More The Advent House
This morning after dropping Kurt off to catch his carpool, an alert on my phone reminded me that I had forgotten to switch it to Do-Not-Disturb for my peaceful early-morning routine. Curiosity got the better of me, and I peeked at the notification in WhatsApp, to find only an image, from Tendai, one of my … More The Not-So-Cunning Linguist, and African Song
“Holy cow! We’re getting baseball-sized hail here!” This was the text message from my husband, working in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. “Yeah, right.” I thought to myself. That’s a little far-fetched. But sure enough, he followed it up with a couple photos of guys holding the hail in their hands. Not far off. … More Mpumalanga Hailstorm
Why hike Table Mountain? Why not? Here is a list of the personal reasons that made me wary of climbing Table Mountain: No cartilage in my right knee and a dwindling supply in my left = pain; bone spurs; knee catches An old, torn miniscus that was never repaired = pain; knee catches I’m obese. … More Stop and Smell the Flowers of Platteklip Gorge
We climbed Table Mountain. We chose the “easiest” route. “Easiest” does not mean “easy.” But it was worth every torturous moment. This was Kurt’s view for most of the climb: Just a preview of this and other Cape Town adventures throughout the coming weeks. Love, Marla
If you would have asked me 10 years ago where I would be today, the answer definitely would not have been South Africa. But once again I would like to thank my wonderful wife and BV for expanding my horizons to an amazing experience. Special thanks to Heather Salgot for many of the incredible veld … More Fighting a Veld Fire (by Kurt Druzgal)
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