Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Captain Tom's Pictures

From Tom and Nancy:

Sommers' trip to Africa
By Thomas S.

Here are the other pictures posted by Tom by animal:
Zebras

They are the best of the best and I love the last picture of these Zebras.
Click on the link below to view these pictures in Shutterfly.
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Hypos

My, aren't these guys big.  Out of the water really gives you pause for thought.
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Monkeys
 
 
Looks like a free ride for the little one.
Click on the link below to view these pictures in Shutterfly.
 
Birds
 

Remember Robert and how he would imitate the bird calls?  Lots of birds....
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Cats

This is what we all came for -- the cats.  Wow, weren't they grand?!
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Dogs

They brought out their little ones, too, to give us a thrill.  Dogs and hyenas are cute, but ....
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Antelops


The "Chevies" were everywhere.  Love 'um.  So does everyone else.  Ha!
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Buffaloes
 
Now these guys are big.  Dangerous, too.
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Alligators

My what big teeth you have ......
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Buildings

Now this is a building!
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Elephants

Truth be known, next to the hogs, these big guys are my favorites.
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Hospital in Cape Town



Wonder if he needs any help in the OR?
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Hogs

These guys are cute, cute, cute.  Only a mother could love 'um  :-)
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People

We had a great OAT group, and we met some real nice people, too.
Click on the link below to view these pictures in Shutterfly
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Landscape

All of the countries were beautiful in so many ways.
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Giraffes
 
Last but not least --- because they are the tallest!!  Giraffes!!
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Friday, August 9, 2013

Carol Ann has posted her pictures

From: Carol Kilburn

These are Part 1 of Africa which includes 333 pictures
  
If "See Photos" doesn't work, try this:
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These are Part 2 of the Africa pictures
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Thursday, August 8, 2013

OAT Ultimate Africa Trip in July 2013

We began our three week trip on July 6, 2013, flying from Los Angeles to Johannesburg South Africa with a travel group consisting of 15 travelers and Priscilla as our guide.  Here is a video taken during the trip and a composite of our fellow travelers:



The next item is a video of the various pictures taken by our trip leader Priscilla.  You can click on the white arrow to begin and view the video.  Turn your computer speakers on and if you double click on the image, the image will enlarge (although some picture quality may be lost).  It should be noted the video ends in Johannesburg after our group has visited four safari camps, flown on several small planes, visited Victoria Falls and generally ate unbelievably well, drank wonderful South Africa wines, got along with all our travel companions and managed to end the trip without any major mishap or fear of our security.  Then there were six of us that completed a post trip to Cape Town with the Cape Town and other videos and pictures taken by me and other included in this blog following the Priscilla 1 video:


 The following is a video collection of a few of the many pictures I took ( over 2200) on the trip (click on the lower arrow once or twice to start video and turn your computer speakers on):



Video of assorted pictures of our travel group:


The first camp visited was the BaoBab facility,s one of the four safari camp we visited and operated by Wilderness Safari Company.  The first camp is located in Chobe National Park in northern Botswana and what a greeting we received as this video indicates (click on the arrow to start video):



The following is a series of video taken at the first camp: Warthogs video:


Video of Cape Buffalos and elephants:

Camp video of Giraffes:


Videos of different sitings of Baboons:




 




Zebra video:


3 Lion Videos (same scene, different takes):




Camp Farewell video:

n

Rather than posting individual pictures and videos from each camp, the following
videos, then pictures, will be based on a particular siting or animal.  Doubleclick on image
or video to enlarge screen.

Steenbok Crossing:


Leopard Video Series:



The following is a video of a cheetah at a frequent hiding site behind
a termite mound.  Cheetahs look like leopards except for their smaller head
with a black teardrop beneath both eyes.  Cheetahs are chasers whereas
Leopards are stalkers:
 
 
Video of lions with cubs:


  More Male lion videos (brothers near a cape buffalo kill:



 
 
Not to mention the beautiful sunsets (video): 
 
 
And a collection of birds:
 
 
 
At each of the camps, on the last evening, the camp staff sang and/or danced for our group and our group was then asked to perform for the camp staff.  Accordingly, the four videos below were of us singing at camp 3 (and taken by a camp staff member):
 
 
 
 
 
On July 19 as we were driving to a Zimbabwe village in Hwange National Park we were able to see the above male Cheetah, the baboons playing and the two male lion brothers next to their cape buffalo kill.  We then visited a village school and were met at the gate by its 7th grade class with 21 girls and 16 boys who then sang welcoming songs in the following video:
 
 
 Videos of Victoria Falls:
 
 
 
Post Trip to Cape Town:
 
Video of Osterich Farm feeding and Osterich in the wild near Cape of Good Hope-
 
 
Visit to view the Penquins:
 

Cape of Good Hope Video:
 

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Global Travel Warning

I am beginning to think now that the increased security we had to go through leaving Joburg last week was related to what is now (as of yesterday, August 2, 2013) being reported that a threat of an al Qaeda attack is “real and serious.” We must not let our guard down,” the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has warned after a worldwide alert was issued for all U.S. citizens traveling abroad.

The State Department said in a statement issued Friday that warned the terror group and its affiliates “may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August.”

Thursday, August 1, 2013

LA Times article on Aug 2, 2013 on Zimbabwe Election

I thought you'd like this.  Click on the link below to read article:
http://fw.to/inHzXbD

Voters line up in doubt-plagued Zimbabwe election
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Zimbabweans voted Wednesday in an election that international critics say has no hope of being free or fair.