"Fly fishing" in South Africa





Our first collection site was at the scenic Welgelegen cherry farm near Fouriesburg. We found time for a couple evening hikes up onto the sandstone ridges that wrap around the farm.




The farm's puppy decided to tag along with Amanda and I on one hike.




The puppy admires the view.





More views under pink evening light.




Next we drove around south of Lesotho into the Witteberg Mountains.  Between Barkly East and Rhodes, we saw this wild blesbok that seemed to mistake itself for a sheep.




Views over the tiny town of Rhodes.




To contrast with our high altitude samples, we also made a sea level collection at Port Edward.  Here our evening walks took us along the frothy Indian Ocean...




and past the occasional crab.




We saw large millipedes in a couple different places, including this red one near Port Edward.  




Our collection came from Dullstroom, in the highlands east of Johannesburg.  From there we took a day trip to Blyde River Canyon.  This viewpoint was called "Three Rondavels", after the traditional round thatch-roofed huts of the area. 




Amanda with the canyon's intriguing contours in the background.




A baboon contemplates the vista (after raiding a nearby garbage can).




We finished our work a day early, and the remaining pictures come from less than 24 hours in Kruger National Park.  We entered at Crocodile Bridge, where we made this appropriate sighting.




Like most of the wild animals in the park, these adult and young blue wildebeest were unconcerned by our vehicle.  In fact, they seemed invigorated by the rain (which persisted for the duration of our visit) and frolicked around a bit.




We joined a sunset drive in a park vehicle and got the rare chance to see wild cheetahs.  This photo was as lively as the sleepy cats looked while we were watching.  




However, the prize for lazing felines should probably go to this group of lions (two females and two cubs, with another adult in the background).  




Waiting for a belly rub?  We decided not to try it.




This male white rhino sprayed to mark his territory at the roadside, then looked at our truck, but decided it wasn't a threat and moved on.




The next morning, our sightings included a small group of giraffes...  




and a few groups of water buffalo, including this pair of long-horned males. 




We saw elephants on a few occasions.  One group included this mother and baby (which was trying to figure out how to properly drink with its trunk).




Speaking of big babies, we also came across a mother white rhino with her little one.  I'm not sure how many baby rhinos exist anywhere in the wild at any given time, but it can't be a huge number, so I feel quite fortunate to have seen this one.




We spotted this striped pack on a dirt road.  The little one was a bit shy, but they crossed in front of and behind us a few times.




We saw a few warthogs as well.




Another rare sighting - we saw a couple small groups of kudu (a large and rather mythical-looking species of antelope).  




A couple times, we got to see chameleons saunter across the road.  




Perhaps the rarest sighting of all, just before leaving we saw a group of three African wild dogs (an endangered species) napping in a pile right alongside a paved road.  Not bad for such a brief visit!