And finally . . .

. . . We said goodbye to Pumba, and flew to Durban. This was supposed to be a two day relax in the heat, dipping our toes into the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately the weather has other ideas – thunderstorms and torrential downpours – laugh at us here

However every cloud has a silver lining and all that – its given me a chance to process the last gazillion photos for you (🤣) and reflect on another superb holiday. I’m certainly going to miss waking up to this view just before dawn – click here. It shows the view from our lodge first, and then the view from the restaurant.

Watch a video of some elephants here

Watch a video of a lioness with her cubs here.

Watch a video of some Impala, Inyala and Wilderbeast here

Watch a video of some cheetahs here

I’m sorry for the huge number of animal photos, many of which seem to be more or less the same, except for a minor change in position of the animal – but it was just sooooooo hard to choose. The aim was to show the character of the animals – the graceful giraffes that glide and tower above the tree line, the zebras in their elegance, the arrogance of the lions, the magnificence of the elephants, the humour of the hippos as they bob up and down albeit very noisily, the mischievous velvet monkeys, the frisky impala/inyala and the cunning and stealth of the cheetahs. The majority of them, predators excepted, just get on together, looking out for each other. Some lessons there for us humans, judging by the news shots of empty aisles in the UK supermarkets!

So did “The lens” get used? It did but not as much as anticipated so I’m pleased I only rented it. Some of the hippo shots and the hippo video were used. To be honest the zoom range was too long. We got so close to the animals that most of the time I used my 24-105mm lens, on my big camera and took my smaller camera with the 55-200 lens with for when length was needed on safari. If I was going to do this again I’d rent a 70-200 lens for the big camera. As such the big lens stayed at the lodge and was used for watching the hippos from our veranda. The bean bag was the best buy, easily portable coming with on the safari and being used at the lodge to rest the big lens on.

Watch a video of the hippos here

This has been a brilliant break and wonderfully planned from cities, culture, countryside and safari, not forgetting the food and drink in abundance! I hope the photos and videos have shown the warmth, colour and vibrancy of this country – its people as well as its wildlife. I’ll never forget the stories of the people we met from the townships and Robben Island to Thomas our guide on safari. The stunning scenery everywhere but in particular around Wilderness. The butterflies fluttering through the jeep on safari. The noise and exuberance of Cape Town and of course the wines of Franschhoek!

This time tomorrow I’ll be half way home, Covid-19 and British Airways permitting . . . It’s come round so quickly.

2 Replies to “And finally . . .”

  1. Lovely photos. Loved the video “caution slippery when wet” 😂

    1. Sarah Isaacs says: Reply

      I didn’t slip

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