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twaffle

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Thanks Lynn, I'll post my 2016 plans on the planning thread as soon as they are set in stone, I've been jinxed lately with counting chickens!!!!

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No hurry on the plans, no hurry on the report! No hurry on the report that will eventually result from the plans!

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It's time to end this protracted posting of what really isn't a long report so I'll just get on with it.

 

I can see that I've become a little lazy with my captioning so will add some extra text to make sense of the last part of the journey.

 

Our leopard sighting left us exhilarated, well certainly I felt that way. The next day would be our last full day on safari and we intended to drive across to the Sand River which gave us some quite different scenery and far less traffic, not that traffic had been much of a problem.

 

We began the day with some private time spent with some of the lions from the local pride when we found them in a small gully with 3 wildebeest kills. The cubs were playing and occasionally dragging a calf carcass around. Busily watching the playful behaviour, we didn't notice that the other lions had all drifted away until the cubs looked up and followed quickly. It only left one lioness who dragged one of the dead wildebeest under a bush and remained there as we left to follow the others.

 

It didn't take long to find the pride scattered across a small kopje and it wasn't much longer before the remaining lioness arrived on the scene. They moved once more to a smaller kopje where we eventually left them to continue our journey.

 

The drive down to the Sand River was delightful. We found some heavy drag marks in the sand which led us to start searching for a possible culprit without any luck. However, as we moved through the bushes we saw a young impala fawn on its own looking rather sad and worried. Not far from the unfortunate creature we found a couple of young lions with blood on their faces so although we didn't see the carcass we surmised that the fawn's mother had been the victim and I suppose that the fawn wouldn't have stayed alive too much longer.

 

We caught up with another large herd of wildebeest as they trailed down to the Sand River to cross into Kenya. We also saw another crossing late in the day where we met a few other vehicles, but not so many that it was unpleasant, at least in my eyes.

 

The last part of the evening was spent in the company of a cheetah on the open plains near camp and although not a spectacular sighting it was good that we had another glimpse of what had proved to be the illusive cat of the trip.

 

The last night's dinner was perhaps a bit bittersweet because by then we felt that we knew each other pretty well and the conversation was not only relaxed but interspersed with gales of laughter.

 

I suppose with the perspective of distance, I could safely say that I hadn't experienced a trip which was accompanied by so much fun and laughter. I don't think an hour went by when one of us didn't have a chuckle at some little thing or another. It can be hard to avoid small irritations when living in each other pockets as you do on a trip, but my friend was such a positive influence on the atmosphere of our safari that I'm eternally grateful that she was so keen on joining me in Tanzania.

 

Squack's reputation as the consummate professional remains intact and I have nothing but admiration for the way he manages the inevitable difficulties that arise. It will be both a privilege and a pleasure to be guided by him again in the future, but in the great scheme of life who really can know what will happen.

 

Our three different drivers: Leonard in Tarangire and Ngorongoro; my old friend Michael at Serian and Kakae at Nomad's were excellent companions who readily shared the laughter and drove us with professional care.

 

I had intended to call this report "Two pairs of socks and ten thousand beasties" but those stories can be held for a retrospective one day in the future.

 

I'll leave now with these remaining few photos from the last day and a half of the trip and thank everyone who was kind enough to comment on the photos as I posted them and to those who 'liked' posts and even to those who may have read the report but remained silent. You are all appreciated.

 

 

 

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I started this trip report with a poem so it seems appropriate to finish it with one. Poets and artists will understand, I'm sure.

 

This is what my days and nights on safari have meant to me and how I cope with the vagaries of the life that I've been given and all its inevitable ups and downs. For all the mistakes I make and the hurt that follows, there is cathartic relief in the poetry that time in the wilderness provides to my spirit.

 

 

 

"You'll never be the sun turning in the sky

And you won't be the moon above us, on a moonlit night
And you won't be the stars in heaven although they burn so bright
But even on the deepest ocean you will be the light

You may not always shine, as you go barefoot over stones
You might be so long together or you might walk alone
You won't find that love comes easy
But that love is always right
So even when the storm clouds gather, you will be the light

And if you lose a part inside when love turns round on you,
Leaving the past behind.

Is knowing you'll do like you always do
Holding you blind
Keeping you true

You'll never be the sun turning in the sky
And you won't be the moon above us on a moonlit night
And you won't be the stars in heaven although they burn so bright
But even on the deepest ocean you will be the light"

Dolores Keane

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Thank you for a very enjoyable report - it finishes off very well with the lions and then the cheetah on the kopje - excellent

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Thank you @@TonyQ and @@Safaridude, appreciate the comments and am glad to have it completed now. I think I might go back and finish my 2012 trip report now. ;)

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Oh, a surprise! @@twaffle finishes her report! Properly too - with a bookend. Great last post - lions on Kopje galore. Big skies and croc tail are outstanding. Glad you had so much laughter...... important stuff.

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Thank you for finishing this, Twaffle, very much enjoyed it - as all your reports. Always special! When you wrote "Yes, there´s more" some time ago I often wanted to post a "pretty please?". :)

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Thanks Marks, it was indeed a really lovely way to finish off the trip.

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  • 2 weeks later...

it's a precious safari when shared with friends in plenty of laughter and camaderie. thanks for sharing the beauty of Tanzania.

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  • 4 weeks later...

You got your lions on kopjes, and even a cheetah on one. Some day we want to know about the socks. Love the croc tail.

 

You can't beat a safari with lots of laughs! Thanks for not taking the road and sharing that road not taken with us!

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  • 1 month later...

Something came up the other day which caused me to read through this report again and I have to say that I didn't intend it to come across as pretentious garbage and yet that is perhaps how it appears.

 

There is a back story and there are many reasons why I wrote what I wrote and it doesn't really matter any more. But I apologise.

 

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I don't really see what you have to apologise for twaffle as it is an absolutely outstanding trip report with of course superb photography.

 

I am constantly amazed by the standard of the trip reports here - there are really some amazing levels of detail and work going into them - not to mention creativity.

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I don't really see what you have to apologise for twaffle as it is an absolutely outstanding trip report with of course superb photography.

 

I am constantly amazed by the standard of the trip reports here - there are really some amazing levels of detail and work going into them - not to mention creativity.

+1

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Something came up the other day which caused me to read through this report again and I have to say that I didn't intend it to come across as pretentious garbage and yet that is perhaps how it appears.

 

There is a back story and there are many reasons why I wrote what I wrote and it doesn't really matter any more. But I apologise.

 

apologise for what?

you worry too much @@twaffle . Those experiences in colonial Africa are something that none of us will ever be able to experience except through the recollections of you and others who were there.

Edited by Soukous
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@@Soukous you sound just like my late mother. :)

 

Not sure how to take that one HIllary :rolleyes:

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I don't see anything you need to apologise for - I really enjoyed the report - writing and photos. Part of the pleasure of reading trip reports is that they are all different - reflecting our different experiences.

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