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Post by veg on Jul 31, 2023 17:57:44 GMT 1
I’ve have always wanted to visit, my wife works over there occasionally and has visited a few game reserves. This year as my lad was away travelling we decided to meet after she had worked and go on an 8 day holiday. The reason I’m posting is it was life affirming, even life changing I have never felt so at peace or so positively effected by travel. I thoroughly thoroughly recommend it if you have any interest in the natural world to visit.
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Post by veg on Jul 31, 2023 18:00:33 GMT 1
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Post by steve h on Jul 31, 2023 18:32:25 GMT 1
I would love to see Black Death "close" up, just far enough away to get a safe exit if needed....
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Post by veg on Jul 31, 2023 20:12:08 GMT 1
Got about 20 feet away of a herd of them, they are bad tempered grumpy b*****ds the young males are on the periphery and will charge first as a status thing whereas the head honcho and his missus stay in the centre. Our warden had the Land Cruiser in reverse ready to go. It was incredible what we learnt. Greatest time for me was at a night drive. The expanse of the night sky, the silence and the vastness of the savannah made me realise just how small and insignificant I am, that this has been going on for millions of years and will continue long after I’m gone. I also realised that we are the locusts of this planet every animal generally has a purpose within the whole eco system and it’s been detrimentally effected by man. it also made me realise how lucky I am to have experienced it.
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Post by rigga on Jul 31, 2023 21:04:58 GMT 1
Any LC's over there ?
Looks amazing.
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Post by veg on Jul 31, 2023 21:12:39 GMT 1
Didn’t see any bikes on the road. Couple of off roaders for the wardens. I certainly wouldn’t be riding a bike anywhere near lions or cheetahs. Saw a cheetah chase a herd of bontebok. 0-60 in under 3 seconds. You’ve never seen anything like it literally one minute we were 10 feet away the next it’s hundreds of feet away. A good 500 feet.
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Post by donkeychomp on Jul 31, 2023 21:14:24 GMT 1
Wow Tim, that looks amazing. There are some beautiful places in the world and that certainly is one of them. Glad you got to go.
Alex
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Post by veg on Jul 31, 2023 21:19:36 GMT 1
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Post by arrow on Jul 31, 2023 21:29:24 GMT 1
Looks amazing.
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Post by donkeychomp on Jul 31, 2023 21:30:14 GMT 1
How did you get a photo of my ex? (pic 4)
Alex
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Jul 31, 2023 22:01:53 GMT 1
Experience of a lifetime that is but my first thought is...
...no, you can't have zebras and giraffes at home 🤣
Steve
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Post by steve h on Jul 31, 2023 22:26:58 GMT 1
Is that bird your new secretary?
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Post by veg on Jul 31, 2023 22:37:35 GMT 1
Amazing birds to watch, only ground hunt and when they run look like mini T Rex’s.
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Post by JonW on Aug 1, 2023 0:24:19 GMT 1
Brilliant! Glad you had a good time and it was an eye opener. Travel broadens the mind.
Where next Tim?
FYI there are LCs in SA, we had at least one member from there a while back and there were SA bikes imported and sold into the UK a few years back which were about the condition of the Venezuelan ones.
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Post by tacky1 on Aug 1, 2023 2:49:51 GMT 1
Now that’s a trip I would love to take. Great pics. I was offered a job in Capetown and was all go, then got offered a job in Leipzig and ended up in Germany for 3 years. Always on the back of my mind though.
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Post by dusty350 on Aug 1, 2023 6:42:27 GMT 1
Pics look fantastic - always wanted to go. So have you done the big 5 ?
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Post by Tobyjugs on Aug 1, 2023 6:58:48 GMT 1
Great pictures Tim. The sunsets look fantastic.
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Post by veg on Aug 1, 2023 8:48:19 GMT 1
Pics look fantastic - always wanted to go. So have you done the big 5 ? Didn’t see a leopard but the cheetah made up for it. Because it’s winter in SA at the moment the animals are less visible however wife is back there in their summer ( November) so I may go back. Honestly you need to do it. It was incredible not just the wildlife but the fauna, the quick changes from Veldt to jungle and the people. At first I was slightly cynical why are they being so nice, I realised they are all genuinely nice that I came into contact with. The poverty is a little challenging, some still live in steel shanty towns. I totally fell in love with the whole experience.
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Post by veg on Aug 1, 2023 8:50:49 GMT 1
Brilliant! Glad you had a good time and it was an eye opener. Travel broadens the mind. Where next Tim? FYI there are LCs in SA, we had at least one member from there a while back and there were SA bikes imported and sold into the UK a few years back which were about the condition of the Venezuelan ones. It was simply stunning I’ve travelled a reasonable amount but there are two places I’ve always wanted to visit japan and India. I flew into Jo burg then to port Elizabeth so not much chance of bike spotting but I recall we have a member from SA.
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Post by veg on Aug 1, 2023 8:59:23 GMT 1
Experience of a lifetime that is but my first thought is... ...no, you can't have zebras and giraffes at home 🤣 Steve Thought went through my mind I had to pre warn the wife. Found out that the cheetah is poached for the Chinese and Arab market as their cubs when raised in captivity are docile like big domestic cats. Makes you so angry that these beautiful rare animals are poached and mothers slaughtered because of some small endowed w**ker from Beijing or the Middle East. Same with rhinos for the Chinese market just because you can’t get it up let’s slaughter a near extinct animal. I hate some of mankind sometimes.
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Post by geoffers997 on Aug 1, 2023 9:26:53 GMT 1
We had 10 days in Cape Province in January. Absolutely loved it. Did a safari, spent time along the coast and in Cape Town.
Definitely recommend it. Pretty much everything that’s locally grown / made/ produced is cheap as chips and really good quality.
Two comments:
1. Don’t fly Virgin. Old planes, rubbish, corner cutting service.
2. We felt safe everywhere we went in Cape Province and everyone we came into contact with was warm and friendly, apartheid is still alive and kicking though. As Europeans we treat everyone the same but we did see some not nice behaviours both white on black and black on black.
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Post by JonW on Aug 1, 2023 9:38:19 GMT 1
Brilliant! Glad you had a good time and it was an eye opener. Travel broadens the mind. Where next Tim? FYI there are LCs in SA, we had at least one member from there a while back and there were SA bikes imported and sold into the UK a few years back which were about the condition of the Venezuelan ones. It was simply stunning I’ve travelled a reasonable amount but there are two places I’ve always wanted to visit japan and India. I flew into Jo burg then to port Elizabeth so not much chance of bike spotting but I recall we have a member from SA. I can recommend Japan, certainly Tokyo is like no where else you will ever go. Technically modern but anchored by old school values and tradition, its well worth a visit IMHO. No idea on india, love their food but never been... one day I hope to.
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Post by veg on Aug 1, 2023 10:07:21 GMT 1
We had 10 days in Cape Province in January. Absolutely loved it. Did a safari, spent time along the coast and in Cape Town. Definitely recommend it. Pretty much everything that’s locally grown / made/ produced is cheap as chips and really good quality. Two comments: 1. Don’t fly Virgin. Old planes, rubbish, corner cutting service. 2. We felt safe everywhere we went in Cape Province and everyone we came into contact with was warm and friendly, apartheid is still alive and kicking though. As Europeans we treat everyone the same but we did see some not nice behaviours both white on black and black on black. We were eastern cape 150 miles east of port Elizabeth. Flew with BA on an A380 brilliant flight nice comfortable and an easy 11hr flight then transferred to PE. Didn’t see any ‘apartheid’ behaviour probably lucky I guess. My wife had family near Joburg until recently and has visited for over 35years and remembers the bad old days. Our first stop was a beach reserve over looking the Indian Ocean saw from a distance whales and sharks but no trips were running as it was winter then went to the interior.
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