We got word on March 4th that the job is complete. The three 2 year old cub lions for one adult male lion trade is done! It took a while to dart the adult, but he’s now at Tembe Elephant Park.  Unlike the cubs, who were kept in a boma so they could adjust to their new surroundings, this was a hot release. Check out the video below.

Hot release video

Honestly, it’s still hard to believe we did this trip. Everyone said it would be amazing, and they were right.  Dave and Ray from the Katie Adamson Conservation Fund did a terrific job organizing it and eliminating a lot of stress. And it was comforting having the Noltes with us, kind of like a security blanket.

About half way through the trip Amelia coined it a land cruise. There was a lot of sitting and confinement. Long plane rides, long van rides from one destination to the next, and staying seated on the game drives. I don’t think either of us have ever sat so much in a two week period. I guess that’s just part of the deal. It felt incredible when we finally got some exercise in and hiked on our next to last day.

Random thoughts and observations

Poverty is poverty, it pretty much looks the same whether you are in the Southern West Virginia, The Navajo Nation, parts of Mexico, or South Africa.

I’ll never complain about California drivers again!

They no doubt laughed at our accents, but every time a South African said “yes”, we got a chuckle out of it because of how nice it sounded. It was long and dragged out, “yyyess.” There was also the classic South African line, “I promise you.”

What’s with beds without a top sheet? It was just the bottom sheet and a duvet. We found it to be uncomfortable.

Sixteen hours on a plane is a long time. The flight out wasn’t too bad since we had a row of three seats to ourselves, it was quite the luxury having an empty seat between us. The flight home was a complete drag, starting with the experience at the Cape Town International Airport. The power went out, so they fired up the generators, but it wasn’t enough to operate the AC. It was hot and miserable. They had us go through three security check points! Then we were informed that our flight would be delayed because of the power outage. The company that supplied the food for the plane was late delivering it.

Sometimes, that’s how it is, if nothing else travel teaches you patience. When we finally boarded the flight it was full. Thanks to sleeping medication we managed, Amelia was a champ and didn’t complain at all about sitting between me and a hairy Russian looking guy. I told her multiple times we could take turns in the middle seat, but she declined. We will put some serious consideration into upgrading our seats on our next long flight. On the plus, side jet lag wasn’t a big deal for us.

We identified 51 new birds to add to our life list. The new highlights were the African Fish Eagle, Southern Red Bishop, Long-tailed Paradise Whydah, European Bee-eater, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Malachite Kingfisher, and all the Weavers.

When going to Africa everyone talks about the big five: lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo. We didn’t see a leopard, but we are not in the least bit bummed. All the animals we did see were incredible.

Heads up! Once you got off the toll road there were cows and goats all over the place.

Fungi growing near our cabin in Tembe.

Lesser Masked Weavers building nests.