It's New Every Time

"You're going back to Africa again", I hear from so many - sometime with what sounds like disgust - when I tell them of an upcoming trip.  Going to Africa again and again is not like going to Italy every year.  If I were to go back to Italy again the coliseum in Rome would be the same.  The Leaning Tower of Pisa would still be leaning. The Vatican would still be opulent.  Trevi fountain would still be full of coins.  But in Africa each and every trip differs from the one before even if you return to the very same place.

  For example, I have been to Sunset Dam outside of Lower Sabie Camp in South Africa many times.  But on my last visit I witnessed an eagle raiding Weaver birds' nests.  The eagle went from hanging nest to hanging nest seeking baby weaver chicks all the while mama weavers were dive bombing the eagle from every angle.  When the eagle finally found a baby, he grabbed it with his talons and flew off to eat his meal.  In all of my trips to Africa, I've not seen such before. 

On a journey from one camp to another we saw a male and female ostrich; not an uncommon sight.  After closer inspection though we realized they had over thirty babies which the adults struggled to keep in a tight bunch fearing the eagle overhead who had his eyes on a baby ostrich as a prize meal.  Further research explained that ostriches lay eggs in a communal nest with the high ranking couple taking care of the young; in this case all thirty of them!  I had never seen baby ostriches before much less thirty of them.

One night while sleeping in a tent we heard a kill that the next day we set out to find.  Three large male lion had taken down a buffalo.  Michael and I sat there and watched the lion gorge on their meal then they lay down around the buffalo to digest their food.  This I had seen before but it is still a mesmerizing sight.  As we sat there, a female lion walked slowly up to the area.  By the way the males were reacting she was not a part of their pride.  (These were three bachelor males that did not yet have their own pride.)  The big males stalked and surrounded her.  We thought they were going to kill her right in front of us.  The female was breathing hard and she was very skinny; obviously sick.  She must have done everything right though because the males backed down after about twenty minutes of tension and allowed her to eat off of their meal for a short while then asked her politely to leave.  It was exhilarating and certainly something I have never seen before.  (In this photo you can see the female on the left and one of the males on the right.)

So when asked why I choose to go back to Africa again and again.  It's simple really.  Africa is new each and every time I go.  I can't wait to see what she chooses to show me the next time; and there will be a next time!