Transfer to Cape Town

We have been transferred to Cape Town for the next 6 months.  We will still 

travel to Namibia, Botswana, and Ethiopia.  It's about a 13 hour drive so

we took it in two days and saw some interesting country.

Kimberly is the home of South Africa's flamingo colony.  There were
hundreds there and later in the year there will be thousands.

They are very organized and orderly.  First the entire group moved to the left,
following their leader.

Then they did an about face and all moved back to their original spot.

When they tired of that routine, they began to take flight but in a very systematic
manner.  The ones at the front took off, then a few more, and then a few more.
The ones in the back just had to wait their turn.

It was an incredible sight as the air filled with flamingos.

Kimberly also has the largest diamond mine but it was not too spectacular to view.

As we approached Cape Town, we drove through miles and miles of wine country.  Rows and
rows of grapes.  Absolutely beautiful.

Susan said, "I could live here.  This is my kind of country."  Usually that is Dad's line.

A view of our new home.  We are in one of those tall apartment buildings right by the beach.

We were welcomed by Mommy and Daddy pigeon
on our balcony.  

At first we were going to discourage them from staying
on our deck and then we noticed Mommy was being
strangely protective.

And there, right behind the gas canister were two eggs.  They
were going to come and paint the balcony for us but we
asked if they could wait until the babies come.   They looked
at us like we were crazy.

And this would be our view from the balcony.  We literally can walk across the street to the ocean.
Pretty spoiled for missionaries.  

This is Table Mountain.  It is the landmark that the boats look for as they arrive at the
Cape Town harbor.

Just a beautiful sight as we were driving to Hermanus.  That is the whale watching capital of
the world.  We spent a Saturday enjoying a beautiful drive along the coast line.

We first spotted a whale's tail sticking up in the ocean.

I caught one blowing its top.

They were a bit lazy today and didn't do any leaps for
us but at least we can say we saw live whales.  Woo-hoo!

On the way home we stopped to see a penguin colony.  Africa is amazing.  We've gone from
elephants and giraffes to whales and penguins.

Mom and baby.

This is a yearling penguin.

The water was quite rough today so not very many were
swimming.  These fellows look like they are tempted but
not quite sure.

Our new location.  Our apartment is in the middle-sized gold building next to the tall blue
one on the right side of the picture.

Our adventure to the Etosha Animal Park in Namibia

We had a free Saturday so we drove to the North of Namibia and experienced a
wonderful animal park.  It is very dry in September so the only water available for
the animals is at the water holes.  You can sit nearby and watch the animals
interact, especially in the late afternoon and early evening.

We both love watching the animals and can do it for hours.

Our first sighting was a herd of Wildebeest that crossed the road in front of us.

The Eland--I love the antlers!  An eland can weigh up to one ton.

 Next we saw a herd of giraffe to the left of our car.  They are so graceful and majestic.

The ostrich were plentiful. 

These are DLA's (Dear-Like Animals.)  I believe these are called Impala.  

#1.  The Water-hole Escapade of Mutt and Turmoil

Now we are at the water-hole for the evening.  There seems to be a pecking order--when certain
animals are there, then others won't come around.  The first to arrive was the big elephant and
then the zebra came.  The come single file in a line across the prairie.  

Then the giraffe finally got brave and approached.  They are so timid and skiddish.  If there is
any kind of a disturbance whatsoever, they take off.

One lonely, little Rhino came on the scene next.  He's only one--he's enjoying his own
reflection--what a lucky shot.

Then it's like the gate is opened and everyone begins to come.  Everyone is doing just great
and then Mutt and Turmoil, the two local Jackals, appear on the scene.

You can tell immediately that they are looking for mischief.  They're like two little kids that
just cannot let the baby sleep or play peacefully.  They like to instigate some trouble.

Sure enough.  Suddenly with a burst of energy they take our after the little impalas and it was
like someone had appeared our of nowhere with an eraser.  So quickly was the water-hole emptied.

Not a soul was around.

It was like Mutt and Turmoil looked around and said, "Hey, where did everybody go?  We
just wanted to be your friend.  Ha Ha."

Then in no time at all, everyone came back and the party resumed.

#2.  The Eternal Triangle Rears its Ugly Head

The battle line has been drawn and these two males are ready to go at it.

And let the games begin.

Things are getting pretty intense and then suddenly it is over.  The dominate fellow calmly
walks away and takes his place in the water-hole with his lady friend.  

It seemed like the one that lost out is looking around to see if anyone saw his humiliation.

Then he just stands there, forlornly looking at his lost opportunity.  Life can be tough even in the
animal kingdom.

Animal stories from Etosha continued. . .

Imagine our surprise and delight as we stopped at this small watering hole and found
over 30 elephants there.  We stayed and watched them for about an hour and observed
some interesting things.

First of all, when the elephants are at the watering hole, no one else will come.  They
appear to dominate.  We wondered who would be the king if the lions were to show up.

This is a jackal, I think.  He may be contemplating an attempt at the bird but there is no
way he could conquer that.

"Oh well, I'll just look for a target somewhere else."

"What?  You want to take our picture again!!"

The blue color of these birds is so brilliant and beautiful.  Anyway, back to the elephant
stories and the waterhole in Etosha.

$3:   Meet Baby Elephant "Elle"

I think Baby Elle is fairly new to this world and is very inquisitive as all babies are.  She really
wanted to experience the water but Mom and the others had a different idea.

She tried to approach the water from several different angles.  But every time that she got the
least bit close, the elephants would tighten up and not let her through.

They wouldn't even let her get her feet wet!

#4:  Junior, the Elephant Bully.

This young bull elephant did something that Junior did not approve of and we heard a
tremendous elephant roar or trumpet and then we saw "Junior" take after the other fellow.
He butted him continually and then chased him away from the group.

When they were quite a distance from the watering hole, Junior stood there and glared at him
for a time.  Then left and returned to the group.

After awhile, let's name him Buddy, cautiously and slowly returned to the water hole and found
a spot on a remote rock away from the group.  Then he stood there for the remainder of the
time all alone and motionless.  It was really quite sad.