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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 30, 2014 - 07:49pm PT
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To help keep spam off the forum and share photos that some of you may enjoy...after several years of trying to make it happen we had a phenomenal trip to South Africa. It wouldn't have been complete without getting down to The Rocklands - which we did for a couple of days. It was late in the season - a bit too warm but it was beautiful and the rock is soooo fun there. Not too many climbing pics because we were alone and spotting each other (and keeping a watchful eye out for deadly South African snakes which we were convinced were lurking under every boulder)!
Let's start with the bush. Can't even describe what seeing and sitting among these animals is like. Exciting, peaceful, awesome, fun, life-changing, real. Clearly, Toto, we were a long way from home:
We also saw zebra, buffalo, all kinds of antelope, other leopards, tons of birds...heard lions roaring at night from about 5 miles away...what an experience.
After 2 small plane flights and one regular-sized flight to Cape Town, then a 4 hour drive we made it to the Cederberg! Spring had sprung - wildflowers everywhere, everything green, birds doing their thing...
The plants in this area are phenomenal - a lot of fragrant, interesting "fynbos" (brush), tons of tiny, delicate beautiful wildflowers everywhere you looked. Thousands of plant species. No wonder it's called the Cape Floral Kingdom. I'll try to put up some more pics later if this isn't too many already!
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MH2
climber
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Sep 30, 2014 - 07:53pm PT
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Looking forward to seeing and reading more.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 30, 2014 - 09:18pm PT
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Thanks....love the wildlife photos. Going there next year.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, crusher... wow, thank you for sharing your trip...
did not know you had been up to all this...
wow, you been busy!
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MH2
climber
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More would be nice, whether photos or words. See any snakes?
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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 1, 2014 - 07:34am PT
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MH2, we only saw a dead puff adder in the road - although a woman sitting having coffee outside where we stayed apparently had a cape spitting cobra slither right between her feet. She sat frozen (lucky she was sitting and could hold still) until it moved on. We didn't see any up north in the bush because it was still quite cold and they weren't out yet.
Jim, it's even more amazing than anyone tells you. PM me if you have any questions. Are you going to Cape Town? We spent last 2 days there, it's beautiful.
More pics later, gotta go to work!
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MH2
climber
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That counts. Thanks.
I saw a beautiful green snake hunting on a boulder I topped on. It moved fast and kept raising its head to scan with its hawk-like eyes. I was glad it took no interest in me.
Looking forward to the photos.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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HaHaHa! When I saw the thread title I was all set to say
"Puff Adder pics or it didn't happen!"
That doesn't look a Puffie but it could be a young one and the head does
look right. It looks quite dead. :-(
The only two snakes that really concern me down there are Boomslangs and
Black Mambas. The Boomslang because you could walk right by the bush or
tree it is in and never see it at head height (and they are diurnal) and
the Mamba cause they are notoriously cranky, not to mention incredibly fast.
Headed there next year. I'm looking for a Kevlar whole body suit so I can go owling safely.
Nice pics!
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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What's the plan when you're bouldering and a cheetah shows up?
Would the cheetah becomes your "spot"-er?
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FRUMY
Trad climber
Bishop,CA
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Nice post thanks.
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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 1, 2014 - 09:43pm PT
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Reilly we heard some crazy stories about mambas - and spitting cobras. You might need that kevlar suit!
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nah000
climber
canuckistan
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supersweet.
thanks.
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Gal
Trad climber
going big air to fakie
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Absolutely amazing!!!
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MH2
climber
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Getting a better idea of how much you saw. Looks like a great trip. How did you get so close to that little elephant? Were there any big ones nearby?
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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 2, 2014 - 08:15am PT
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MH we were right next to the elephants. None of the animals are "afraid" of the land rovers - they get used to them from the time they're babies. So you can drive and sit with them all around the car. However you do NOT stand up in the vehicle or get out right there - changes the shape of it and that's unfamiliar to them and potentially a threat.
We went on foot to see giraffe, and took another walking tour during the day to spot smaller things, learn about plants, etc. Mostly you are in the open land rover and get quite close to everything. The giraffe not so much...cheetah and leopards will walk right next to car or sit down next to it to hide from potential prey they're stalking. It's hard to not reach out and pet them since they "seem" so docile. Not.
There were bigger elephants, I'll put some pics up later - in these family groups they are all female or young male. The much bigger adult males go off by themselves and we only saw one and didn't get a picture. : (
PS I don't have a big telephoto - just a Lumix camera (point and shoot) with a decent built in telephoto. I did use it for most of the pictures and some are enlarged. So we were close, sometimes just 10-20 feet away but the telephoto helps! You should see the camera equipment people schlep - then you really get some amazing photos.
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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 4, 2014 - 05:16pm PT
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Somewhat bigger elephants
And a little more climbing-related content
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Steve what a cool looking trip. The wildlife looks amazing. Did you do any routes at the rocklands. Saw a recent piece on trad climbing there.
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MH2
climber
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Still enjoying the exotic. Kruger Park or some other?
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Dirka
Trad climber
Hustle City
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Bump!
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