Cricket had made the decision before we left to go to on a three-day walk through the bush (with guides and whatnot, not all by himself, that’s guaranteed death). Therefore The Moomins and I had three days to just hang out and do our own thing. We went on a game drive and headed over to the rest stop that we had stopped at previously (the one where the hornbill attempted to punch his way through our car door with his body to get at our chutney-flavored chips) (it’s almost worth it, those chips are delish). The day we went there, it was on a busy day. A whole bunch of people were having a pleasant lunch, or they would have been if two varieties of hornbills and a bevy of other creatures were not trying to take the food off the plates. It’s pretty intense, attempting to have a meal.
Look at that one hornbill totally taking the tomato. It weighs more than you, buddy.
The Moomins was feeling a bit hungry, so she got a grilled cheese sandwich and we sat on the edge of the rest stop. Slowly, we started accruing a bunch of different little animals. Like these:
I felt like Disney’s Snow White: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFp6vZ1oOWo. Except these are not the kind of forest-dwellers who help you feel better when you are down. These are the kind of things that steal your food from your pocket while you’re lying on the forest floor crying because the wicked queen turfed you out the castle. Cute, yes. Fluffy, yes. But not nice.
Look how they stare at The Moomins waiting for scraps. With malice.
Finishing up Kruger Park:
This is a Frankolin. Watching them run is hysterical. They run like they ate some cheese and they’re lactose-intolerant and if they don’t hustle hustle hustle there’s going to be apologies and embarrassment all around. Never gets old.
This is a fever tree. The bark is used in indigenous medicines to reduce fevers, hence the name. I like them because they look like they were painted with a thick coat of glow-in-the-dark paint.
Oxpeckers on a giraffe having some kind of oxpecker argument.
The sign outside the Kruger Gate. I appreciate what the designer was trying to do, but…that’s a fail right there. I swear I sat there for a good solid minute thinking, “Refyole? What is that, the name of this gate?” Good try, though.
Alright! That’s it for Kruger. Before we all headed to Zambia, A. was nice enough to take us around the countryside to look at some of amazing scenery in and around the Blade River. We drove two hours to see something called “God’s Window”. However, when we got there, a cloud had taken up residence right where the viewpoint is. The fog was so thick, you couldn’t see five feet in front of your face. I would not be deterred, though. Here is a picture I insisted we take of The Moomins gesticulating towards where the beautiful view would be if we could see it.
This is the three of us posing in front of this supposed view.
Cricket then complained that I always squint in photos (I do a great deal, me and sunlight do not get along) so right before we took the next shot, he quickly put his hands on either side of my face and hoisted up my eyelid skin. He’s so thoughtful. He’s almost as thoughtful as I am photogenic. SO PRETTY.
Then, I had a brilliant idea for a photo. I said to Cricket, “Wait right here,” and I hustled over to the other side of the parking lot, completely out of view due to the fog. Cricket then heard me making a noise, like I was gargling my own tongue. AAAAAAALGHBLAAAAACHHHAAAARG. And then I emerged from the mist doing my best horror movie monster impression. Cricket thought it was fabulous. If we ever meet in person and you ask me nicely, I will happily do a rendition for you. It brings tears to the eyes.
We all got back in the car to head off to non-foggy vistas. Our next stop was Bourke’s Luck Potholes, which is so picturesque it looks fake, like the background in a MGM musical from the forties. A. said that the rock there is soft, and the potholes were created by harder-rock pebbles and sand whirlpooling in circles for years and years, creating those round pits. I think they’re very beautiful.
We then went to an equally idyllic spot where there’s a different waterfall. And there was also a very weird-looking lizard.
And finally we made it to God’s Window and took some decent photos of what turned out to be a very lovely view. Also, at no point did Cricket stick his fingers in my eyes and hoist my face-flesh to his liking, so that’s a plus.
Tomorrow we will dive into Zambia and a bit of Botswana. More beasties await!
I don’t know which pic is my favorite…its a toss up between your zombie-with-a-purse and your mother sweet talking those creepy ass birds.