Kruger!

A relatively quiet Christmas was spent in Malelane, with more swimming, more family visiting and a hotter-than-hell Christmas dinner - 40+ degrees!! It was the first mass family meet up with the Granville's and was great to meet everyone and get a chance to do some visiting. Even though I had to sit next to the priest.

The other introduction I had at Christmas was to 'The Granville Smooch'. I often find it gratuitous to hug every time I see someone I know. The Granvilles however, take it to another level. EVERYTIME you catch up with one of them you get a kiss. Not just the euro-style-peck-on-the-cheek, but a full puckered mouth to mouth smooch. I was a little taken aback at first, but soon got the hang of it and was kissing everyone, all the time.

On the 27th we fled to Kruger Park. Kevin came through again with a four day booking at a bush camp. It wasn't so much a camp, as a very comfortable cabin with electricity and hot water, situated on the Crocodile river. It was amazing to be immersed inside 20,000 square km's of wilderness.

We had elephant, crocodile, hippo right outside the fence, plus hyena calling at night and incredibly noisy cicada's and tree frogs calling all night. During the day we would drive the roads spotting wildlife and were lucky enough to see EVERYTHING. Lots of close views of rhino, blue wildebeest, warthog, elephant, hyena, impala, kudu, klipspringer, waterbuck, steenbok, duiker, nyala, hippo, crocodile, baboon, vervet monkey, cape buffalo, leopard, zebra, giraffe and leopard tortoise. The kids managed to see cheetah and wild dog too! Not to mention the birds, they were outta control! diversity is incredible, and I just focused on trying to id the most impressive and unusual species... Then there's insects, trees and shrubs... It's so overwhelming!

Anyway, I'll stop there and just add some photos.

 Waterbuck

 Kudu ram

Juvenile Vervet monkey. This 2lb monkey sent Nick screaming and hysterical when it got a little playful with him.

Spot the Klipspringer

Slurp!

"Now son, y'all gotta pick the lice off like this"

THERE"S SOMETHING ON YOUR HEAD!!!!

Cape Buffalo, one of the Dragga Boys.

Bats in the ceiling. We had Peter's epauletted (this guy) and Mauritian tomb bats at Biyamiti

European roller

Hamerkop and Blacksmith Lapwing

Saddle-billed Storks. Beauties! Male on the right (dark eye and little yellow wattle)

 Another Dragga boy

Helmeted Guineafowl. They're beautifully graphic with their black and white plumage.

Lazy cat

 puss puss puss!

Vultures! Vultures are very cool. These are White-backed Vultures. They look like hunch-backed, cloaked monks.

The fart heard round the world. This Zebra let out a 5 second fart, which sent us into hysterics. Yes, the only zebra picture I'm posting is of the one which farted. I'm so immature.

A spunky Swazi elephant

 Getting spunkier. Don't worry, the fence is electrified... or at least is says it is.

 White Rhino at Hlane

I love these pictures of Nick! Rhino skull

 Hippo skull. Look at those tusks!

Next stop Swaziland!

Ofcalaco

Kevin cleverly rented a 13 seater van, and heroically drove everyone the six hours to the Noel family farm in Ofcalaco. Ofcalaco isn't really a town, it's more of a curve in the road where there's a farm supply store and... nothing else really. However, it's the home to some REALLY awesome people! The Noel's are Jen Conway's first cousins, and have lived here for two or three generations, farming and raising cattle. They're first class characters and some of the most hospitable, hilarious and fun loving people I've ever met. We stayed with Bun and Pat, and were toured around the farm via running shoe by their son Jared.

Blyde River Canyon, third largest in the world.

 

Bun and Pat's (no idea why he's called Bun.)

Chongololo, Preying mantis and Scorpion. All found in the house... The days before we got there they also chased out a black mamba and Mozambican spitting cobra. Fun stuff!

The only limiting factor for how much mango one can eat, is the motivation of the mango cutter.

On the way to 'The Shack', and it's awesome swimming hole! These guys got to ride in the back of the 'bakkie' all the way there. They were stoked!

A lot of engineering went in to building this pool!

Yeehaw! This pool was SO NICE AND COOL! We spent a few hours here enjoying the shade of the forest, and the fresh clean water. It was an oasis.

Tobin, getting ready to launch

Woop woop!

They boys spent a lotta time jumping off this rock!

Jen, who was it that lived here?

Nick, about to be consumed by a houseplant.

More pics of the back of the bakkie

Tea time. This is an African staple. Bun serving. Just prior to this Bun was checking up on a bull he was nursing back to health. As part of his diagnosis he used a rectal thermometer (on the bull... I should clarify), which he pulled out, and nonchalantly twirled and then swiped with his fingers... I'm not sure he washed his hands between then and this picture, but we all seemed to survive.

This was such a hoot. Jill, a second cousin, had a birthday, and as part of her tradition the farm families all get together for a 5k fun run called 'The Chunder Run' the day after the birthday. There were about 30 or 40 folks all out either running or riding bikes, or driving the support trucks full of beer. The plan was to run, then have three stops along the way to 'rehydrate'. Here Jen is greeting her cousin 'Dog' (Bun's brother), another great character. So the story goes: his real name is Chris, but his wife got a dog which she wanted to name 'Chris', and from thenceforth, the human Chris was known as 'Dog'.

past the litchi's, over the snakes...

along the property line (here's Tobin and David - they all made it!)

running out of gas now, 'oh my hat' it's time for a beer!

Bevil supporting

phew, nothing like a frothy drink on a hot day.

The Kopjie (mountain or hill) we ran around earlier in the day. I almost died of dehydration, sunstroke and malaise all at once. The day before we almost stepped on a puff adder on a trail to the left of this hill. That, combined with the scorpion and two other venemous snakes had us feeling jumpy!

Nick and mom

Hard not to have fun on this run.

Nik-Nak's!

Post run at the dam. What would Bun say?

Several beers in we put our trust in Bun to find his way home through the litchi orchard. We made it.

Africa!

Hmmm, where to start. Been quite some hiatus between posts on here lately and I can hardly remember how this all works. Life seems to have become too hectic (read - too lazy and distracted by Youtube cat videos) to post anything worth reading...
However, that has all changed! Welcome to the NEW Gillatron, full of vim and vigor and weight loss and hair regeneration promises!

Okay, actually, no. But I will regale you with tales of our trip to South Africa, and subject you to many out of focus, poorly composed butt shots of African wildlife. Here we go.

We flew from Vancouver to Johannesburg via Dubai (where everyone looks like Frank Zappa from the Sheik Yerbouti album). Flying to SA is pretty much the furthest from Revelstoke you can get, and still be on a continent it seems. 14.5hours to Dubai, then an 9 hour layover, then another 8+ hours to finally arrive in the southern hemisphere. We were all pretty wasted. The kids spent almost the entire time on both flights flipping channels, watching movies and playing video games. We packed 10 years of screen time into one pan-planetary journey.

Jen and Kevin picked us up in Jo-burg, which was SO nice. We just got off the plane, climbed in the Land Rover and slipped in and out of consciousness for the drive to Malelane. Once there, the kids hit Granny and Grampa's pool and didn't emerge for two or three days. I got to sit poolside with a G & T and look at birds and monkeys. AMG was too exhausted to need exercise. It was idyllic.

We spent a few days here, then headed to Ofcalaco to visit Jen's cousins....