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medium (81K). large (225K). |
| Queued up at San Francisco Airport waiting to check in. | |
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medium (91K). large (243K). |
| Once onboard the Virgin Air 747, the kids wasted no time in familiarizing themselves with the supplied gizmos. | |
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medium (72K). large (208K). |
| En route, over Greenland, taken through the window of the airplane. | |
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medium (65K). large (176K). |
| After two eleven hour flights and a ten hour layover in London, we finally arrive in Gabarone, Botswana, aboard the ATR turboprop you see behind Doreen and the boys. | |
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medium (56K). large (169K). |
| Here's Jamie, our ranger, guide and teacher for the week. | |
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medium (67K). large (173K). |
| Here's a typical pocketfull of film for a morning's outing. I played National Geographic photographer throughout the trip...it was big fun! | |
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medium (103K). large (292K). |
| The accomodations were anything but spartan, with a beautiful catered meal three times a day (even in the bush!). Here's the dining room at the Bosman Lodge, set for breakfast. | |
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medium (73K). large (194K). |
| Here Jamie and his wife Olga prepare one of our picnic lunches that we took on several of the game drives. | |
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medium (60K). large (167K). |
| Hendrik is the chef in residence. | |
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medium (85K). large (232K). |
| Grandpa Harry Maller throws fashion to the wind and immerses himself in the Africa Experience. | |
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medium (116K). large (316K). |
| We had many unexpected visitors at the lodge during our stay, and this one was one of the most beautiful. He is a full-grown male Sable. Those horns you see are almost three feet long. | |
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medium (106K). large (293K). |
| Grandpa Harry confers with the lodge's proprietor and our host, Toby Glaysher. We owe him and his wife Samantha a great thank you for the care and thoughfulness they put into our itineraries. | |
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medium (85K). large (228K). |
| Samuel took to the safari experience very well. | |
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medium (58K). large (162K). |
| At times we had to pry Max's animal and plant guide away from him to get him to notice the real thing going on in front of him! He just loved it all, though! | |
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medium (85K). large (236K). |
| The motley crew, suited up and ready to roll early one morning. | |
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medium (49K). large (127K). |
| It's going to be difficult to get the kids to wear seat belts again! | |
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medium (105K). large (293K). |
| Like I said, National Geographic has nothing to fear, but it was all good fun! | |
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medium (74K). large (213K). |
| Max and Sam, scurrying about on the Land Rover. | |
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medium (103K). large (301K). |
| Doreen showing just how close we got to many of the animals. In this case, it's a wild dog, resting after gorging herself on the night's hunt. Wild dogs are the most efficient hunters in all Africa, with an estimated 92% success rate on their hunts. | |
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medium (65K). large (180K). |
| Here we are at Maun Airport on our way to the Okavango Delta. | |
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medium (54K). large (150K). |
| Our "airliner" on this leg was a charming old Cessna 206 "Stationair" (think station wagon with wings!) that was considerably older than its pilot (Sam, who was 23 years old). | |
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medium (65K). large (171K). |
| Our guide Nesh takes us out on our first late-afternoon cruise on the Okavango Delta. | |
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medium (38K). large (110K). |
| Here's my 35mm camera set up to capture Yet Another Magnificent African Sunset. | |
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medium (78K). large (241K). |
| Here's Nesh, our friendly and informative guide for up at the Delta. | |
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medium (137K). large (397K). |
| We got quite a bit closer still to the game at the Delta, as with this Elephant who was displaying his reach. | |
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medium (97K). large (272K). |
| Lions have complex social structures. After eating at a recent kill, this mother distinctively bellowed, and moments later her cub came out of the thick brush, greeted her with a nuzzle of their noses, and they walked off together into the bush. | |
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medium (98K). large (290K). |
| What more can you say...they're not called "king of the beasts" for nothing. | |
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medium (57K). large (163K). |
| We're off back to The States. | |
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medium (59K). large (165K). |
| And Ruby Tuesday got us back here in reasonable comfort! | |
