And then there were 2!

We arrived back at the vic falls airport, reconnected with the remainder of our baggage... And were transported back into town. Piero and Patty dripped us at the shoestrings backpacker lodge, and we said our goodbyes. They were spending the night on the Zambia side if the falls, then beginning their long journey back to peru the following morning. As for Lori and I, we were on our own, with 4 days to play, a lot of ideas, and no plan...
Let the last leg of the adventure begin! :)

Flying from hwange back to vic falls

The flight was an exciting hour smoothly sailing in the calm morning air over the hwange wilderness back to vic falls. 

The first 4!

Me, Lori, patty and piero just before boarding the flight! 

Another amazing ending!

Early the next morning, we packed up and said our dear goodbyes to the wonderful staff at little makalolo, and the bio bio crew we had been traveling with for two weeks, and Lori and I left for our transport out of the bush. were taken to the grass field "airstrip", and met up with our bush plane.  

I have never been on a plane this little before, so I was truly giddy with excitement! :)

The sundowner bush crew!

Again, a lovely time for a gin & tonic! :) 

Full moon in the evening sky!

Another day, another African bush sunset!

Erica basking in the late afternoon sun during our tea/cocktail break. 

Dung beetle honeymoon!

Our guide Lewis had a real soft spot for the dung beetles, and would swerve to make sure he didn't run them over or impede their progress with their balls of poo. We pulled over, and hung out with this little guy for a while. 

This beetle had made a ball big enough to impress the ladies, and scored himself a woman! The lady grabbed a free ride on her man's poo ball, while he rolled them down the road. He was sure working hard... And finally found a nice cool patch of sand, borrowed under the ball, and proceeded to submerge the ball and his lady in less than 5minutes. At which point we left them alone to enjoy the honeymoon! Wink, wink.

Happy thanksgiving!

Ha. A fine thanksgiving dinner, served somewhere over the Atlantic ocean... Might be the gin and tonic talking, but uncovering this unexpected turkey day meal struck a sentimental chord.

Sarcasm aside, I do give many thanks today. As I have said many times in the past three weeks, I am very overwhelmed by the fortune in my life. In soooo many ways. I have so many wonderful people, place and experiences that fill my life... And although I am often overwhelmed by the enormity of it all, I am forever grateful, appreciative, and strive to return the favors of all my fortune to those around me. Thank you all. :) xo.

Clumsy beasts!

It is amazing with the size of these animals, how quietly they tread on the ground. They are a but clumsy sometimes tho. Apparently, the aren't very good climbers because whole bunches if them got tripped up on this little hill to the side of the pond, and nudged each other and fumbled to get over the hump.

Safari!

Couldn't take my eyes off em!

Family

The elephant family units travel together, always keeping the babies real close.

Afternoon at the watering hole

We rolled up to the big watering home as the heat if the day started to fade, and were once again greeted by a parade of 100+ elephants converging for am afternoon drink and frolic. Lewis, our guide, pulled the truck up real close to one of the ponds, and we were up close and personal with the elephants! Close enough that I got a bit nervous as the teenage boys strutted their stuff right up in our faces a few times.

Another afternoon at the elephant watering hole!

Can't help myself!

Another cute pic!

Cutie pie!!!

In one of the open fields, we came across a herd of zebra. In the middle I'd the herd was a mama with a babe that couldn't have been more than a few weeks old at best! Soooooo adorable, ed sat there and watched the for a long time. The baby would gallop in spurts... Fling behind mama, then getting up some speed in the clumsiest gallop ever to catch up. Then would fall behind again, trip a little over it's own little legs, then start all over again. You will notice that the although the babe is tiny compared to mom, its leg height is almost the same. Zebras ate born this way with long lanky legs so they can be concealed in the herd. When the baby was behind the mom, you couldn't see it. Completely hidden.

Afternoon game drive.

After another siesta afternoon (much needed after the little morning walk!)... We set out in the trucks at 3:30, and tracked a herd of sable that was grazing in our "backyard". By far, the most unique and elegant looking of all the antelope!

Never a dull moment. Never.

And we walked... And walked.

The bush walk was fascinating. And LONG! I think Sibs wad having a little fun with this group of girls. We all said we were up "for whatever"... And when all was said and done, we walk the bush for 4 hours, and about 12km (8ish miles). A lot more than any if us anticipated! Our girls were troopers, but by the end, we were all out of water, hot, and soooo happy to see the truck that came to get us!

Bush carcass

Carcass of an impala calf. Whatever killed it ate out all the meat, leaving only skin and bone. Literally. It hadn't been found yet by the vultures (there was still an eyeball) or the scavengers. Once the rains picked up, Sibs said it was likely to soften up the hide, and start to smell... Attracting the scavengers. Yum.