The Road to Dallas

I used to make all my deadlines, or at least most of them. I used to always be on time, except when I was early. But those times are in the past. I planned to leave on Monday. Sunday night I knew I had about 3 more hours to go, and I just didn't want to do it. I decided Tuesday was just as good a day as Monday. This gave me time to go get some more cuddles from my grandniece Anna.

Tuesday morning I thought, "I'll be on the road by 8:00". Around 9:30 when I did get on the road I was happy because now I would miss the traffic in Hartford. Yes, I am a half-full kind of person.

The first day I just drove. In the afternoon it started to rain. When it also started to get dark I decided to bed down for the night and found a truck stop. I enjoy seeing my little rig parked in the middle of the monster trucks.

I realized my coach batteries were not holding a charge. Another repair for the not-too-distant future. An RV is like a boat, old house, etc. ($$$)

Wednesday I was up and on the road early. Again I drove steadily, except for one short nap. The speed limit for most of the road was 70. I was in 4 lanes of traffic all going 70 mph and a small car which was stopped in one of those no traffic striped areas edged out into my lane. I hit the brakes, but knew I would not stop before hitting the car. I nudged out as little as possible into the next lane, and waited for the crash with the car and probably another crash with the vehicle in the lane to my left. Three semi trucks passed me on the left and one laid on the horn complaining that I had moved into his lane. But no crash. Thank You, God!! Another near miss. Tawny may have 9 lives but I swear I've already used more than that. Towards the end of the day I really didn't want to drive any more but kept plugging. Then I started looking for a truck stop and did not find one until night had fallen. I don't like to drive at night and avoid it whenever I can.

The next morning I was on the road early again. I stopped after a few hours to have breakfast at a well-known chain, Cracker Barrel. As I was cashing out I asked if they had any audio books. When I first began RVing I always listened to audio books. The last couple years, not so much. I thought maybe that was why I was so fidgety and wanted to stop so often.This chain lets you borrow an audio book for a week for a fee. It worked. I was ready to drive straight to California.

But I was off the road by 1:00. I had been driving through the mountains of Tennessee, and climbing many hills. All of a sudden my preglow indicator lamp (whatever that is) came on and my engine light. I thought maybe the engine was overheating or stressed out in some way. I pulled off to the side for a short time but it stayed on. I saw a camp ground at the next exit, and pulled off. I called around until I found someone who worked on Sprinters. He said I could continue to drive it until it was easy to get it fixed. So on to Dallas. I need to come back to TN in the spring or fall. I love Nashville and want to see all the other cities and sights.

The shower felt great that night. And I slept well.

The next day I did do some sightseeing. I went to Franklin, TN and drove to the Carnton Plantation.

On November 30, 1864 there was a huge battle in the area - the Battle of Franklin. The Carnton Plantation was turned into a confederate hospital, along with other homes in the area. Since this was the 150th anniversary, a major re-enactment was performed and true to history it continued for many days. When we toured the house there were still beds, mattresses, piles of fabric placed throughout the first 2 floors, as well as temporary doors, tables, and floors set up as surgery sites. Most of the surgery was amputations.

I've toured many civil war locations. I always find this history extremely sad. The knowledge that our country was fighting with itself, brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, hurts my heart. The Carnton Plantation also gave 2 acres of its land as the final resting place of 1,481 confederate soldiers. Care of the cemetery and the books of names and dates, as well as inquiries from those looking for their loved ones, continued to be handled by the inhabitants of the home.

The soldiers were buried by state platoons. Sometimes a soldier had a piece of paper in his pocket stating his name and state; sometimes there was a friend who recognized him; or someone had seen him with a certain platoon; but 900 of the 1,481 buried there were unknown.

After this I went to find the Natchez Trace Parkway and later the state park. I have read a number of Nevada Barr's books about Anna Pidgeon, including the one when she was working in this area, and I wanted to see it. After that I found a truck stop, and bedded down for the night.

The next day, Sunday, I just drove. I found a nice campground although it was 10 miles off the road. I wanted to get 2-3 hours from Dallas, so I could get there the next day fairly early. And Dallas here I come.

Lions Galore

Friday, March 21

We drove from one campground in Kruger to another today. The drive up was a game drive since we stayed in the park. We saw rhinos on the way. We also saw more of the weavers' nests. These were larger. We have been told that these are rhinoceros weavers - I guess cause they're so big. We certainly didn't see any horns on them.We found our campsite, visited around and went out to eat with a large number of our group.

 

The next day we went out about 11:00 for another game drive. We saw zebras, a tortoise, a crocodile, impala and a water buffalo.

 

 

Then at 4:30 we went for our final game drive – a safari drive – and what a drive it was!!! Our guide was terrific. We started out seeing lions in the brush.

 

Someone said there were 7, including cubs, but you couldn't prove it by me. I saw a lioness and a male lion. And we saw lots of elephants. One of the elephants was female and had a baby with her. She took a stance, as if we were not going to get near her baby or she would charge us. Then she walked across the street, and when the baby realized she was gone, he ran very fast to get back to her. We also saw male elephants in musk,

as our driver said. When they were like that, they would weep from a spot between their eye and ear. We saw giraffes, and a male also in musk. He kept following this female around trying to see if she were interested. I didn't think she was. She seemed to be giving him the run-around.

 

We saw a number of zebra. Previously we had seen the Cape zebra, but these were Burchell's zebra. Every zebra has a different marking in its stripes.

With the zebra we also saw blue wildebeest. Then we saw a porcupine with all the quills out for protection, but he lowered his quills and skittered away quickly. We saw a couple rhinos, lots of impala, a spotted hyena, who also took off into the bush, and a chameleon. Then we saw a huge herd of water buffalo. They went on and on and on. Shortly after that we saw 3 lionesses walking down the road. It was dark by this time but we had a spotlight. Paces behind we saw a male walking by himself.

Paces after him came another male and then paces after that another male. We all figured they were walking to the herd of water buffalo to get a meal. I would think that would be easy pickings since there were so many. That was totally awesome. These lions look so majestic. I couldn't believe I was so close to them. The only animal I am disappointed I didn't see was a leopard. Part of our group had been in another safari wagon and did see a leopard, but they didn't see the fantastic group of lions. Kruger Park was a great experience. We are now leaving it forever. If I ever get back to South Africa – and believe me, I would like that – I'll definitely go back to Kruger.

A Day in Botswana

Yesterday we arrived in Zambia, where we view Victoria Falls. The Falls are about a 10 minute walk in back of the hotel, but I haven't been there yet. We can see the mist rising all day. When we flew in we could see the mist from the plane. I'm ready to be overwhelmed.

What a day we had today. I have not completed any blog for a time, but decided to write about today.

 We started about 7:00 in a bus that picked us up at the hotel, and drove us to the border of Botswana. The Wagon Master had taken all our passports to process them together to leave Zambia. When we came into Botswana we all had to go in and get processed. We then drove to a river and made ready to cross the river over to Botswana.

Four countries come together at this river – Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Manibia. These spellings could be wrong, but I think they are right. For years the four countries have been discussing building a bridge over the river. The discussion concerned what countries would build it, what countries would pay for it, etc. Well, they have started. Zimbabwe did not agree to the terms of building the bridge. Thus, when it is done, people from Zimbabwe will still have to use boats.

All that has been done so far is that a concrete pad has been built at the side of the river. They are still using boats to cross the river. The boat however did not reach the concrete pad. So, we were told to take off our shoes and wade through the water to the boat. There was a ramp at the front of the boat so we weren't going to have to climb over the side. The discussion continued between the drivers and the owner of the boat. Then all of a sudden, the bus driver drove into the water and we stepped from the bus onto the boat. I guess they didn't want to lose any paying guests to the crocodiles.

There were many street vendors trying to sell us all bracelets and trinkets. Many of them walked into the water and continued hawking their wares when we were on the boat. When we got back there was a plank walkway for us to get back to the shore. It was a little wobbly and all of a sudden those vendors were back in the water holding our hands across the planks. I pulled out a tip to pay the guys who held the hands of Barb and myself. Then another guy was telling me held the board, and so on. A number of them sold some goods to the grateful women whom they helped.

 

Then in Botswana we drove to a boat and started down the Chote River. We spotted many, many hippos, crocodiles, elephants, giraffes, and all kinds of birds, including the fish eagle. We also saw a water buffalo with a growth. We all felt sorry for him. At all these parks, they let nature take its course. We saw a giraffe with a skin disease. He had 4 birds on his neck eating off the diseased parts. Mother Nature knows best.

 

We saw one elephant standing in the water eating the soft grass for all the time we were on the boat. When elephants get old they like the softer grass. Throughout their life they are given 6 sets of molars. When they are old and on their last set they can only eat soft things. No false teeth for elephants. In fact most elephants die of starvation, since they cannot find enough food that they can eat.

 

After the boat ride we went back to the lodge and had lunch. Then we went on our last safari ride. Of course we were looking for cats, particularly leopards and cheetah. We saw elephants and more elephants. A while back I spoke about a genetic abnormality which caused female elephants to be born without tusks. This was caused from too much interbreeding. Today we saw 2 females with that genetic deformity. They were from one family. This is now fairly rare since there is a much larger pool for elephants with whom they can breed.

 

The elephants we saw today are stretching the resources tremendously. The land can support about 45,000 elephants; and today they have about 135,000. They are talking about culling the herd, which they don't want to do. They have relocated some elephants to neighboring countries. But, you've heard an elephant never forgets. Well, they come back because the ancestral memories of their migrating routes are still there. The overpopulation of elephants is a problem for many of the parks in Africa. We heard one country was experimenting with spraying the park with some type of sterilization. We heard the results were very promising. It had to be done every 6 months. Our guide was a wildlife conservationist. He mentioned that some type of sterilization program may be the answer.

We saw many of the same animals and birds. And of course we saw many antelope, including impala, kudu and a new type of antelope called the puku. The puku are only found in Zambia and Botswana. I'm feeling very privileged to see them. The birds here are beautiful – very colorful. We also saw vultures and a vulture-like bird which comes in to attack the carcass after the vultures are done.

They do not have the tough beaks that vultures have. We saw lion paw prints, but the cats were still allusive. As we keep saying – It's the luck of the draw.

Through Swaziland to Kruger

I gave up trying to place these pictures in the proper place.

Tues, March 18^th

Today we started out to Swaziland. We went over the border in about an hour. It didn't need to take that long, but everything is written by hand, and you had to stand in line to get a form to fill out, so you could stand in line again to give it to the person who handed it to you. Thank goodness for our Wagon Masters. They ushered us through the first line where they told us we had to go inside if we had a laptop. Not true!!! And then they asked for a bunch of forms so they could pass them out to us, and people at the front told us what information was needed on the form. I hate to think how long it could have taken. Swaziland is pretty much surrounded by South Africa, so it is like a country inside a country.

It is beautiful!! Rolling fields, water, cows and goats all over the places. They have lots of women cooperatives making crafts committed to fair trade, and some of the crafts are beautiful. I bought some batik napkins and woven earrings, to support these cooperatives. I have run into groups supporting these cooperatives in the states and bought some of their goods. I loved seeing them here, knowing the women were supporting their families with their crafts and the work was superb. There has been a huge development of these cooperatives in Africa. 

 

We arrived at our campground and found a site. There were kudu and warthogs walking all over the place. It is sad, because the kudu came right up to us, even let me scratch their noses. This means, of course, that someone has fed them. They say a fed animal is a dead animal. They not only become dependent upon the tourists, forget how to take care of themselves, but also sometimes become aggressive and are eliminated. They were awful cute. But, I was extra sad since one of the mothers was teaching her young to beg.

That night we had a sponsored dinner and were entertained by dancers. The campground was located on a swamp, which had crocodiles and, we think, one hippo. We didn't know that. We thought there were several hippos. The signs all said watch out for the hippo. Stay on the lit path. When we left in the morning we saw these crocodiles (at least 4) eating what we thought was a hippo. We assumed they had killed it and were now devouring it. We were wrong. One of the horses the camping establishment had for guests to ride had died the night before, and they had thrown the carcass in the river. The crocodiles had found it, and the bloating made it look like a hippo to us. It was fascinating to see the crocodiles eating it. They kept throwing their heads back so that the meat would go down their throats. We have learned on this trip that the only thing safe to eat on a crocodile is the tail. The rest of the body may have all kinds of toxins, but for some reason the tail is immune to them. I'll remember that for the next time I am offered crocodile meat. I have also learned that hippos are brown, not gray.

 Today we arrived at Kruger, the premier national park of South Africa. I am very exited to be here. We have a safari ride scheduled tomorrow at 5:00 in the morning and another the night of the 21st. We shall drive tomorrow to another campground and that will be a game drive through the park. We had planned to drive through the park this afternoon on a game drive, but all the roads close by have been closed because of the rain and washouts. And it is hot and humid!!!!! All I wanted to do tonight was stay in the AC, but I ventured out to the campfire, and now am back in the AC. I am going to take a COOL shower and go to bed in the AC.

Thurs, March 20

It is still hot and muggy. This morning we went for an early safari drive. We started out in the dark, using spotlights to see the eyes shining back. Twice we saw eyes, but by the time the driver backed up and we focused on the spot, the animal had gone. Then it got light. The first animal we spotted was a lion lying in the road. As we got closer, he walked away and stood in the brush. Then he laid down in the brush, and we couldn't see him. Then we saw a lioness. The driver said that she was pregnant by the lion we had seen. She went back in the brush and laid down and then we saw the lion again. It was obvious they didn't want us to hear their conversation. They were probably talking about the coming cubs.

Then we saw a large herd of zebra on both sides of the road, and among them a few Blue Wildebeest. Our driver said that the Wildebeest numbers are declining rapidly, because they are stupid. They have become the lions' favorite meal. The next animal was the elephant, slowly grazing, while we watched. Next came a Kingfisher bird, and then a couple giraffes. One of the giraffes even ran for us. I don't blame him. Some of these safari vehicles are very intrusive. To top off our ride we saw a pack of Wild Dogs. It is rare to spot these. They looked fierce. I wouldn't want to run into one of them in a dark alley. It was what you would call a very successful game ride. After the ride we all had breakfast, and then went back to the rigs to get ready to go to another campground in the park. On the road to the other campground we saw a couple male rhinos. Quite a day for the animals. Some of the scenes we saw were so much like Africa. The rain has caused all kinds of problems with washouts and such, but it has improved the greens that the animals eat.

I am so grateful I had this opportunity!!!!

All These Animals in the Road

Monday, March 17

In the morning we were still living vicariously through our travel group. One of the couples the day before came across a big bull elephant off the road some, and they enjoyed watching him eat the vegetation at the top of the tree for a while. Then they decided to move forward, which displeased him very much. He charged them, swinging his trunk up and trumpeting. They stopped, and he still kept coming, so they started backing up as fast as possible, and he still kept coming. Then they stopped, and he stopped right in front of them and was swinging his trunk back and forth sideways. He then ambled back and starting eating off the trees again. So they thought they'd slowly sneak by him, and again he started to charge. They stopped and remained stopped for about 30 minutes. He relaxed and started eating again. He meandered into the trees. They started to move slowly around the curve, and he saw them on the other side and started to charge. They stopped, and he stood in the street sideways, swinging his trunk, as if saying you are not coming any further into my territory. They had thought the third time would be the charm, but I guess not. They were very close to the end of the trail they were traveling, but backed up slowly until they could find a place to turn around and retrace their journey. When Kay woke up the next morning all she could see was the image of that big bull elephant in her windshield.

In the morning, we went on a boat trip down a river and saw scads of hippos. We are in St Lucia, which has one third of the world's hippos. A couple days ago we had a waiter from St. Lucia. When he heard we were going there he said to stay inside at night. At night the hippos wander. Hippos stay in the water during the day because they do not have the ability to sweat and cannot regulate their body heat. Neither do they swim. They walk along the bottom of the lake or river. They can stay under about 3 minutes. If they have to go above to breath and are over their heads they spring up, get the air and return. At night they come out of the water and eat greens. Frequently, they walk across the road. All through the town they have “Watch out for hippos.” signs. What a funny experience!!!! Stay in because the hippos may be in the center of town. Of course, they have crocodiles too, but it's the hippos which should concern you. One of our guides had previously said he thought the hippo should have been chosen one of the big five (lion, elephant, water buffalo, rhino and leopard). The hippo kills more people than any other animal. We drew up close to about 4 pods. All of these were a big bull and his females, and possibly young male hippos. The males try to kill off the male calves as soon as possible, as soon as they are born. They do not want the competition, even though it is blood. The mother hippo moves away from the pod when she is going to deliver. If she delivers a female she returns to the pod immediately. If the calf is male she stays away and protects her calf as well as she can from his father and other male hippos, for about 6 months, or until she thinks he can handle the attacks. We saw a mother trying to protect her 2 male calves, and 3 bull hippos waiting nearby. One was most certainly the father. One of the calves had marks all over its back, showing a male had gotten pretty close. How sad!!! The females leave the pod in about 2 years; the males in about 7. In the salt lake we traveled we were told the hippo population is increasing on an average of 10% per year. The lake is interesting. I think it is the largest salt lake in the world. About 4 years ago it was cut off from the ocean. It still has sharks. There are also mangrove trees in the lake which collect all the salt in one branch. That kills the branch but saves the rest of the tree. Isn't Mother Nature amazing??

Then we went to the game reserve which was right beside the one we traveled yesterday. We drove over the same road we had yesterday. Watch out for cows, goats and people. Yesterday was Sunday, and the roads were full of people dressed for church. People here walk; some ride bicycles; some take the common transportation, which is an 8 or 12-passenger van. There are some places on the highways where they always stop. There are other places where people wave them down, often with money in their hands. Sometimes these people are picked up by personal cars going the same way. But walking seems to be the most common form of transportation. The road we traveled had signs for cows, tractors and trucks in the road. In addition, there were many people and goats. So many times we stopped while cows or goats cleared out of the road. It was fun. We also saw some of the huts we had seen at the Zulu village; a few built the same as in ancient times; and many others modified, but with domed tops. Real countryside. We frequently saw women, and occasionally men, carrying

 

bundles on their heads as they walked. Their posture is fantastic. 

So, as we got close to the game reserve a sign said to beware of wildlife in the road. Shortly after this we saw an elephant crossing the road in front of the motor home in front of us. We stopped and then another came, and then more and more. They were all sizes. Some of the babies were tiny- one couldn't even see above the tall grass. There must have been close to 30 elephants in all. How exciting this was. How often do you get

to see a herd of elephants cross in front of you?!! We continued, knowing that if we saw no other animals, our day was already fantastic. But we were very fortunate to see 6 giraffes eating the tops of some trees, a water buffalo by himself, and then a herd of water buffalo, 2 rhinoceros, a flock of guinea fowl, a number of impala, some unknown rodents, and baboons. What a day!!! Still looking for the illusive cats, but I have faith.

After the reserve we headed to the campground. The skies opened, and it thundered and poured. We saw lightning come down straight in front of us. Then the sun came out. By the time we got to the campground it was raining again. I'm so glad we're driving motor homes and not pitching tents. The rain did clear the air a bit. It was unbearably humid and hot all day.

Tomorrow we go to Swaziland and the next day to Kruger. It just keeps getting better and better.

The Dung Beetle

Yesterday we walked, did laundry, went out to eat as a group, and laughed a lot. Today we did another game drive. We saw some of the animals we had already seen up close and personal. It was a good day.

We saw 3 giraffe out in the field, baboons on the road and in the trees, warthogs in the streets and beside us. We saw a couple water buffalo – boy, are they big – but couldn't get a picture. They bolted. We saw 2 gatherings of rhinos – still with their horns, Thank God. One of the gatherings was a mother and baby. And lots of impala.

 

And then, lo and behold, we saw a dung beetle. There were quite a few of them in Addo Park. Having so many elephants, you can imagine how much dung they have. One dung beetle will remove 1 ton of dung a year. They work so hard. The dung beetle collects dung into a ball and begins to roll it back to their home. They put their front legs on the ground and with their back legs they roll the ball. It reminds me of rolling logs down a river. And the ball moves very well. Sometimes it rolls back, and the beetle has to redo those steps. Sometimes the beetle falls off the dung ball and he has to reposition himself and start again. Sometimes he gets the ball stuck, maybe by a clump of grass or twig, and he has to choose a different direction for a while. But he always ends up going in the right direction to take his prize of dung back to his sweetheart. “Hey, honey, I'm home, and guess what I've got for you.” We missed seeing any of these beetles in Addo or any other park. This time we were stopped at a camp and going to use the bathroom. I was ahead and saw this movement by my feet. I turned to Barb and asked if she had her camera. I took a couple videos and lots of pictures.

We had a very eventful day. In addition to the animals we had a mishap with our MH. The roads we followed today were terrible. I mean TERRIBLE!!!! We went over this small concrete bridge which bottomed us out when we were coming off it, and then up a small hill. There was this horrible noise. We stopped and got out, thinking maybe we were dragging a rock. When we bottomed out the spare tire was shaken loose. It was down at the end of the little bridge, and I pushed it up the little hill. Meanwhile Barbara was looking under the couch, and decided we could tie up the rack. She brought out a plastic tablecloth and the clothes line. We kneeled/laid down on the tablecloth and both tied a side of the grate to the trailer hitch. It seemed to do the trick. We put the spare tire in the coach and called to tell the Wagon Master what had happened. Georgia asked if we were in a protected area. Oh!!!! You mean there are lions and rhinos and hippos - OH MY!!!!! We didn't even think of the danger. Later we heard a couple of the other MHs both got flat tires at the same place. While a ranger stood guard, the two guys changed the flat tires. They have a picture of one of them working on the tire while an elephant watches them. Later they heard there was a lion close by. I guess she had eaten a few days earlier.