4th of July

It came a bit early in the bush...We had 20 guests so I surprised them with a 4th of July themed Sundowner.

We chatted



Watched the sunset



Had lots of drinkies!

For drinks I served white wine Sangria made with
1 bottle Obikwa Sauvignon Blanc
1 bottle sprite (really good!)
3 slices apple
3 slices orange
2 slices lemon

Lots of ice

Liber-tea made with

3 parts tea
2 parts lemonade
1/2 cup honey
1 cup southern comfort
1 cup Jack Daniels whisky

Lots of ice

I also made cosmopolitans and side car shooters

Scops Owl

Otus scops

Scops Owl

Typical day in the bush

Life in the bush is quite unpredictable. Sometimes I wake up to see this in my front yard


Most probably done by these guys



because the crocodile was trying to steal this from them


but it's all good because it now means these guys can have breakfast


while I head to over to mine ...at an undisclosed but incredibly romantic location


Nothing like a bloody Mary to restart the engine...


After breakfast I like to watch birds fishing


doing their thing


but I may go on a game drive to watch these


and these


then have a quick snooze here


at 4pm or "1600hrs" as they say around here I will go on a game drive


We usually run into ellies


Zebras


and my favorite giraffes



When the sun is going down


We will stop for sundowners


then heading home we'll be lucky if we run into him


him


or him (a bit blurry but that's leopard alright)


We'll get back in time for candle lit dinner


with Oscar


which might feature this


or this


after dinner, I'll catch a bit of WC football with the guys before heading to bed

and that's how we roll in the bush!

Dinner with Stephen

Last week I got to dine with 2 famous Stephens. The first was Stephen Frink, a legend in underwater photography world said to be among the world's most widely published marine and underwater photographer. He came to take amazing above ground pictures of animals along with 15 or so other photography enthusiasts. Once in a blue moon Stephen comes back to land and leads a once in a lifetime tour to an exotic location. This year it was Africa, a trip that was 2 years in the making. It was interesting to watch this kaleidoscope of individuals brought together from all parts of American by one common passion, photography. It was easy to follow or include myself in their conversation as long as I had Photography somewhere in my sentence. They certainly stirred and stoked my little fire for photography, someday i will be able to afford the bazookas they were carrying and take better pictures, by that time they will probably be on to something else...space photographic travels perhaps.

Then Stephen Falcke came by,(he is only one of the world's top 3 interior designers!!) Soft spoken fabulous Stephen came to rearrange our public areas and rooms with lots of color and unique artefacts. The same man who is responsible for this, this and this got to use our public areas as his little amusement park for a few hours! For someone who gets calls from the likes of Sol Kerzener, Stephen is quite humble and down to earth with a sharp eye for detail. I extremely enjoyed his stories peppered with exotic lifestyles and glitterati and he taught me how to make a "rock shandy" his version of this mocktail includes:

1 part soda
1parts sprite (or lemonade)
A couple of shakes bitters

Me thinks Stephen has a bit of a sweet tooth going!

Egyptian Geese

Mama nurtures



Daddy protects





Alopochen aegyptiacus

Egyptian Geese

African Spoonbill

Feeding



Take Off



Midflight




Platalea Alba


African Spoonbill

Yellow Billed Stork

Preening

Feeding




Flight



Mycteria ibis

Yellow Billed Stork