Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Africa at it`s finest


I received this photo from a friend the other day. You MUST click on it! It is of a leopard and it`s prey (probably an Impala) somewhere in a gamepark in South Africa.

Now leopards are my favourite wild animals. I say wild because my favourite animals are my 2 gorgeous Bulldogs, Elvis and Phoebe but they are not wild, per se. Leopards are extremely shy and spotting them in the wild is a definite bonus. Trust me, we have spent a lot of time in the Kruger National Park (one of our favourite places in the whole wide world) to know how special a sighting is.

Hayley and I spent 3 days of our honeymoon in "The Kruger", as it is fondly known around these parts. Unfortunately we are now almost 1800km away, so the odd weekend away at the Kruger is not possible anymore. Easter weekend was also time where the whole family went to the Kruger and camped in tents and just lived the life. Man, I miss those days!

There is nothing that comes close to a sunset braai (barbeque) in your camp and then settling in and listening to the sounds of the wild. Falling asleep with the sound of a lion roaring in the distance, I promise you, that is the best thing on earth.

This is from the song "Africa" by Toto:

The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do whats right
Sure as kilimanjaro rises like olympus above the serengeti
I seek to cure whats deep inside,
frightened of this thing that I`ve become

Its gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
Theres nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

8 comments:

Miller said...

An awesome photo, I wish I had taken it, although I have come close to getting one pretty similar, but I had a piddly little camera. Toto's "Africa" is great. I've just been to the park, but i could quite easily go back again tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

francois,
came over to you from SCL.
don't know why really, but glad i did. love reading about life in south africa.
i gotta ask though...how in the world did you become a red sox fan? we @ red sox nation love you rocking the B on your hat in NYC photo.
email me if it's not good for the blog; edit however you see fit.

The Running Golfer said...

Hey Lisa

What an awesome surprise! So glad you popped in and I hope it`s the first of many visits!

I feel so chuffed that you guys enjoy me wearing my Redsox cap proudly in NYC! Must say, it did get a few remarks!
I kinda got into the Redsox due to the story behind the "curse". So, I have been following the team for a long time now. Obviously we didn`t get to see too many of the games but thankfully ESPN has had some good coverage of late. Before we left for the States the only thing I wanted was a Redsox cap, which I got in NYC of all places! We got there on the 31st October last year and as you know the Redsox had just sewn up the World Series! I was so chuffed but also very sad for missing it. Would`ve loved to have been part of some sort of celebration! Anyways, while I was in the states, I bought a book called Reversing the Curse. That is my favourite sports book of all time and covers the whole 2004 season, from pre-season to the celabrations.
My dream is still to go to Fenway Park, so hopefully one day I`ll realise that dream.

Thanks again for stopping by, you must let me know which sites you guys frequent. Must say SCL is my absolute best, I love it and Jon is incredible.

The Running Golfer said...

Howzit Bru! Ja, an absolutely awesome photo, I have a few more here. Will send to you sometime.

"Africa" what a song! Remember the Castle tv ad? Awesome stuff.

Keith said...

Francois, What an awesome picture. You also quote my favourite driving song's. There is nothing better than taking a slow drive and having Toto's "Africa" playing at an acceptable volume through my speakers.

I have never seen a leopard in the wild! I will share it in my blog soon, but I had an experience with a semi tame elephant at a work conferance earlier this year and at one stage, it had it's head in my mouth. Scary, but unreal. My facebook picute is me standing with my buddy the next day. I will be honest that my pants were almost wet and that when we stopped for a drinks break after a few minutes, my legs were jelly and I downed a beer in a few seconds.

The Running Golfer said...

Keith, wow that sounds like one heck of a story!! You must definitely post as soon as possible, with photos too!!!

Ja, that song is such a classic, actually an all-time classic. Like I said to mark, remember the Castle tv ad?

Anyhows, I look forward to the post! Thankis for stopping by.

Anonymous said...

francois, we have a house in maine and a friend who used to work @ fenway. so let me know when y'all are in the us again, during baseball season, and we'll get you to fenway. it's like a cathedral; truly a piece of history and old school beauty.
another good book is Win It For... by the sons of sam horn. it's a compilation of blog posts and comments on "what a world championship means to generations of red sox fans."
it'll move you to tears and teach you a little sox history. again, welcome to red sox nation. now go watch the movie "fever pitch" :)
and i promise not to fill up your comment space anymore

The Running Golfer said...

Hi Lisa

I realised that I have no way of finding you cos you didn`t leave an email address or a website, so thanks for visiting again!

I must tell you I spent yesterday afternoon watching the Sox nail the Yankees IN NYC and it was wonderful! Seeing the NY faitful boo A-Rod, a thing of beauty. I really wish I could get to see more of it but we only have 2 ESPN channels on this side of the world.

As for the offer, I promise you, if we ever end up in the States, you will be the first person I contact! I love Maine and as you know, Fenway is a dream.

AND I have watched Fever Pitch THREE times and the last time was 2weeks ago!

I hope to see you here again, it`s awesome to see comments on my little blog!

Ps. I will most definitely try to get hold of the other book, sounds awesome.