Friday, April 27, 2018

Up Close with Natal South Coast Artist Grant Wood

No, not that Grant Wood.






This













This Grant Wood is well known in the South African art community. He and his studio reside on the Natal South Coast of the Indian Ocean. Grant also happens to be Jan's sister-in-law's brother. Since Grant lives and works walking distance from the Pumula Beach Hotel, we walked over to his studio to socialize and to watch the artist at work.


















Starting as a blank sheet, we watched as this piece was created.












Total elapsed time:  20 minutes




Deep Sea Fishing

The good news:
    The weather was perfect! What a great day on the 
            Indian Ocean!
                       The bad news:
                                Kind of a slow day for fishing
                                         - "only" three tuna and about
                                                     40 smaller varieties, 
                                                                  all great eating!
  
            And the good news:

                    We had plenty of fish to feed 12 for dinner!

















Lara's tuna

Gus, ready for anything.


A great time was had by all!

Pumula Beach on the Natal south coast














Our last three nights in South Africa were spent at the Pumula Beach Hotel where we got to relax and enjoy, sunning and venturing into the Indian Ocean. What a nice way to end our stay in South Africa. Here are a few pictures I took at the beginning and end of the day.
























Our last morning



Our last evening









Lions, Cheetahs and Hares Oh My! The Nambiti Game Reserve

Although we did not go to South Africa primarily for the safari aspect, this may have been the high point of our trip (there were many). We spent two nights at the Elephant Rock Lodge inside the reserve. From the first day in the afternoon to the third day early morning, we made four excursions about 4 hours each into the reserve in a converted Toyota Land Cruiser. Here are just some of the highlights:

This was our transport through the Nambiti Game Reserve. It is one tough vehicle.









































Lady Impala Antelopes enjoying a leisurely meal together, keeping an eye out for lions.









Male Eland. These guys are really big, typically weighing over 1,000 pounds.

















These guys require no explanation. They are magnificent.




























Look out for hippos. They are ornery, and one must take care never to get between a hippo and its water supply. Hippopotami kill more people than any other four legged creature in Africa. However, humans and mosquitoes outscore hippos by a wide margin.









I believe this is a Black Heron. They tend to stand still in ponds with their wings spread. Little fish like the shade and tend to congregate. Then they get snapped up by that pointy beak.



Spotted Eagle Owl






Guess who has the right of way.
(Hint: Reverse lights)


Two bull elephants engaging in a low-level tussle for dominance




We saw several Jackals. This was the only time one stood
still enough long enough for me to get a picture.



There are only two Cheetahs left on the Nambiti Game Reserve. "The world's fastest land mammal is running toward extinction." The Cheetahs brought to Nambiti are distressed for various reasons, and are initially protected in a large fenced in area within the reserve. When they are better able to survive, they are integrated into the game reserve. Lions however, do not appreciate the competition. Lions, being bigger and stronger, will hunt down and kill the Cheetahs. In the wild, Cheetahs tend to avoid the Lions. In this environment, the Cheetahs do not always have the natural fear of Lions they need in order to survive. We were lucky enough to see both of the Cheetahs during our time at Nambiti.


The collar is a GPS device placed for research purposes.


Kudo in the foreground. Two Impala Antelopes background.




























































The Warthog















After all that hard work seeing that wildlife in its sort-of natural habitat, Bennie doubled as bartender, making quick work of arranging a table and goodies. It served as reassurance to us as to our place on the food chain.





At dusk, we could see the planet Jupiter
in the evening sky just after sunset.


Later that evening, we gathered around the fire pit and continued to enjoy our favorite beverages, identifying the Southern Cross, Milky Way, Large Magellanic Cloud (a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way), and Alpha Centauri (closest star system to our sun) in a spectacular night-time sky.