SANParks.org Forums

After I have read some of the comments here, it appears to me that the travel tales experts REALLY appreciate the comments. Am I right? in which event I will also start to comment.

My first trip reports had no pictures. I did not have a camera. A friend, realising that I was becoming more than a little obsessed offered to lend me his camera.

Oh dear, he had no idea

I was most impressed with his camera. It had a big lens and looked so cool.

He spent some time showing me how to use it, but being MM and spatialy challenged, it all went over my head.

I stopped at Lake Panic, feeling most important and professional. I even had a bird book I was now a real seasoned dinkum Kruger expert.

The first thing I did was open the camera bag.

The second thing I did was drop everything out of the camera bag.

I was now the centre of attention.

I then tried to redeem myself by putting on the big lens.

Being born dyslexic, left handed and all thumbs, made for sitcom material. I now had everyone's attention.

Oh dear, what a klutz

I switched the camera on and nothing I phaffed and fiddled thinking that I had broken my friends camera.

By now, I was really the centre of attention. A bemused German gentleman with a lens much bigger than mine suggested I take the lens cap off.



I then could not focus the camera, it was not as easy as I thought. A bit like learning to cast a line when fishing. Everything goes everywhere, except where you want to aim.

I eventually found subject material not needing a focused camera things not needing skill and intelligence.

My first Kruger pic

Well said to everybody. I love all Trip Reports and appreciate the time and effort that those who write the reports go through so that we can relive our own paradise with them. What makes "Travel Tales" my home page is that when i read everyone's reports I feel like I am there. Especially those that come from the heart.

Thanks to the forum we all get to "spend time" with friends who we might never meet yet love what we love. And that makes reading and writing a report so worth while. Keep writing and we will all keep reading!!!

Gavin, you're doing pretty ok .. acacia rats and all

I have noticed how those who have continued writing and posting seem to just get better and better. There is so much joy and fun in the process that hardly anyone notices that they are actually adding new skills all the time.

I would encourage everyone to write, or just post pictures.

My daughter had to help me register. I had no idea what to do. When I posted my first comment and I received a notification...I was hooked

Finaly, finaly the forum was doing what my children, cats, dogs... and.. and.. and had failed to do.. someone listened and responded.

Picnic, good idea

I agree - I am busy with my first trip report and the remarks of the other forumites are what keep me going. The positive comments mean a lot to me, and the fact that people are actually reading what I wrote seems vaguely surreal, but what a great compliment they are paying me just by reading what I wrote, let alone making apleasant comment.

Oh, Meandering Mouse - lens caps have a way of getting in the way. I went with great fanfare to a course of lessons in photography armed with my brand new camera. There, in amongst fifteen other people, I did everything the instructor told us to do. Nothing. I asked for help. The teenaged girl beside me whispered not unkindly,"Take off the lens cap."

Pete

I think my first real trip report was a joined venture with MM and the other angels back in 2009, and what a pleasure that was That was such a good teaching lesson in TRs that I felt no other TR after that was really good enough. I think it could have been the fact that I really did not have a very good camera... and felt a bit embarresed with my pics. This last year however I had such amazing sightings with Scipio, that when I started my TR, it just felt right, and also had him showing me the ropes with his camera. And PNM, after all the TRs I did, it still feel good when someone comment on your TR. When you read a positive comment, you just want to go through your pics again and see what you can add as well. By the way, I just love your TR

PNM, that was a great learning lesson; I'm sure your mind always went "lens cap" first before you did anything else.

PetraJ, a lot of people who do not have the massive lenses and technical skills feel their pics are somewhat below par. This is not true as a good commentary will bring most pictures to life! I just put the best ones in and make the most of it.

There have been the occasional strange happenings, particularly in the earlier days. My goodness, how technology has advanced.

One person, I forget who, posted a brilliant report with wonderful pictures. This was in the earlier days of tiny pics and unbeknown to her, tiny pics would sometimes "double book" the space, so to say.

She posted lovely pictures of wildlife, but another completely different type of wildlife came up on our screen.

Once told, she was mortified. It caused much embarrasment.

That is terrible!!!! The other bonus of writing trip reports is that instead of just taking photos of the obvious animals one now thinks of how you are structuring your report and everything is seen in a new light. You actually start composing your report while on your trip. It makes for a new dimension in your travels.

It is true what you say COS! If you know you are going to write a TR, it affects your thoughts while you are there.
This is actually a negative for me. I want to just experience the bush for myself! Rather than think how I can share it with others while I should be relaxing with the animals! From now onwards, I go to the bush with the mindset that I am not going to write a TR at all. And will consider if I want to write a TR after I come home. But that is just me

Very true. That is why I haven't write a TT yet. When you go to a park you need to decide if you are going to write a TT or not. Because when you like to write a TT you need to keep note of the hole trip.
I like the experience without the notes. But then there are not enough to write about.

That is the thing! Sometimes you look back at your pictures and you can hardly remember anything about those sightings!
That is where I throw in lots of entertaining smilies and creative name calling just to compensate

I agree with Cape of Storms about writing bringing on another dimension. I think just being on the forum brings in another dimension.

Bert's first visit to Kruger as a forum member brought very few Lions. If I remeber correctly, he finaly saw one on his last day. Now, whenever I see a Lion I think of Bert... and how he would be.

I am never sure what I will write each day. I plan something and then something else comes out. I will often spin off from a remark in the responses. The joys of ADHD always on a tangent.

MM, I have to agree........I can still remember meeting Salamanda in Croc Bridge.......my very first yellow ribbon mite I met.......and how she told us that they wish to see wild dogs and leopards.

We drove away all happy to have met such a stunning person and would you believe it a few kilometers on we saw a leopard...........BUT Salamanda went down the croc bridge dirt road and we went back to Lower Sabie.......how I wished I could call her and say come see this!!!

Now each and every time we get to see a leopard I think of her!!!

Yes, I remember, when we met Katja from Germany at Satara, we were talking about how much we all wanted to see wild-dogs. We suggested a route the next day via Rabelais Dam (as dogs had been sighted there the day before), which we took early and they took later. Typically, I had my cell off, so was somewhat mortified when I finally switched it on later to find a message from Katja that in essence suggested we get our body parts out to Rabelais as soon as possible as they had seen the dogs at the dam! I was happy that they had come all the way from Germany, to finally see such a special sighting. However, we accepted that it wasn't meant to be our sighting; several months later, we had the most magnificent wild dog sighting, as it turned out.