SANParks.org Forums

1251 photos later...C O'Dee and I are back.
Where did we go ???
Well, let me tell you that we had a fantastic time .........

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2l8vqx5&s=3

I apologise to those who cannot see the video ...I will be posting photos soon.

doing what Angels do best!!

1251 photos.... You two certainly have been busy!

I can see bits of the video, no need to tell you that I'm still

Definitely got my attention! Brings back good memories, but I'm very curious, too, as to the story behind your heli flight?

To all our impatient forumite friends - you are unfortunately going to have to be a little bit patient, waiting for the rest of our story. Almost all 1251 photos were taken in RAW, so dear old Mich has piles of work on her plate to get them done and dusted before they hit jpegs. Me?, well I'm just the appie who tends to get things wrong, so we will have to wait until Mich has a little more time to tell you all what we were up to.

THE STORY...you all want the story....

Well the story goes something like this.....

Tues: 9h55
I was sitting at my computer minding my own business ( on the forum of course) when I received a mail from a moderator asking me whether I had a wide angle lens and whether or not I had a fear of heights Of course he had my attention..a few emails later I had established the fact that the Sanparks helicopter was at Karoo National Park ( doing an aerial count)and somebody was needed to go up in that helipcopter and take aerial photos of the park!!!! Well of course I was keen but nervous because I had never taken one photograph from up in the skies before.
Tues: 14h15
In the meantime I had been on the phone to C. O'Dee and told her that she would have to put in for some leave. Her first reaction was " No can do !!!! " BUT......of course the offer was to good to refuse so she agreed to see what she could do about coming with me!
Not long after that phone call I received an email saying that everything was cancelled......
Oh well some you win and some you lose and I had most certainly lost........I consoled myself by thinking that I probably would have made a total hash of everything or worse than that ........thrown up in the helicopter!

Wed: 9h00
My son and I had been standing in a queue at Dept. of Home Affairs since 7h30 in the morning so as you can imagine the mood was not of the very best My cell phone rang ....the helicopter has not been cancelled ...how soon can you get to Karoo ??? Instant mood change I eventually got home at 10h30 and put the wheels in motion to leave town as soon as possible....it was a bit impossible to leave that day because SO was out of town. We planned to leave at 5h00 the next day.
The afternoon was spent charging batteries, stocking up on supplies and my evening was spent on the internet researching aerial photography !!!!

Oh yes these two had landed with their wings in the proverbial butter

Thanks everybody for your comments....much appreciated. I see many little green faces though


Thursday 5h10
I managed to pick C. O'Dee up almost on time. Ten minutes late at that hour in the morning is not bad for me! We left her house at 5h20.
We faced a 5 hr journey and it was my intention to get it over and done with without much dilly dally. I drove to Laingsburg without much ado and then handed over to C. O'Dee. I soon got bored in the passenger seat so I ousted Charleen at Leeu-Gamka and carried on driving. We arrived at the park at 10h30.
We went straight to reception to check in...we were given chalet no 13
no 13 and I was going up in an helicopter !!!!
Me superstitious ??? No not at all !!!!
We then went off to meet the park manager and report for duty. We learnt that the helicopter was out doing the aerial count and that we would we most probably be going up the next day
We were then presented with our first assignment. This consisted of taking photos of a derelict farm building that is going to be renovated for the Kids in Parks project.
We then went off to no 13 to unpack and have a quick bite eat. No 13 turned out to be great. A lovely view as well as a huge kitchen counter to put our laptops on. There was also a sleeper couch which soon became known as the gadget bed. It didn't take us long to get set up and by 12h15 we were back down in the car park reporting for duty!!

I suppose you gonna have to finish this trip report soon, Mich! Now that the photos and dvd are done!!!

Eish...C. O'Dee what kind of angel friend are you ???? Telling tales like that...
Okay so I have been busy but I promise to continue soon...is that good enough??

Michele wrote:

Ummm - the Best Kind?? Now HURRY UP!!



I must admit, I was very chuffed with the first assignment we were given cause this was very close to my heart. The Kids in Parks project is co-sponsored by the company I work for, and having been to the one in Kgalagadi, I was eager to see what the new site held!! WOW!!! But wait... I'm sure Mich will give us the rest of the report SOOOON!

Right back on track as promised.....
Well this derelict farm house was a sight for sore eyes. It must have been a really grand house in it's day though. We soon set to work..after Jan had climbed through the window and opened the front door from the inside. Thanks goodness he got that front door open because both C. O'Dee and I decided that there were certain parts of our anatomy that would most definitely have got stuck while climbing through that window
The floor was covered in bat droppings and something that looked very much like zebra droppings to me. Jan explained to me that these 'zebra droppings' were in fact barn owl pellets. C. O'Dee took photos of the inside of the house and I started on the outside.

Anybody need a bath ???



Who needs Eskom when you have this ???



Anybody fancy a game of tennis...

followed by a braai

What a view...


There is a great excitement about this project. I hope by the time we visit Karoo NP in June they will have made some progress with this building.
For more info on Kids in Parks see here

I now need to submit this before Eskom pulls a fast one on me!

We left the derelict farm house and moved onto something just as derelict....storm damage. The river ( I think it was called the Leeuw River) had come down in flood 3 weeks previously and had totally washed away the fencing. Oh the wrath of water Witnessing this kind of destruction makes one realise that there is a lot more to managing a park than one thinks. The first 2 photos are mine ..the rest C. O'Dee's

MN - your report is like a good suspense novel combined with intrigue, you have wet our appetites with the video snippet, an insight into the karoo and you are painstakingly being a pure perfectionist in bringing it together. The end I am sure will be magnificent, glad you got the job of revelling to us the magnificet beauty of the Karoo, the value of the spomsors in the project and the eventual benefit to children.
C'Odee to you, thank you for being such a great support and your pics are wonderful.
Hope your June trip will be as rewarding as this.
I look forward to your photography lecture in June

Thanks for your comments everybody
@ HP...photography lecture indeed

Ah yes ...how much would that house cost. I remember telling C. O'Dee that I would love to fix that house up. I would need unlimited funds though...preferably somebody else's
Right where were we.....
When we arrived back at camp we were taken to the Interpretive Centre. We decided that we could take these photos in our own time so we opted to go back to the chalet . ( more about the centre later)
We had been invited to join the park manager and his guests for a braai that evening.
I was hoping to catch a few sunset photos before that but unfortunately the sunset was pretty boring ...not a cloud in the sky. We spent some time downloading photos before leaving for the braai.
We had a wonderful evening chatting to the park manager, pilot, ecologist and head field ranger. Of course we were very interested in the aerial count and how it was carried out...our thousands of questions were very patiently answered.
There was not a breath of wind ...coming from Cape Town that is always a treat.... and I felt that I could have sat there all evening. But ...all good things come to end.
C.O'Dee's photo.
When we got back to our chalet we didn't waste too much time before calling it a night....after all we had a helicopter to catch the next day

Okay rub it in.....we know where you are going !!!!


Friday 5h00

It never ceases to amaze me that C.O'Dee can wake up, switch off an alarm and stand up all in one movement
I had being lying awake for a while but I was still incapable of getting up. C. O'Dee ( sweet that she is ) made the tea/coffee...and eventually I managed to get up and start the day.
Our plan of action for the day was to do a game drive before breakfast, then photograph 3 different chalets and be ready to go up in the helicopter at 12h00.
We were ready to leave by 5h45 but it was a bit dark so a second cup of tea/coffee was in order!
We left the chalet at 6h00..talk about being first out of the gate. The entire camp was still fast asleep!
We went off in the direction of Bulshoek picnic site and just before the turn off we came across some Burchell's Zebra. They were definitely on their way somewhere and had no intention of stopping and posing for the camera. We managed a bit of video though....
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=wqslcl&s=3
We turned off to Bulkraal picnic site and we saw many antelope along the way...springbok,gemsbok, hartebees and kudu. A couple of ostriches and chicks put in an appearance as well. The animals were extremely far away so there were no photographic opportunities at all.
We got out at Bulkraal and took some photos.
The swimming pool was pristine....it was way too early and chilly to swim though!


C. O'Dee's photos

We left Bulkraal and continued around the loop...yet again many animals but far away. We did see one jackal but he ran out of a bush, across the road and disappeared into another bush We headed back to camp...by now breakfast was beginning to sound like a good idea.
Just as we were about to turn into camp I noticed some zebra up ahead...
I think these were the same zebra that we had seen earlier.
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=242c19z&s=3

One was quite close to the side of the road and I remember thinking that this was a very good photographic opportunity but he then decided to prove to me that was indeed a male...talk about spoiling a photo
I then asked C. O'Dee to reverse a bit so that I could maybe get him from a better angle and this was when the disaster of all disasters NEARLY happened.
C. O'Dee stalled the kombi backwards!!!...oh yes in true Kalahari Girl style she stalled the Kombi. Well my nose bashed into my precious 40D but luckily for me ( or should I say luckily for C. O'Dee) I had a firm grip on my camera so it didn't quite go flying out of the window. Of course there was much raucous laughter and by the time we looked again the zebra had moved away!! Nevermind C. O'Dee you and I both know that your reversing skills are way better than mine ...I probably would have reversed the Kombi into the bushes
Note to self....remember to have camera strap around neck at all times..especially when C. O' Dee is reversing!