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Thank you Dotty ,
thank you Jazil ,
thank you Craig ,
thank you john n poppy


That what I will do next too. Read all of it without stopping because till now I always read and reread only the actual parts that had to be posted and never had the time to go through the whole report. And then . . . .
. . . . then I will translate the whole story to German, rearrange some pictures and make it the framework of my book. This book will include also my wilderness stories that will be added whenever one will fit to an event of the framework-Kruger-story.
This gives me the chance to go back to Kruger in my memories and I can live through everything again . . . .
But before I do this there will be posted here a final part as epilogue.


No, I just looked for one that was having still both ears.


Thank you p@m ,
this gives me an excuse to post some more of my favorites:

Epilogue

Sorry it took so long writing this story but maybe I was following the African saying: “The Europeans have the clock, the Africans have the time”.

First I want to show some more of my favorites again to bring you and me back for a short time to paradise – to our beloved African Savannah:








After coming back from Africa I was dreaming for six weeks of Africa only – every night. Most of the time I was travelling where I came from – directly from paradise. When I awaked I always felt lonely even I have been not alone - and all around me was sadness and silence.

So when I write all these parts of this story following my memories or going through my diary or spend some time with my pictures I always remember how it was and how I felt.
But when I do all of these three things parallel I’m back. Then I’m not only following memories. Then I’m really back and it is like standing there being part of the bush, waiting and live through everything again. Just beautiful . . .

. . . at this point I will show you one of my diaries and some drafts:


One of my diaries . . .



Drafts for the Kruger story: There have been good days and hard days . . . .

I remember when I was a child I was playing with toys showing animals and humans of Africa. I placed it all over the table and painted the lion’s mouths with my mother’s lipstick to express the blood from their most recent kill. I could spend hours by playing but have always been forced to remove the scenes when the table was needed by my mother to prepare it for dinner.

And I also remember when I was about four years old. At this time I entered the hippo enclosure in a zoo by my own to get to these funny African animals to touch them. Just to be rescued by a keeper. . .

I can assure you when he got me out the most dangerous creature at this day was not the hippo but my aunt who was taking care of me at this day.
I have learned a lot on this day: Never go to the hippos when your aunt is around.
And so I did. All my later close encounters with hippos I had were when my aunt was thousands of kilometers away.

And a long time ago (I’m not going to tell you how old I’m), long before I have visited Southern Africa for the first time I read the “Sunbird” written by Wilbur Smith. This was a tremendous impression and for sure this intensified my interest and love for Africa.

. . . . and in a certain way I’m some kind of a Sunbird.
I don’t have wings like a bird but I have my dreams. And I believe in my dreams.
Because listening to my dreams is like reading letters from my soul.
And my dreams are the wings of my life.

During these weeks I’ve spread my wings wide to soar above the African Savannah. My minds where gliding high over these beloved places touching the African sky, dreaming it will last for ever. . . .
And I still have my wings, beautiful wings . . . . . . beautiful dreams. . . . . . . .


I’m very proud of Bavaria my home country and where I come from. But even here when I have to leave or when I return from abroad there is not such a strong feeling.

Home is where it hurts if you have to leave . . . so my home is Southern Africa . . . . and what can be a better home than the African Savannah?

One of you wrote in her or his signature: “Being African is not determined by race, but by what’s in your heart”. Let me add something to this: “. . . and maybe it’s not determined by where you live or where you have been born”.
And history tells us we all have our roots in Africa.

I spend a lot of time working on my pictures. With every one of them a piece of a dream comes true, a memory of African Savannah, and a memory of travelling in paradise.

I'm not here any longer. But everyday when I look to the sun I know right now it is also shining over Kruger’s African Savannah.

I had to leave my Africa but my heart still remains there where you can meet it - maybe. The best chances will be close to the Olifants . . . .

I thank you all for following my Kruger story. Without your permanent support and encouragement I would never have finished it. And please excuse my sometimes “special” English. It was my first writing in English and I have learned English only during a very short period of time.
And regarding my pictures. I often used the pictures that fitted to the story and showed you what I could not express in details by words. So there have not always been placed the best ones only.

Elsa, Anja, Pumbaa, restio, bert, Meandering Mouse, jonty1, Vonnie, Freda, aboon, p@m, griet1981, Skillie, boorgatspook, Senyetse, pardus, anne-marie, Jose, RayD123, Wild@Heart, Jubatus, Toddelelfe, Muhammad, katydownunder, CuriousCanadian, Snoobab, Herman, Zypresse, elpaco, TexasBoer, Mgoddard, Ralph vV, Lockie, Cathie, Deville, naomi c, Jazil, wanderw, Ollie, saraf, janneyc, Liryn, tigger83, jb72, Sharifa, Jehoshaphat, Hippo, Boabab, Craig, john n poppy, blasian, jasetoni, mel123, christo, Chickadee, daver, sable, MarkWildDog, Dotty, PhalaRaider, DincyBird, wmahon465, monnevanloon, Safarigirl and Mike USA (just hope I have not forgotten one!) thank you for your nice postings that kept me writing in times where no time for writing was left.


Sorry if there are some outdated-one included but some of you changed it so often and at a certain time I could not follow without to start at the early beginning again

Thank you all for all these nice words and the many, many personnel mails I got . . . some send by not registered readers via my homepage . . . that included so much . . . . . things you didn’t want to express in public. . . . . .that warmed my heart . . . . and still make me proud.
And to find out one day my report was chosen to be placed at the “Best of the Forums” made a dream come true.

Thank you all again and I hope I will see you once . . . . . . meet you by travelling in paradise. And if the up-current gets by we will spread our wings. But they only can carry us up and away if at least some of our dreams become true.

My dreams are not gone. I just changed one dream to another: My dream of being here to a dream of coming back. Dreaming of going on a journey of fantasy with my Guardian Angel again.

Goodbye African Savannah. I will come back . . . yes, I will come back to you: Mena tanda wena . . . ngiyakuthanda . . . ndza ku rhandza. . . .

. . . angikhoni kuhlala ngaphandle kwakho . . .


My favourites of all:


My Olifants River

This brings me back for a last time remembering an Eurythmics song playing on Radio Jacaranda.
And so I will end my story with these lines.

“It must have been love but it’s over now.”
Not my love - just my story.

What a comprehensive report! I enjoy your style of writing and your stunning photographs!

You were blessed to see a pair of pangolins - I would have thrown a party straight away!

BTW you said at some stage you saw a male lion grimacing and that you didn't know what he was up to...it's called "phlemen". Animals sample the air for feromones (type of airborne hormone) when they do this. According to the photograph the lion stood next to a shrub whilst exhibiting this behaviour - possibly another male spray urinated on the shrub and left his scent there, or it is one of his marking posts (like a profile page put up on a website ) and he's checking to see whether his advertisement is still in order. Sometimes you'll see them phlemen, turn around and scent mark. Reptiles like snakes and lizards might be more familiar; they pick up chemical particles in the air on their wet tongue and press their tongue against the Jacobson's organ situated on their upper palate. In fact, they "taste" the air.

PS: I always take a warm sleeping bag with me on a trip! Spent too many nights being cold away from home!

Thank you for taking the time to share your story with us, I appreciate it!

All the best

Thank you Betelgeuse for the nice words
and thank you also for your personal mail I got in addition.

Yes the pangolins! I still consider whether I was lucky to see them or unlucky not to come closer for some pictures. At least there is a new challenge: To get a picture of one . . . one day.

Yes, you are right that is flehmen response what the lion did. I never knew that is also done by cats . . . I only knew it from antelopes and other grazers.

And I have never considered to take a warm sleeping bag with me on a trip to Africa like we do by travelling in Northern America, but you are right.



Thank you Ferdelance for your compliments .

Hints and tricks for taking this kind of photographs:
Spend as much time in the bush during the day as possible and let the animals come to you.
If you are at a hide try to stay here as long as possible because there will always come some unexpected and if you are there alone it is only for you. So a bird can mean more than a member of the big five. Compare a big five sighting staying with your car in a road block to a single bird somewhere in a tree where you are the only one that is staying there . . . .

Big shots are mostly to show others what a good photographer you are even if it is poor luck what you have seen and got a picture. Experiences that you will get by being alone at a hide, standing in a side road or other lonely places are shots by heart that you will remember a lifetime . . . .
Remember my last day in the park when I was hunting for the big five in one day . . . . When I remember back this were the most unpleasant hours in the park and looking at one of these pictures still bring some mixed feelings to me . . .

That must be a tremendous feeling having this elephant so close to you even if there was a fence between . . .
I am keen to close encounters that bring this adrenalin rush as long as I still can walk away afterwards. No matter if it was a lion, snake, crocodile, hippo or even the attack by two male ostriches with very nice red legs when I was walking alone . . .

However, I have to stop here otherwise the longing for the bush becomes too severe . . .

I have read Wilbur Smith’s “A time to die”. That will be part of my book and go like this: “ . . . At Paris on the way to my flight connection, I remember the break down of the roof in 2004 when we also went to South Africa via Paris. We were sitting at terminal E below the part of the roof for more than three hours that should come down and kill some people two weeks later. Here my girlfriend took a photo of me reading Wilbur Smith’s book “A time to die”. This was not for us. It was not our time to die. Nevertheless, time was running down for others. This was the fate of the unlucky people that were sitting here some days later. . . .”



Thank you Goetz for the nice words ,
and I can tell you: I still dream this dream every day . . .



Hello anne-marie that makes at least three.
Is there anybody else outside who will join in and dream with us from Kruger?



Thank you Scot ,
so you have to come to South Africa again and make me envious.

I hope my information via personal mail could help you regarding placing the photographs and working for the DVDs.

Help needed!

As you may remember when you have read my story, I once made this picture of this nice person.

He should be a South African - the whole story you will find there:
June 23rd, Fifteenth day, Cornered . . ., Saturday.

As I want to use this photograph in my book, I try to get into contact with this man.
Does anybody know him?

Thank you Kingfishergirl
thank you for the nice words and compliments.

Unfortunately, the story that is placed here has become a short version compared to the final story I am working on. But one day the whole story will be published . . .

I used a Conon 5D with a tele lens 100 – 400 with image stabiliser.



Hello ndietrich,
yes there is also something special when going alone. But, if a journey was planned to do it together, then it is different . . . Next time I will be not alone . . . .



Thank you Hitman,
No I am not from South Africa. I am from Bavaria. But I take it as a compliment to be considered to be a South African.



Thank you 3dgreek,
Thank you so much for so many nice words and especially for the honour to make me a “Honorary Geordie”. It would be a pleasure to meet you one day: In New Castle or elsewhere.
Looking forward for the drink (or some more drinks). To meet one day in Kruger . . . There are very good chances in June . . . . .


To all,
My story will soon be locked by the moderators. But there is still a possibility to write to me via a personal mail or via my website.

By the way. If you are interested, more then 1,700 pictures from this journey are placed on my website since a few days. If you want to see them please go to my website via the website button or following this link: http://www.naturfoto-wildlifefoto.de

I thank you all again for your nice words and your support.

See you one day in paradise . . .


Maybe here:

Sorry for the mistake here. It should have been:

This brings me back for a last time remembering an Roxette song playing on Radio Jacaranda.
And so I will end my story with these lines.

“It must have been love but it’s over now.”
Not my love - just my story.


Are you interested how things went on please send me an email via my Website.

Are you interested? Please send me an Email as PM or via my website.