Hope is a thing with feathers

This lilac breasted roller may possibly be one of my favorite photos taken in southern Africa.

I'm a little shocked about it. I don't really like photographing birds, even bird watching bores me.

But there's something about this photo that I just love.

Also while in Chobe National Park in lovely Botswana on safari, we came across this stunning sable.

Hello, bird!

This stork was hanging out on the banks of the Chobe River.

A bird in flight. . . maybe if I paid more attention, I'd remember birds' names. Maybe.

He made me think of a soldier standing at attention!

 Inspiration for the post's title:

Hope is a Thing with Feathers

Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Tweet

Elephant Tracking....

In both the rainy and dry seasons, massive herds of elephants move across Zimbabwe, leaving signs of their passage everywhere.

It's hard to imagine the size of Save Valley's elephants when you see prints this massive in dry riverbeds.

And the tell-tale signs of recent passage...

And if you're lucky, you'll come across an impressive bull elephant; if you're extra lucky, you'll track him from the air.

Or stumble across the leader of a breeding herd of elephants.

Even if you're in the midst of the rainy season and the elephants are difficult to find, these are always around.

I continue to be amazed at their (strong, eeek) smell and sheer size.

And even if tracking elephants ends in disappointment (or awesome herds!),
the destruction they leave on trees make for utterly fascinating trees.

Tweet

Snapshots From the Air: Zimbabwe Safari Style!

Taking an awesome ultralight flight over the Save Valley Conservancy in southeastern Zimbabwe, 

it is impossible not to be stunned by the country's beauty.

Apparently when you swoop over a bull elephant, he's not so much a fan of it...!

I went up in the air just after day break and the blueness reminded me of my beloved Blue Ridge Mountains near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Why hello, Zebra!

An elephant herd.

Impalas----don't they look a bit trippy?  It's a lot harder than I expected to photograph from an ultralight with the wind whipping all around

and trying not to whack the pilot in the head with my telephoto lens.  

At least that's how I am explaining how strange but cool this photo came out.

Impalas looking a bit more realistic. Sadly all my photos of giraffes came out so poorly I would be embarrassed to share them!

What Hammond Ranch Safari Lodge looks like from the air.

Tweet

An Ultralight Adventure!!

I'm either insane or adventurous (take your pick) when Hammond Ranch offered
to take me up in this ultralight aircraft flying safari and I said: bien sur!  I like to think adventurous.  

The airport at Hammond Ranch's concession in the Save Valley Conservancy in Zimbabwe.

The landing strip.

Proof that I went up in the ultralight...which was an awesome experience.
(Thank you, friends, for humoring me by taking photos of the flight.)

It was possibly one of the most amazing experiences, to feel the wind all around you,
to swoop down among the giraffes and the elephants, to glide on the air...

Coming in for a landing!!

Tweet