I don’t get to spend too much time downtown these days.  It is just too crowded for me most of the time.  The off season is better though, just like I prefer Folly Beach in the winter.  These are a couple of shots from this evening’s wander.

Seems my blog skipped from Halloween directly to Christmas.  Lots going on, but on this rainy day I went in search of some Christmas spirit in downtown Charleston.  I found the model train display in the Charleston Place Hotel, and spent some time happily photographing the engines as they traveled around their enchanting fantasy world.  Children of all ages were captivated.

I left South Africa last night and flew 15+ hours non-stop to JFK in New York where I am now waiting for my flight back to Charleston this afternoon.  Soon my 2018 African adventure will fade as it transitions into the normalcy of my life in Charleston, but I thought I would post one more set of wildlife images.  These were taken early yesterday morning (hard to believe sitting here a world away in this dreary terminal) as lion were stalking a herd of Impala.  As you can see, the buck were very aware of the presence of the lion and they were on high alert.  As it turned out, the lions decided they weren’t that hungry, and settled down for an extended snooze in the shade of a thorn tree. The large golden dominant lion walked within 2 feet of me while I was sitting in the Land Rover.  I kept my camera to my eye and held my breath as he strode by, his royal status on full display.

I have spent a wonderful couple of days in a game park, home to the “big five”; Lion, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Rhino, and Elephant.  So far we have seen everything except the Buffalo, but I will be going on one more early morning ride before starting my journey home to the US.  The folks at the game park are very sensitive about too much information being shared on social media, because sadly poachers use this method (among many others) to target game for their evil gain, especially the rhinos for their horns.  There is a lot being done to protect the animals here and conservation is a high priority.

In Charleston, I spend a fair amount of time trying to keep one step ahead of my squirrels.  They are incredibly creative when given the challenge of accessing seed in supposedly “squirrel proof” bird feeders.  After watching these monkeys at my Mom’s bird feeder in Durban, South Africa, I think I’ll keep my squirrels!

We have been staying at this wonderful cottage near Bergville and have walked lots, eaten lots, talked lots, and I have taken a lot of photographs!  Wireless was scarce in the area so I haven’t posted them often but here are a few more.  On Monday I will be moving on to a game park for a couple of days before heading home to Charleston, so hopefully will be able to post some wildlife images.

Well here I am back again in South Africa for a two week stay to visit family.  My three sisters from all over the world, a couple of husbands, and my mom all rented a large cottage in the mountains and so here we all are for the next few days.  These images show the surrounding scenery.  We are having a wonderful time catching up, eating too much food, and trying to get enough exercise to burn up the calories 🙂

I had been waiting to get back up in the air and take some new aerial images for a long time, but first the chopper that I use was in the shop for some maintenance, and then the weather was uncooperative.  Finally all the stars came into alignment and we took off on a beautiful sunny Sunday morning.  The flight lasted much longer than I had planned, but it was so pretty I didn’t want to come back down.  Here are a few quick samples.  I have a lot of editing work to do before I get them all up on my website 🙂

Johns Island Executive Airport and Burden Creek

Georgetown has been hit hard by Hurricane Florence in the form of a double whammy.  The first time around, they experienced some flooding as the Hurricane came onshore a little to the north of them, but since then it has been a nail-biting wait while officials and weather experts calculate the pending impact of secondary flooding as a result of torrential rains inland which have swollen rivers that empty into Winyah Bay and finally out into the ocean.  Residents and business owners spent this weekend moving valuables to higher ground, positioning sandbags, and doing everything possible to prepare for rivers that are anticipated to crest at record flood levels on Wednesday next week.  I was there this weekend and spent time on the Great Peedee, Waccamaw, Sampit and Black Rivers, all already flowing at maximum capacity.  My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Georgetown during this stressful time.