We had a phenomenal time while we were there.  As you can see from the previous posts, we visited a few game reserves, hiked around Hogsback and then Sunette's sister got married the Saturday before we left.  I'll post some pictures from the wedding below.  Keep in mind, I wasn't the hired photographer so I was going after the shots that he wasn't there to take.   

It was a lovely outdoor wedding; a beautiful bride and handsome groom, perfect setting, perfect weather and a hopping dinner and reception.  Sunette and I took ballroom dancing lessons to prepare since the new husband and wife are phenomenal ballroom dancers.  Needless to say the DJ didn't quite play the same kind of music that we had practiced to.  So can you guess which person at the dinner decided to break the ice a bit by providing a firm demonstration of the Tootsie Roll.  Yeah, being the only American there, I had to represent.  Needless to say the party and the dance floor loosened up a bit after that.

All in all, it was a fantastic time.  I pictured it being essentially a photo expedition and that's exactly what it was, from capturing nature and animals to weddings and receptions.  I definitely learned a few tricks and I feel like I got some great images from the trip.

Can I say that we missed Elliot something fierce?  Luckily we were able to video Skype with him while we were there, which made it much easier to be away for so long.  Now we're back home as one big ol' happy family.  I'm sure the routine is just around the corner, but we'll see if we can fend it off for a few more days at least. 

We've had a great last few days, going on a nice long hike yesterday and having a lazy day today.  I've taken a few decent shots in the past couple of days, but they'll have to wait 'til tomorrow or the next day to post.  It's been a little chilly these last few days, about 50 degrees or so during the day.  Tonight we're huddled up around a fire, reading, drinking coffee and eating Brandy Tart.  Mmmmmmmm.  Needless to say, I didn't lose any weight on this trip for sure. 

As promised, here are some shots from Sunday in Addo Elephant Park.  I'll continue to post shots I've taken over the last few days, but my internet access may be limited a bit.  We'll see. 

All of these shots are from when we stumbled on a herd of about 40 elephants at a watering hole late Sunday afternoon.  We sat and watched them for almost 2 hours.  That's a lot of elephants.

Edit:  My blogging software, MarsEdit, is driving me a little batty.  It's screwing with my categories and not posting the pics correctly.  Hmmmm….

Double Drift is a game reserve covering over 57,000 acres located about an hour from Hogsback, SA, just south of Alice, SA. They have rhinos, a few elephants, zebra, giraffe and tons more. We’ve been there once before and had a nice experience, seeing rhino and a bunch of other things. This time we went down on Friday afternoon with Sunette’s parents and two other friends. It was a little slow on the sightings, but we did run across this big guy.

After we made one drive, then headed over to some little cottages inside the park overlooking the Great Fish River. The cottages were great and we had a fantastic braai (grill-out) that night under the stars.

The next morning Sunette and I got up before the dawn to make one more drive, then head to Addo. Of course, being in the bush you’re more than likely to run into a few neighbors. This guy was waiting for me under the suitcase as we were getting ready to leave.

We ushered him out of course and continued on with the drive. As the sun was coming up there were some gorgeous settings for a couple tree shots. I’m trying to get shots of all the different trees that we’ll do a collection of at the house maybe. Here’s a silhouette of a Kiepersol Tree and a Thorn Tree. Those things look mean, and they’re all over the place.

The drive through the reserve that morning was gorgeous. We didn’t see a bunch of animals unfortunately but the Aloes were blooming and made for some nice shots.

We did catch a couple zebra checking us out.

From Double Drift we headed to Addo. Tomorrow I’ll post shots and a description of Addo Elephant Park.