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| Where in the World Were these Photos Taken? 
Well, if you answered Tuscany I am afraid that you are wrong. All of these photos were taken in South Africa during our recent trip in May. The two wineries above are (L) Vergelegen and (R) Waterford. They are located in the Winelands just 30 minutes east of Cape Town. The photo below is the Cape of Good Hope, the southwestern most point in Africa.  Of course, this huge bull elephant is a dead giveaway. The photo was taken in Kruger National Park...also in South Africa. This country is such a magical place. I will feature it again soon on my site www.CrazyAboutTravel.com Be watching!
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| Denver Zoo - Destination ReportWe are in Colorado visiting our daughter and her Colorado family. We are having so much fun with Savannah, our 7 month old granddaughter (Gosh, how time has flown!). 
Yesterday, we took Savannah, Heather and Chris and friends Jen and Brandon from Breckenridge to the Denver Zoo. Savannah's eyes were wide open at the sight of giraffes, lions and of course the primates...huge silver backed gorillas and orangutans. We had not been to the Denver Zoo in a number of years, but we spent almost 5 hours there yesterday. I took more than 400 pictures which really says something for the zoo after having just spent 2 weeks in May in South Africa with their fabulous wildlife. The zoo is convenient to I-70 on the east side of Denver. It is huge, well maintained and can handle huge crowds of people. Yesterday, all of their parking lots were full. Many families were there with their children and babies in strollers yet there was plenty of room to move about and patiently take photos. Most exhibits are wide open for photography without a lot of fencing which makes for difficult pictures.
New at the Denver Zoo are two baby giraffes, born just about three months ago. Also, I loved the mountain goat and Dall Sheep mountain. Yes, the zoo built a granite type of mountain that greatly resembles the rocky outcroppings where the goats and sheep congregate on Mount Evans which is just about 30 miles west of Denver.
The zoo is quite clean. Food is available on the premises. Admission for adults is a nominal $12. Children under 2 are free. I highly recommend a visit to the Denver Zoo.
My travel photos are always available at www.CrazyAboutTravel.com
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| More South Africa Photos to ShareHere are a few new photos selected from our South Africa trip that I would like to share with you this morning. 
The penguins at Boulders Beach were a big hit with everybody on this trip. The scenery here along the Ocean is spectacular in addition to the penguins which are certainly the stars of the show! 
This is the Waterford Winery which resembles an estate in Tuscany. We enjoyed sampling wine here to a roaring fire with a pair of Rhodesian Ridgebacks (dogs) also snuggling up next to the burning embers. What a great experience. This was Lynn's favorite winery.  
Finally, some big game. The bull elephants in Hluhluwe National Park were immense. The guides there called a group of them "The Magnificent Seven." Impalas here and in Kruger National Park number well into the hundreds of thousands. After a while seeing them reminds us of the hundreds of squirrels that live in our oak trees. Impalas are everywhere. 
Zulu kids. So cute. These kids live at Damara Zululand in the Kingdom of Swaziland. 
The indigenous people of this part of Africa typically live in houses similar to those on the right. They are called rondavels and are constructed of many different types of native materials. More later. My South Africa feature will be published eventually at www.CrazyAboutTravel.com | | |
| South Africa - A few photosI am just beginning the editing process on my photos from our just completed South Africa-Swaziland trip for my site www.CrazyAboutTravel.com I thought that I would share a few with you here on my blog as I am reviewing the pictures.  This is the Victoria & Albert Waterfront in Capetown. It is a spectacular place where both locals and travelers gather for shopping and great restaurants. It is the place to catch the boat to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. Many South African adventures begin here. This spot also offers wonderful panoramic views of Table Mountain.
  This is Cape Point and the famous Cape of Good Hope. The lighthouse sits on a promontory high over the cape. It has not been in operation since 1919, but is a great spot to take photos. The Cape of Good Hope is the farthest southwestern point in Africa.
 The eland is the largest member of the antelope family. This one is roaming wild in Table Mountain National Park. Cape Point is also located in this area.
 We saw many penguin chicks like this one at Boulder's Beach which is near Cape Town.
 One day of our visit to South Africa was spent tasting the wine of the Winelands which includes Stellenbosch, Franschoek and Parl. The photo on the left was taken at one of the Cape Dutch buildings of the Velelegen Winery. Our wine expert guide was Keith D'Arvall who I highly recommend.
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| Home After Long Flight From AfricaWe finally arrived home late yesterday afternoon after a marathon 36 hours traveling from Johannesburg, South Africa. This is one L O N G flight. We left Jo'burg (Now they are starting to call it "Josie") on South African Airways at 7:05 PM on Sunday night. The first leg of the flight is 8 1/2 hours to Dakar, Senegal. That's right...1/2 of the trip to New York travels almost 5,000 miles up the west coast of Africa. We stopped for a one hour re-fueling stop in Dakar which included one of their rather unusual security checks. This was the 4th time that we have made one of these stops on our South Africa trips. Everytime it is done differently. This time we were asked to remove all of our bags from the overhead compartments while the "Securete" crew searched there. We were told that any bags left in the overhead would be removed! The security folks also did a thorough pat down of all of the seats. Who knows what they might have been looking for! There were lots of "Securete" people. I think that this is one of the ways that the Senegal government must be providing jobs to their citizens. Finally, we were off for the final 7+ hour leg to New York and Immigration. We arrived in New York on time at 7:10 AM EST. All went well there. Friendly folks at US Immigration, JFK. We were through Immigration in minutes. Then a five hour wait for our non-stop Delta flight to Tampa. Arrived at TPA at 4:30 PM. I was almost falling asleep at dinner. In bed by 8:30 PM. Happy to be back in Florida looking forward to reviewing all of my photos from the Dark Continent. Many new photos will follow on my website www.CrazyAboutTravel.com | | |
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