South African Adventure -- Very Long with LOTS of Pics!!

[JLC]

Alright, here we go!

For those that don't know, I recently went on a 17 day trip to South Africa with Brian Barczyk to help in the filming of his new documentary. I've got literally thousands of personal photos from that trip, not to mention dozens of others taken by professional photographers that were with us. All the pictures here are my own, and taken by me (unless I'm the one in the picture, and then my camera was used by someone else in the group). It was really hard to choose out just a few, so I ended up with a lot...but still just a fraction of the ones that are my "favorites".

This collection is a sampling of my favorite photos and memories from the trip, shown in the order that we encountered them. I'll offer a few words to describe the pics, but the really good stories can be found at WildBrian.com, along with information on the upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray if you're interested in knowing more about that. Check it out!!!

So...on to some pictures! Grab your favorite beverage and get comfortable...

Black mamba that stars in one of our stories



A beautiful puff adder



Me hooking the puff adder



A wild baboon taking advantage of a swimming pool



Wild vervet monkey



Some elephant love!



I really can't get enough of these guys...



Friendly little meerkat named Trouble



Brian doing an interview with elephants in the bush



Absolutely devastating scene of a recent rhino poaching



Right after seeing the poached rhino, we encountered the heart-warming sight of this mother and her newborn calf



A friendly and silly otter named Moses



Brian with a hyena...this picture is in serious need of a Caption!



Me with the hyena...silly thing loves to lick ears!



Leopard face



A honey badger named Honey



A cheetah named Ntombi



Hippo yawn



Hippo butts



Young rhinos



Oops!



Brian and Peter Birch being silly with a camera



I'm honestly not sure how Brian gets into these situations...this is a mongoose



Rhinos started stalking Brian and our guide, Rich, while they were trying to sneak up on the rhinos



Zebras



Cape Buffalo (believe it or not, these were among the scariest animals we encountered)



Aaron with cheetah named Floppy (aka Flops)



Brian with Flops and his brother, Hunter



Newborn giraffe...still shaky on her legs and her umbilical cord still showing (Mom was close by!)



Flops and Hunter capture and kill an impala



Hunter



Brian goes fishing for Nile crocodiles



Wild vine snake (aka twig snake) Aaron spotted...these guys are far more dangerous than their cousins that are common in the pet trade



Brian catches a BIG ONE!



Getting him under control



It is really hard to capture and express the raw emotion of that moment...



I was there...



Big teeth!! (This is when they were working the ropes and tape off of his head...the most dangerous part of the whole event)



Local life along the Pongola River



Nile monitor seen on the Pongola River



Tribal dance by the Mathenjwa people



Gorgeous tree called a Fever Tree...along the Usuthu River



The filming team on a cliff overlooking the Usuthu Gorge



Brian looking out over South Africa, with Mozambique just across the river



We followed a trio of young lions as they honed their hunting skills by harassing a herd of Cape buffalo







Tons of antelope (mostly nyala) at a popular watering hole on the Tembe Game Reserve



When the zebra showed up at the watering hole, the antelope scattered and stayed away until the zebra had left



But when the "Big Tusker" elephants showed up, the antelope just ignored them except to avoid being stepped on



All told, while we watched, seven enormous male elephants congregated around the water, sometimes pushing and shoving at each other











Last day of filming, we played with a wild African rock python (just a baby!)







Brian stares off into the sunset...



The back of our 4x4 tells the story...



Farewell, Africa...I'll be back!!!



WildBrian.com