My Wildest Dreams

The link below will convey your browser to the YouTube video that is a QuickTime export of the multimedia Keynote slideshow I unleashed on my relatives during the holidays. Sight, sound, and motion, but without a soundtrack, so it's not a proper "entertainment" video. When I show it, I provide bits of narration where helpful.

Titling the preso, "My Wildest Dreams" plays on the fact that this may well be the most complex and robustly adventurous trip I ever embark on, and the fact that the malaria prophylaxis, Malarone, induces "vivid dreams" in some users. It certainly did for me. Never "vividly good", of course.

My Wildest Dreams: Dean’s African Adventure 2014
June 13 - July 11

1. Machaba Camp, Botswana ·  June 16-20
Outdoor Photography Safaris

2. Kalahari Plains Camp, Botswana ·  June 20-23
Wilderness Safaris

3. Chobe Pangolin Photo Safari, Botswana ·  June 28-July 2
Outdoor Photography Safaris

4. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe ·  July 2-4

5. Elephant Plains, South Africa ·  July 5-9
Outdoor Photography Safaris

Africa 2014 [Remastered 2026]

2014 06 Africa - Gold***

2014 06 Africa - Silver**

2014 06 Africa - Bronze*

2014 06 Africa - iPhone

Elephant Plains Day 5: Sleepy Lions, Marking Leopard, and a Posing Roller

My last day in the bush.

We began with a sleepy pride of lions (mostly lionesses and cubs) just beginning to stir. The males had been roaring quite a bit the previous night, near the camp. If I hadn't mentioned it before, there's nothing quite like the roar of a male lion piercing the silence of a camp in the bush in the black of night.

Then we followed Salayexe (female leopard) as she walked her territory and marked a stand of bushes.

On our way back to the lodge, we stopped for a Lilac-breasted Roller who was posing nicely for portraits.

ODP Blog - Elephant Plains: Wild Dogs Successful Hunt

Elephant Plains Day 5

Elephant Plains Day 4: An African Wild Puppy Pile

Our first sighting today was of a pride of lions feasting on a freshly killed baby giraffe. We learned that the facial scaring seen on older lions is the result not of fierce battles with enemies. Rather, it's the consequence of dinner table territorial disputes. If two lions are munching away on some tasty baby giraffe ribs and get too close to one another, the claws come out and some swatting is done to establish feeding domains.

We made our way, rightly or wrongly, to an African Wild Dog nursery. Puppies were piled into a tight formation, doing their best to sleep. But a few remained on full alert.

At our sundowner, no one (other than me) had any interest in this scene.



Thankfully, I'm not a slave to small-group social dynamics.

ODP Blog - Elephant Plains: Two Prides of Lions, One Kill, – and 10 Hyenas

Elephant Plains Day 4

Elephant Plains Day 3: Leopards and the Last of My Big Five

The early morning drive was a fairly complete bust. Lots of driving. No seeing. It was cold and overcast. But then we came upon a clan of hyenas. That led us to a female leopard (Salayexe) wobbling in a tree with a freshly killed impala. It was too much cat and not enough tree, but she wasn't going to let those pesky hyenas feast on her meal.

Then we got a call to return to the Big Dam, where we came upon two well-fed males who seemed to be occupying the same space. Each one seemed agitated, but neither was in the mood for a fight.

Before we embarked on the afternoon drive, our ODP leader, Brendon, asked the assembly of photogs if all was well with our cameras and gear. For the first time all safari long, I raised my voice with a concern. "I have a problem with my camera. It doesn't seem to have a photo of a rhinoceros. I checked it out quite thoroughly. Is there a way you can fix that?"

Not long into the afternoon drive—as if on cue—a rhino crossed our path. I watched it for a while, thinking "How did you escape extinction when your fellow dinosaurs died out?" It really seemed to be in the wrong geologic epoch. But I got my rhino; my Big Five was now complete!

We ended the day with some more spotlit lions before returning to Salayexe just as she finally descended from that wobbly tree.

ODP Blog - Elephant Plains: Dominant Male Leopards Confrontation

Elephant Plains Day 3

Elephant Plains Day 2: Leopards and backlit lions

Here's my room at Elephant Plains. A "roundel". The roof is authentic thatch, inside and out.



At night, we found lions. Eventually, a family gathered to drink from a shallow pool. Later, we arranged our two trucks to share backlighting duties. One truck's ranger would light a lion while photogs across the way in the other truck would shoot away, then the duties would be traded.

ODP Blog - Elephant Plains: An Amorous Young Lion gets a Swat for his Interest

Elephant Plains Day 1: African Wild Dogs

The small airports at Maun, Kasane, and Victoria Falls were either newly expanded or had construction ongoing. Even in the depths of the dry season (Winter), they all seemed quite busy.

After many small planes and large passenger prop planes, the British Airways 737 from VFA to JNB felt futuristic. Not at all how they feel from SMF to LAX on Southwest. Context!

It was a Beech 1900 the next day. This was a Fed Air shuttle service, meaning you might land and take off a few times along the way as passengers were dropped off hither and yon. From what seemed like a satellite air field adjacent to the sprawling OR Tambo, we headed to Ulusaba, where I changed planes to (once again) a small Cessna.

Upon arrival at the nicely appointed Elephant Plains, we had 20 minutes to settle in before our afternoon game drive was to commence.



The prize of the evening was a pack of African Wild Dogs (or African Painted Wolves). They do not bark or howl so much as yip.

ODP Blog - Elephant Plains: Wild Dogs vs Hyena for a Kill

Elephant Plains Day 1

 

A Stop at Sandton

I was happy to have a few days back in civilization, with unlimited "free" wifi. Accessing the Radisson Blu Gautrain is quirky, though the process was the same for City Lodge at OR Tambo. You take an elevator from street-level to hotel registration, then a different set of elevators takes you to your room.

The registration/lobby area was heavily perfumed with a masculine cologne fragrance. I have to presume that this was to counter the permeating odor of motor vehicle exhaust. Johannesburg is a big city, Sandon is a bustling region within that city, and South Africa doesn't regulate tailpipe emissions the way we do in California. And it shows smells.

The workout room (again, open 24 hours) was useful.



And it afforded a nice view of the local, modern architecture. That's the train station at center-right.



A window between the bedroom and bathroom made me think this design esthetic was a Johannesburg mainstay.

The strangest element of the bathroom was its completely open design. Water from the shower is free to splash into the bathtub and onto the floor near the sink and the toilet. (Enjoy the distortion of a close-quarter, vertical iPhone pano.)

I admit I don't get out as much as some do, but I had never seen a design like this.

When getting out of the hotel, it was usually to go to the huge nearby mall, Sandton City.

But I did get my requisite shot of the giant statue of Nelson Mandela at Mandela Square, a tighter, more boutique-y mall connected to the larger megamall that is Sandton City.



While in Sandton, I made my quadrennial sacrifice to soccer by sitting through the USA's defeat at the hands of Germany in the World Cup. Now I'm good until 2018.

Twenty four hours to Africa

Getting to Africa required only two flights. Sacramento (SMF) to New York (JFK) and New York to Johannesburg (JNB).

The JetBlue SMF to JFK flight was scheduled to depart Sacramento at 11:53pm on Friday the 13th. Don't worry, since the date was 6/13 and 13 - 6 = 7, the bad luck usually associated with Friday the 13th was undone by the 7 (!). Before my friends, the Meyers, came to drive me to the airport, the flight was delayed an hour—into the 14th.

I was proud of myself for figuring out how to turn off the boob tube LCD in front of me for this overnight flight.



The delay out of SMF shrunk my layover at JFK into near nothingness. The logistics of going from domestic flights to international flights at JFK (or perhaps going from any terminal to another) necessitated going through security again.

The South African Airways flight from JFK to JNB was a 15-hour trans-Atlantic, trans-equatorial affair. And a 15-hour flight is a 15-hour flight; there's nothing you can really do about 15 hours. I guess some folks go with an Ambien, but sleeping pills aren't really my style. I'd need to begin my month+ regimen of the antimalarial, Malarone, soon enough.

You chat with your neighbor (I always opt for window seats), eat a few meals, drink a few drinks, employ your iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro (with DVDs), and sleep. Still though, 15 hours is 15 hours.

When I arrived at Johannesburg's OR Tambo, it was Sunday morning. Passport control and luggage collection were no problem. Customs? You's have to seek it out if you were so inclined. I left for Africa on Friday night. Saturday was sacrificed to The Travel Gods.

I was happy to check into City Lodge at OR Tambo. To my surprise and delight, they had a room ready for me. No ground transportation required, and not cripplingly overpriced (like the InterContinental). I walked my luggage to this airport hotel (it's a good, long walk), checked in, and eventually got my nap on.

My room at City Lodge. Not big, but it didn't need to be. Interesting "window" between the bedroom and the bathroom which includes a privacy curtain that can be lowered.



A quick pano of the lobby/restaurant at City Lodge.



The lightly used City Lodge workout room, open 24 hours! I was happy to drip some sweat after sitting for 24 hours.