Gratitude Monday - Bend and Stretch Edition

I am grateful I was able to get this pic.
I am sure the giraffe was equally grateful to have found something green to eat as Africa is in the fifth year of a drought.

Please click to enlarge.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Just Another Day

A slice of daily life in South Africa

Gratitude Monday - Warthog Dreams Edition

The warthog in repose

I got to pet a warthog at the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary in Swaziland.
Each night four warthogs came to the campfire at the sanctuary and bedded down for the night. They were so used to humans they could be petted.
I did.
It was a dream come true, and for it I am grateful.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Family

Baby elephant and mama in Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Please click to enlarge.

Gratitude Monday --My First Rhinos Edition

The first rhinos we spotted on our game drive was this pair, mother and baby white rhinos foraging for breakfast in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve. The bird on the young rhino's back is an oxpecker.
They were peacefully grazing as we went by.
It was a magnificent moment. One of many.
For it and all the others I am grateful.

Gratitude Monday -- Out Of Africa Edition

We arrived home late yesterday afternoon from South Africa.
I am grateful to have taken such a magnificent trip. I am grateful all went well, that my fellow travelers on the tour all got along and were so enthusiastic that every one of them signed up for all the optional excursions.
This is our seventh tour through Explore. This is the first time everybody went all in on everything, and that's something to be grateful for.
Good people, a top tour company that hires the best local guides, and a great deal of good fortune in seeing all that we saw.
I'll write more about that later when I've got the pictures ready, but for now we were there and we are home and I am grateful for every minute of it.