The absent-minded medical student: Souther Africa, The safaris

Zambia:
On our way to the first big safari on the Lower Zambezi River.

This is are chalet, a fancy tent that tourists stay in.

Some are even air-conditioned.

We saw so many elephants. It was all a river safari. One of the coolest things about river safaris are that the animals aren't ever sleeping when you see them, they are playing and eating and otherwise quite active. Look at this cute guy's smile. He is knee-deep in water and picking up grass for grub.

These 2 were wrestling. You can tell how much power they have when they run into each other.

A family of hippos. Hippos kill more people than any other animal. While elephants ignore us, hippos stare at us and then sink under the water which is our signal to get out.

Elephants eat bark, which led us to discover a medicine that relieves GI symptoms.

This was the only elephant that really took notice of us. Not only that, but he seemed really angry. I'm too embarrassed to point it out, but if you look at this picture long enough, you'll notice something else.

They look majestic and move so graceful. A random fact: their ears are filled with blood vessels so they cool off by flapping them out.

I was there. You can see the elephants in the background. These pics aren't off the Net.

You can see hippo with his mouth wide open. It looks so cool!

Sunset on the Zambezi...

Hippos in the dusk sunlight.

The next, the hippos are at it again.

Saying good morning to an elephant.

This is an example of a little village on the side of the river. We ran into fisherman too.

This mother and child were so cute.

Check out this video I took. The baby elephant is too short to reach the river to drink but it tries until it gets to scared. They get on their knees to drink but it is really cute.

Here is one of the fisherman. They basically hollow out logs and there ya go. I believe that most fatalities dealing with hippos and crocs are fisherman using canoes like these.

Johannessburg Lion park:
Here I am playing with the lion cubs. Little did I know that one would become a little too playful and leave me with something to remember him by.

It sure was fun though.

I fed a giraffe. The tongue is so long and bright purple.

This is my Lion King Section. I didn't get a great picture of a meerkat but here is Timon.

One of they hyenas.

I know this is a bit of a stretch, but here is Zazu.

Me hanging out with Mufasa.

Mufasa Mufasa Mufasa!!!!

Simba and Nala wrestling around.

Awwww, Pumba has a family.

Nala decides that I should join in.

Here it is on video:

Wild dogs look sooo crazy. Their fur is all random and they just followed me around. I swear they wanted to eat me and then I asked when they get fed and the answer: "Every three days. This evening is their next feeding."

A cheetah!

Botswana:
This was a water buffalo. It was dead. Why?

Well, these gals were hanging around and might have the answer.

We ran into some road blocks at times.

This was a water monitor. Not including the tail, maybe a little over 3 ft long.

This is one kind of antelope, but not my favorite. That is later.

This isn't the closest I got, but gives you an idea.

I think this guy could have eaten Captain Hook.

Yeah, look at that smile. You know he did.

The African Water Buffalo. Technically, there are only bison and no buffalo in America.

Looks like a bald eagle, I can't remember the name.

Yeah, here he is. My favorite antelope, the Kudu. With the beard and long curvy horns and facepaint, I picture this guy as the wise guardian of the forest, a la Princess Mononoke.