Where have I been??

Hi everyone!!

So nice to be back after a break of more than 2 weeks!  Some of you may have wondered why I have not done any posts and have not left comments on your blogs.  Well, we have spent a lovely week at the Karoo National Park during the school spring break, with family from Windhoek and Cape Town.  We had a lovely time and I would like to share a few photo's with you of the week.


This is the entrance to the park:

 


 

 

On the first morning we went on a guided hike up to the top of a hill overlooking the camp site.  The guide has to be armed as there are lions in the park. 

 

 

 

This is the view from the top of the hill:

 

 

 

 

My sons and their cousin (in the middle) enjoying the view.

 

 

 

 

Some of the sightings of the wonderful wildlife in the park:

 

Here a Klipspringer is enjoying breakfast:



 

 

My children love to look underneath rocks to see what is hiding there.  A lovely big scorpion!

 

 

Some of the lovely rockformations:

 

A beautiful Steenbuck:

 

 

We were so lucky to spot a black rhino.  The rhino is the prime sighting in the park.

 

 

Porcupine are nocturnal animals, but we were lucky enough to spot one in the middle of the day!!

 

 

An Oryx:

 

 

A Secretary bird:

A Red Hartebeest:

 

 

Some Zebra:

 

 

 

A male Kudu with very impressive horns:

 

 

A few Eland:



 

 

A Grey Rhebuck:

 

 

and finally some female Kuku:

 







This is just a small portion of what we have seen during the week.  Unfortunatally we did not see the lion.  They have introduced 7 lion into the park in 2010 and at the moment there are 11 lions. 
The Karoo is a very dry area in South Africa and when one starts to study the vegetation you discover once again how wonderful nature is. 

Our family loves nature and studies all it has to offer.  My kids enjoy everything from the smallest insects and plants to the largest of the mammals and they are keen birders.  We have really enjoyed this week - our next stop will be the Addo Elephant Park in April of next year. 

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you enjoyed the visit to the Karoo National Park.  I have a lot more I would love to share, but I will leave you with the above - I could carry on for hours!!

I've got a lot of catching up to do in the line of blogposts I've missed out on since we left, and I can't wait to see what you all have created while I was away!!

Have a lovely day and happy crafting!! 

Kind regards
Petra