I took over 600 photos, but I won't subject you to that many! We had an amazing trip. A few highlights: Running in Hyde Park in London with DD10 (Katy) for 4.3 miles. One of those "Happiness is..." moments. We saw a lot of people riding horses! We also took a doubledecker bus tour of the city. Katy loved the telephone booths. We also found a group of Texes exes who were watching the Texas-Kansas football game at a BBQ place across from the Tower of London (my dad can't miss a Longhorn game!). Driving around Kruger National Park in South Africa for 4 days. We'd get up and be driving by 5 am. My dad's friend, Deon, is an assistant prof who organizes safaris for clients in his spare time. We drove around in his little SUV, so Katy could snuggle up in the back with her blanket, and stuffed animals. She also did her homework back there! When we saw an animal, we'd shout, "Giraffe, Katy!" and she'd poke her head up. We saw a total of 18 lions, which Deon said was a record for him out of 27 years of trips. We also saw many elephants - a big herd would be coming towards the road, and we'd back up to let them cross, because they certainly weren't going to stop for us! We saw baboon families, a brand new zebra trying to nurse from his mom (who wasn't happy with the idea!), warthogs getting down on their front knees to eat (so their snouts would reach the ground), hyenas, jackels, impalas, waterbucks, ostriches, eagles, many other birds, African buffalo, hippos, etc.! One thing that's the most fun is that it's like a treasure hunt. You can drive around for a couple of hours and see nothing other than impalas and a few stray zebras, and then turn a corner and come across zebras, giraffes, lions, baboons, elephants, and hippos all within a few minutes! We heard a male lion growling, and then saw a lioness walk directly across the road in front of us, as she walked in his direction. We stopped to watch a whole family of lions just yards off the road, and then heard an impala close by SNORTING (Deon had to tell us what the sound was). He was warning his friends about the lions! Then he got up the nerve to run away, just behind our vehicle. You have to have sharp eyes. Deon could see lots of animals I would never see. Other people would flash their lights at us, and then stop us to tell us about the lion pride or herd of hippos they'd just seen, and even give us detailed directions for finding them! That's how we discovered a huge PILE of 13 hippos next to a river. It's very rare to see them out of the water during the day, but it was cool enough I guess they decided to venture out. You are NOT allowed to get out of your vehicle, except in a few places (I wonder how they know those roadside spots are safe?). We saw one stupid tourist OUT of his car on a bridge, videotaping a bird! A good way to get attacked by a leopard. Oh, we never saw any leopards or cheetas, our one disappointment. I was hoping to run in Kruger. We stayed in a couple of different fenced-in camps at night. They were good-sized, but they don't want you to run on the camp paths, unfortunately. Oh, well! We spent two days in Johannesburg. Deon had to tell Mom to roll up her window and not take pictures there, because bad guys will snatch your camera there! We had dinner at a fancy new casino there - the most expensive item on the menu was the equivalent of $13! The exchange rate was 10 rands to the dollar, so it was easy to calculate costs. I had ostrich meat at the casiono - ymm! It cost $8.80! Then we flew to Cape Town, which is close to the southern tip of Africa. I got brave and took a taxi down to the waterfront, and went for a 10-mile run on a path RIGHT next to the water. I checked online ahead of time, and local runners assured me this area is safe. There were SO many runners. I talked to one young woman from Cape Town - very friendly, as were almost all the people we met. No offense, but much friendlier than New Englanders, lol. Other shots around Cape Town: We visited Boulders Beach in Simons Town to see an African penguin colony. In one area, they would let you swim with the penguins, and Katy loved that! My mom said that is one of her top 10 travel experiences of all time, and she has been all over the world. Our other favorite was taking a gondola up to the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town. I'm sorry, but there aren't any words to describe the view from up there! Breathtaking, unbelievable, spectacular - nope, they don't do it justice. There were a couple of young women about to go down over the edge of a cliff that I took pictures of. They looked nervous! At the Cape of Good Hope, we rounded a curve and saw an entire family of ostriches right next to the ocean! Mom, Dad, and 8 babies. On our last day, our tour guide, Peter (the same man who took me for my run), took us to one more beach to get some farewell shots. Here is one. I have left out so many things (like touring the hilly wine country), but this will give you a taste. I cannot emphasize enough what a beautiful country South Africa is. This was my second trip, and I want to go back again. My parents have been six times! If you want to save up for a vacation of a life time, this is the place to go.

What a great trip that must have been, and what magnificent photos you shot! I noticed that the only shot in which Katy didn't have a big grin was the one when she was sleeping (with her lion...). Thanks for sharing! Jay

What a treat to see this thread and get to view all those beautiful photos! THANKS!!!!

Absolutely stunning! And that picture of Katy with the penguins is priceless!

Wow. Great pics. Thanks for sharing them. I can see why you want to go back.

Wow, thanks for posting the pictures and narrative. Beautiful. I loved the idea of swimming with penguins. I can see now why you were in a funk after returning to the US.

Amazing trip and wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing. Sad to see the current political turmoil in SA.

WOW is right...thank you so much for sharing this with all of us. Sounds like a trip of a lifetime! Tim