Our hosts, Barry and Helen Collier took us first to a privately funded cheetah breeding station where we climbed into a special Land Rover for a Night Ride. Our vehicle meandered slowly through this private wild life sanctuary and the guide and spotter pointed out kudu (really large stripy taupe antelope with curly horns and large soft ears), a small herd of cape buffalo, warthogs, zebra and impala, and then lion with a kill.

Later that morning we drove into the Kruger National Park. I thought we would be viewing the animals over a distance. Barry brought binoculars for each of us and a zoom lens camera, but we didn’t need them. What is most striking is the incredible diversity of animals and birds that live in this area. Here there are kudu, steenbok (only two feet high!), dik dik (even smaller), impala, nyala....and those are only the ones we actually saw! Then there’s zebra and the incomparable giraffe, warthogs, hyenas, baboons (one sat on our windshield!), huge herds of buffalo, monkeys, elephants, hippos, crocodiles.

And birds! The place is full of birds! The bird-finder guide listed more than 350 kinds of birds: the weaver birds that construct fantastic woven nests, the brilliant lilac breasted roller, the magnificent martial eagle, the odd-looking ground hornbill, agile bee-eaters and loud-mouthed purple crested louries, mousebirds with fluffy breasts that looked like mouse fur, and the kori bustard as big as the neighbor’s golden retriever--only on two legs.

We left South Africa, returning home via Perth, Australia, to visit more sawmills (and also Clark’s sister Jalayne). Jalayne drove us south of Perth to Manjimup to the Karri forests. We drove along the Indian ocean and then cut inland through rolling fruit orchards alive with springtime blossoms.

Clark & Janis Williams