African journal - leopards

Liked the lions?

They were pretty impressive, but in terms of sheer beauty, the lions just couldn't compare to the sleek beauty of the leopard, which we were lucky enough to see in both Duma Tau and Kwetsani.

In Duma Tau we barely got a good shot, as the leopard was hiding out in the bushes and not doing much. In Kwetsani, we were fortunate to espy a mother leopard with her small cub. A very fortunate but sad sighting since the next time we saw her she was without her cub. - The guides thought that she might have lost her cub, a thing that this particular beligerent mother leopard has done many times in the past. Apparently, she has had many pregnancies in past years with multiple cubs and her cubs just never make it past the first year. How sad is that?



We also were able to see this female leopard jumping from one tree to another. I somehow always thought that leopards were able to climb trees by slowly climbing up and down, gripping with their claws. But no, I was completely wrong. They are quite intrepid, jumping up or down in one fluid move. Wish I can post the video of that..... Maybe someday when I have more time.

Our African Journal. Entry #4. Lions everywhere

It's been so long since my real last entry...

I've been extremely busy, not just because of work but also because we have had so many other errands to take care of. Like finally getting a Illinois drivers license and starting the immigration process...

Our African trip is not so fresh in my memory anymore .... But wanted to list some of the amazing things that we saw there if only to help us remember later.

Today, I'll start with the lions. 

1. We had three really amazing encounters with lions. The first encounter took place on our last day in Duma Tau where we came upon pride of ten lions. The two alpha males of the pride were feasting on a warthog while the others looked on. We didn't get to see the kill itself (which I am grateful for but which I think Josh regrets not having been able to see), but the dynamics between the two (alpha) males and the females and young ones vying for a piece of meat was quite memorable. 

Here are 8 of them lying in the shade:

  

And the two males were feeding:

We also got to see the alpha male drinking water, which looked like something from Aesop's fables:

2. Lucky for us, we also had the fortune to come across a fight between two females and a pride of 4 young males the first night in Little Kwara. Our guides told us that that is quite a rare occurrence - males fighting with females. We didn't get to see the ferocious "fight" portion of that quibble, but we were fortunate to come across the whole pride of lions roaring at the same time with the females joining in the roar. The guides told us that the group roar is to show that they are there. It was bar none the most deafening and fear-inspiring sound that I have ever heard in my life.

The pictures from this night did not turn out too well since it was taken in the dark (albeit with some spotlight). But we ran into one of the females the next day. Here she is:

2. The second amazing lion encounter was the very next day with the same pride of young male lions from the fight the night before. 

We didn't spot them at first. In fact, we were initially looking at the scores of giraffes, zebras and impalas grazing on this one vast field. Then all of a sudden all the animals looked in one direction and stood petrified. You could hear all the hearts beat but nothing else. No one was moving even an inch. Not even batting an eyelid. 

When we turned our eyes toward the direction where everyone was looking at we saw the four male lions walking toward us. The lions didn't do anything too special this day, but the reaction of all the animals to the lions was really extraordinary and unexpected. 

You can see the giraffes looking at the lions in this pic:

(Also note the cuts on the lion's leg. It's from a swat from a female the night before)

Here is a pic of all four lions together:

Our African Journal. Entry #4. Poverty? Heat?

One of the most frequent questions that we have gotten about our safari experience (besides the question about what we saw) is what the conditions were like. Were the accommodations okay? Was the weather really hot and dry? Was there a lot of poverty?

To many people in the western world, Africa conjures images of desert, heat, violence and poverty. And yes, there is probably plenty of that in many places in Africa. But Africa is a pretty big continent. And while we saw some of the desert and heat, we did not see the violence and poverty firsthand.  

(Pic from www.solarnavigator.net - Map of the world showing poverty as a % of the population)

Surprising, since so many in the region are poor. But the lack of poverty that we saw is probably due to the fact that we stayed mostly in tourist areas where there is more security and many of the facilities were up to western standards - complete with toilet paper. And I think with the exception of the recent situation in Zimbabwe, the southern countries have very little violence. 

Perhaps if we had gone to rural areas, we might have seen poverty even in Botswana, which I have found is the richest country in Africa with one of the fastest growth rates in per capita income in the world. And thanks to its cattle and diamond industry, along with the booming tourism industry, they are now a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of $16,450 in 2007 (according to Wiki).

Interestingly, we did see the stark differences between the three countries in the limited area we traveled to in the little time that we had there. Homes in Botswana were mostly built of concrete and modern building materials whereas many homes in Zambia and Zimbabwe were built out of sand from termite mounds with grass roofs. Furthermore, what caught my attention was that in Botswana, there were street lights lining the roads.   

But when it comes to accommodations in these countries, the poverty of the rest of the nation kinda doesn't come into the equation. No matter where you are staying, the accommodations are impeccable, when you pay western prices. It brings to mind, the hotels in Southeast Asia where the decor and service are nicer than in developed nations. For instance, the Sheraton in Bangkok was so much nicer than the Sheraton in Frankfurt. Maybe it's tied to the low wage, so that Sheraton Bangkok can employ more people than the Sheraton Frankfurt?  Similar to our experience in Southeast Asia, the decor and service of the places that we stayed at (especially in Botswana) were top notch. The service particularly was the the best bar none. 

Here's a picture of the common area at Kwetsani, our last camp. A couple posts down you can see a picture of our room at Duma Tau. Rustic, but pretty nice, eh?

As for the other question, was it really hot?

We went in the start of what is their winter. The days were pretty dry and hot with temperatures reaching up to 85 degrees or so. But the nights turned pretty chilly, going down to maybe 45 degrees at the coldest. Kinda like desert weather, although it's not completely a desert out there as you can see from the picture of Kwetsani, which is totally flooded. 

Our African Journal. Entry #3. DumaTau - African Wild dogs on arrival

Apparently, I've been writing the name of my favorite camp wrong. 

It's not Duma Tao. It is DumaTau and it means "roar of lions" (or maybe "roll of lions"?), or so we were told. 

We headed out to DumaTau after our short stay at Victoria Falls traveling by car, by boat and finally by plane. Before I get started on my favorite part of the trip, I wanted to share with you, an image of the unpaved runway at the DumaTau airstrip and the little 6-seater Cessna that we took. (After seeing the plane, and trying to fit our luggage in it, the 30 pound luggage restriction actually seemed generous). 

Now for the main attraction...

We arrived at DumaTau in the afternoon just in time for tea and the afternoon game drive. 

Duma Tau is on the northeastern region of Botswana in an area called Linyanti, located just east of the source of the Savuti Channel. It is actually really close to the Namibian border. So close that you occasionally get reception on your cell phone through the Namibian telecom. (So if you can't live without communications with the outside world, this might be the camp for you!!)

It is a beautiful camp situated on a lagoon (see pic below) with 10 luxurious tented rooms. (We thought this was small but this ended up being the biggest camp that we stayed in). The lagoon attracts a fair number of visitors during the dry season when other watering holes dry up, offering great game viewing right in camp. Fortunately for the animals (and unfortunately for us) this year saw enormous amounts of rain. Hence, even in May, there were numerous watering holes around and the grass was really tall and not yet brown and wilted, making game-viewing more difficult but making food and water plentiful for the animals.  

(photo from Wilderness safaris)

The Savuti Channel - just to the west of camp, is renowned for its predators - especially Lions and Hyenas - hence the name, DumaTau. More recently, the area has become well known for its African Wild Dog sightings, which was one of the main reasons we had chosen this camp.

And DumaTau didn't disappoint. We saw wild dogs every day during our three day stay there, starting with our first afternoon drive. 

By the way, African Wild Dogs are an endangered species. There were once about 500,000 African Wild Dogs in 39 countries, and packs of 100 or more were not uncommon. Now there are only about 3,000-5,500 in less than 25 countries. Amazingly, during our three days there we saw two separate packs. One was a 10 dog pack and the other was a 9 dog pack.  We were so lucky that the two dog packs stuck around and we got to see each pack multiple times because the dogs are known to have a very wide territory. Sometimes when they move away to another region, there is no sighting of them in the camp area for weeks. 

And we were lucky enough to see various aspects of their life - hunting, socializing, sleeping, humping (see pic below - "humping" because the youngster was unsuccessful...), chasing away hyenas...

The only thing that we didn't get to see was the actual kill, which I don't mind too much. I don't think I would be able to stomach seeing and hearing an impala (such a beautiful animal which I hear is their favorite meal -pics to be posted in later entry) be eaten alive. 

And they are such successful hunters too - 80% of hunts result in kills, which is much higher than any other predator - a fact further confirmed by the fact that the wild dogs were always followed by numerous scavengers. The pack of dogs that you see was followed by two spotted hyenas and vultures. In fact, our first sighting of the dogs was when we saw a hyena devouring an impala bone which he scavenged from the dogs and the dogs came over and chased the hyena away. Too bad we don't have any good pictures of that! It was amazing to watch but it was after dark and the photos all came out a little too blurry...

Here's a pic of the spotted hyena. Everyone says they are ugly. But I found them to be oddly beautiful...

That's all for now. More to come soon!

Our African Journal. Entry #2. Prelude

They say that Africa is an experience like no other.

And those who have experienced Africa (=the bush) say that it gets in your blood and makes you want to go back, time and time again. 

(photo taken at Duma Tao, a Wilderness camp)

Truer words were never spoken.

To be truthful, before our trip, I had no idea that after the experience in Botswana, I would also have the same sentiments as many before me.  With no doubt, before the trip, I was looking forward having a safari experience. I wanted to see the myriad of animals in their natural habitat, be in the bush with no communication with the outside world. See. Feel. But I was also worried about the conditions (toilet, bath, anyone?) as well as the possible ennui of doing the same thing (looking at animals) for 10 days. And of course, worry over malaria, water...

Of course these worries were for nothing. 

- In preparation of the possible ennui, I took books, work and dvds, and ended up not reading a word of any books (besides the animal reference book), not doing any work. Although we did end up watching a few episodes of Lost Season 1. Overall, the experience is so consuming that the whole time we were there, I think I only thought about all the game-viewing even when we had free time. 

- As for malaria, there were very few mosquitoes as we went in the winter season there when the temperature drops to 50 degrees at night. Additionally, since we were in areas where there were no other people within miles and miles, the risk of malaria was low anyway. Finally, just in case, all the camps had bug repellent in every nook and cranny for our use (our rooms, our cars, the public places etc.)

- Toilet and bath? I really don't know why I worried so much. All the accommodations were incredibly chic. This was one of the first times where the pictures in the brochure did not do justice. In fact, some of the camps were nicer than some of the 4* hotels that we had been to. Add the incredible service to it, the camps were definitely nicer than even the 5* hotels out there. (Where else do you get a hot water-bottle (aka, bushbaby) in bed with turn-down service?) 

(photo taken at Duma Tao, a Wilderness camp - the plush bed with the mosquito netting)

With all these worries addressed, the safari was nothing but a unforgettable, extremely enjoyable experience. 

Next to come. The actual safari experience.

PS. Note to everyone. Wilderness safari is the bomb!!! 

(Kwando safari is pretty good too although not quite as chic and well-run as Wilderness).  

Our African journal. Entry #1. Victoria Falls

We are finally back!

Well actually, we've been back for a few days but it has taken a while to get back into the daily rhythm - time adjustment, taking care of loose ends (mail, email, etc), unpacking, etc.  I think we had two box-loads of mail waiting for us.  Time adjustment has been a particularly difficult thing for me this time after a 40+ hour transit back to the US. The first night, I actually ended up sleeping approximately 15 hours, which totally got me off on the wrong track. Hopefully, I've finally been able to adjust to CST last night. 

It's funny now that we are back, it feels like we have never been gone. But I definitely feel a different person having made the trip to the bush. And I know that all the memories ingrained inside my head will last me a lifetime - the thunderous Victoria Falls, the amazing safari experience in Botswana and the paradise found in the Indian ocean. The highlight of the trip, though, for both Josh and I, is definitely the safari portion in Botswana, not only for the beautiful scenery and wildlife but for the wonderful accommodations and service provided by Wilderness Safaris. We are already talking about making another trip to Botswana in a few years... 

Can't wait to show you all the photos from our journey, especially from Botswana, but today, I wanted to start with the start of our journey and our trip to Vic Falls.

I have to say, unfortunately, that the start of our trip had the makings of "Honeymoon from Hell". You would think that being seasoned travelers, Josh and I would have planned our trip down to the last note - and we did- but we made some mistakes when starting out on our trip - mistakes that turned out to be pretty fatal. The three cardinal rules of traveling are: 1) Take your passport 2) Take your ticket 3) Don't be late. And we forgot to obey two of them. 

Not obeying #3 (due to abnormal amounts of traffic on I-90) resulted in us missing the first flight. We got to the airport in time to check in for the flight but not in time to check our bags, which meant that we would have to carry on everything. So we chucked most of out liquids (including Deet, sunscreen etc). But when going through security, I guess I had forgotten something which meant extra security - extra slow security, so we ended up missing our flight. The one saving grace was that we had originally had an extra long layover in Munich, so that the redirection through Frankfurt to Munich still got us to Munich in time for our flight to Johannesburg (and for us to go to downtown Munich to meet my ex-roommate, Daniela). 

Disaster averted or so we thought until we realized that neither of us had packed the paper tickets for three of the airlines that required paper tickets (pretty much all the flights except for the charters in Botswana). <I mean who uses paper tickets these days?!> We both told ourselves that it probably wasn't a big deal but I think we both knew otherwise because both of us could not sleep on the flight to Frankfurt. And as soon as we got to Frankfurt, we were running around talking to airline reps, calling airlines and calling Josh's mom and our friend Adam, to see if there was a way to fix this problem in any way. I think the only problem solved then was the South African Airways flights which was the immediate issue at point, which we paid extra to make into an e-ticket. (Btw, SAA Business Class rocks!!) 

Despite everything (with additional problem of the airline we were using to fly to Vic Falls going bankrupt a few days before we got to Africa), we make it to the area of Victoria Falls, flying into Victoria Falls Zimbabwe and then crossing the border on foot to Livingstone, Zambia. 

As for Zambia, it was a mixed bag for me. Loved Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River, but hated Livingstone, Zambia. We stayed a little bit outside Livingstone in a place called Natural Mystic Lodge. It is actually a very pretty property, but given how much it cost, I expected so much more. Basically, I think we payed almost $300 for close-to-dump furnishings (including meals). And $40 for a 2 hour boat ride, which ended up being 1 hour during which time we saw one hippo and nothing else. But I think everything on the Zambian side of Vic Falls is basically like this - very very overpriced. A cab ride anywhere is $20-$40, entrees cost $20-$40 and a dump costs $300. And the worst part was the the people thought that this was probably nothing to us and expected us to pay this and more. 

(sunset on the Zambezi)

I think that given what we know now, if we were to go back, we would stay in the Zimbabwean side of Vic Falls. It is beautiful there, more so than the Zambian side. And it is much much more cheaper. Additionally, despite cautions from the US travel advisory and travel agents, there seems to be no violence in Victoria Falls. However, there is so much need for tourist dollars there. People say you shouldn't travel there because money goes into the hands of the dictators, but people are really suffering there and I think that the least that we can do as tourists is not to take the livelihood away from those who make money from tourism.  (I think that one of the things that we both took away from this trip is a political awareness of what is going on in Africa, which I want to learn more about and make people more aware of, but I think that is for another post.)

Returning to the topic at hand, the highlight of our trip to Zambia/Zimbabwe was definitely Vic Falls itself. My expectations weren't that high given that I have been to Niagara Falls at least a dozen times. But the majesty of Vic Falls was impressive and memorable - perhaps because you can get so close to the waterfall. 

Victoria Falls is named Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders) by the locals for a good reason. The spray from the falls typically rises to a height of over 400 metres (1,300 ft), and sometimes even twice as high, and is visible from up to 50 km (30 miles) away. During the flood season, it is impossible to see the foot of the falls and most of its face, and the walks along the cliff opposite it are in a constant shower and shrouded in mist. 

You can see from our photos that we were definitely there during flood season. The mist made for a wonderful experience (getting totally drenched even wearing a poncho) but not so great photos.... I guess we at least get a lot of rainbows in our photos due to the mist. 

 

My continued love affair with Southport Grocery and Cafe

I've mentioned a handful of times already (or maybe just a couple) the vanilla cupcakes at Southport Grocery and Cafe. I think everyone that I know (who likes plain vanilla cupcakes) has proclaimed them the best if not one of the best cupcakes that they have ever had. To quote our florist "I thought my grandmother made the best frosting ever and no one has ever come close. So I was doubtful when someone said this place has the best frosting. But now I stand corrected. Southport Grocery really does have the best buttercream frosting." 

Well, as much as I love cupcakes, one cannot exist on cupcakes alone.... We need real food... like hamburgers. And guess what? Southport Grocery has amazing hamburgers as well. They have fresh thick juicy patties that are molded perfectly with a firm but not too firm hand, seasoned perfectly without much filler. I love their burger buns too, which are not the standard burger buns, with great texture and flavor. And topped with caramelized onions, blue cheese (or Chipotle cheddar), and sour cream. Yum, yum and yum!

We can never have a meal there without ordering one of these burgers and they never fail to satisfy my hunger or my tastebuds. And you know what? They are even tasty as leftovers the next day, as I just found out.

(my photo of my leftover Southport Grocery and Cafe burger - still looks good!)

Southport grocery and cafe
3552 N Southport
Chicago, IL
(773)665-0100

PS. I feel like a walking PR machine for this place. Maybe I should demand some payment in the form of cupcakes?

We're gonna be missing out on a great chance...

to see Croatia. 

Our friends A & V are tying the knot in Dubrovnik, Croatia the last weekend of May. (Just got a beautiful invite yesterday). How amazing would it be to experience a wedding in Croatia (a real Croatian wedding since V is Croatian and her family is there)?  Not to mention seeing the picture-perfect Adriatic scenery? 

Unfortunately, we booked our honeymoon in advance to be in the month of May, and our plans pretty much cannot be changed (since it is really really difficult to coordinate travel stuff in Africa and good safari lodges book up way in advance).... So we'll be missing an experience of a lifetime.

We are so bummed!! We'll have to make a trip there sometime very very soon!

 (pics from National Geographic - photography by Danny Lehman (Rovinj, top), Peter McBride (Hvar, bottom))

Love my new lens

I might annoy you in the next couple weeks because I have a new toy.

And because I become a child again when I have something new. I'll be obsessed with it, playing around with it and showing it off every chance I get. I surprised (=annoyed) my husband last night by bringing out the dSLR and new lens to Shaw's Crab House last night. And I also took it out to take pics of my breakfast this morning....

Nice, huh?  Ha ha ha....

It's not me though. I think it really is the lens. The Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D has received rave reviews from many photo-fanatics. The image quality taken with this lens is quite extraordinary - really sharp, which is quite impressive given that it is one of the cheaper lenses out there. Definitely worth the money. 

PS. The pancake in the photo is made with the recipe with lemons + milk that I mentioned in an earlier post. I had frozen the remainder and defrosted and used this morning. But they were still pretty good!

You know I don't like chain restaurants...

As many of my friends know, I have an aversion to restaurant chains. 

To me, they are impersonal, uninspirational and serve usually mediocre and bland if not over-sauced fare. I mean, let's face it, your chefs and servers in these chain restaurants don't really care about the food and how to improve the restaurant and the food.  If I ever do go into an Appleby's, Chili's, TGI Friday's or anything else out there, it's not of my own accord and I couldn't do anything to prevent it.  I would rather go to an unproved run-down looking local joint any day. 

Which brings me to last night's little surprise... Shaw's Crab house. I know that it's not your run of the mill chain restaurant with locations all over the country with frozen fries coming straight from a box. But they are a huge restaurant institution, with a dining room, oyster bar and a regular bar in two locations, one in the suburbs in Schaumburg and owned by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (which owns 33 restaurants, some really chain-like with multiple locations like Maggiano's and some definitely not chain-like like Everest or Tru). And anytime, the management of a restaurant goes above the duties of managing just one restaurant, I tend to see them more like a chain, as in the case of Shaw's. 

I had been avoiding Shaw's since my arrival in Chicago, preferring to go to smaller places like Davis Street Fishmarket for my fix of oysters (which from my previous posts about oysters you might have guessed are some of my favorite food and I get a craving for it quite often). However, with the limitation of time and distance (due to our 8:15 tickets to Juno at the downtown AMC) and my huge craving for oysters the whole day yesterday, we decided to give Shaw's a try. Another thing that added in our decision was the happy hour oyster special - 1/2 off oysters from 4pm to 6pm. How in the world could I resist that??

Instead of the main dining room, we opted for the oyster bar, of course. It was pretty full, I am guessing due to all the oyster affectionados swooping down like vultures for the oyster happy hour. We had pretty good oysters. They were very fresh but not the best, which might be due more to the type of oysters that we had gotten - Island Creek and Kumamotos. Both tasty but not quite as briny and flavorful as what I had wanted... (I think I was craving the ones we had in Korea... I'll have to find out what varietal it was...) But definitely better than most of the oysters that I have gotten in Chicago.  The king crab legs were absolutely delicious too. Perfectly cooked and seasoned, so I was licking my fingers and sucking on the shells in the end. But what won me over more than the food, was actually the atmosphere - the whole room centering around the huge oyster bar, with a ton of retro charm.  

Did this change my view on chain restaurants? 

Most definitely not. Just made me think that Shaw's is not a chain restaurant. And I can't wait to go back for the next "oyster" happy hour!

PS. How do you like the photos taken with my new Nikkor 50mm f/1.8? Still experimenting, but I likey likey so far!!

Shaw's Crab House (and Oyster Bar)

21 E Hubbard St

Chicago, IL

(312) 527-2722

More Madrid scenes

AG WPJA Q4 contest

That is the Artistic Guild of Wedding Photojournalist Association. 

And every quarter they have a wedding photography contest, which they just announced for Q4.

I got addicted to the sites, AGWPJA and WPJA when I was a bride figuring out our wedding photographer and what pics to take for our wedding. (btw, if you're a bride, I recommend finding a photographer from this site!) Even though our wedding is over, I check in from time to time, because there is usually an array of the most amazing photographs. And I like to check on how our photographers, Paul & Elaine Soong (Just Married Photography) are doing (since they usually place in the contests)....

When I checked today, I saw that Elaine had placed 6 images (there were only 4 categories) and Kenneth had placed 2. One of Elaine's shots had even placed first in the getting ready category. 

Good job guys! You are the best!

(Photography by Elaine Soong from [ag]wpja; 1st place in getting ready category of Q4 contest)  

Lemon, anyone?

Have you heard that lemons that you get at the restaurant or bar contains germs?

A total of 25 germs were found in 53 out of 76 lemons sampled in a study run Dr. Anne LaGrange Loving. Some germs were even fecal in origin! (You can read an article about this on MSN.com)

As much as I love lemon, you betcha that I will only be having lemons wedges or slices in the comforts of my own home. And you?

(Photography by Declan McCullagh)

On a separate note, how pretty is this photo of a lemon slice?

Waiting for the ice cream

I did it. 

I put the pear concoction into the ice cream maker and I am now eagerly awaiting the pear sorbet to become ready for consumption. 

Will it be anywhere close to Berthillon's pear sorbet?

I am hoping it'll taste like Berthillon's and look like this pic by one of my fav food photographers, Tina Rupp.

Am I expecting too much of my 1st frozen creation?? 

(pic by Tina Rupp)

2008 Pirelli calendar

Take a look at Pirelli's 2008 calendar.

(images from Pirelli via Pomegranita.com)

Pirelli is legendary for each year's unique and beautiful photography. But I think that this year's images shot by Patrick Demarchelier, might be my favorite so far.