This is part 2 of our South Africa Vacation. If you haven't read part 1 yet, Klikk here: PART 1

One morning on the game drive, one of us in the far back of the car shouted "Elephant". Adam stopped the car, and there he was. This was the first time we saw an elephant in the wild. As he got closer his size was enormous. Suddenly another one of us shouted: "another one". Adam told us that than one in the back was actually chasing the one in the front out of his territory. Earlier, and the day before we had been driving through places where it seemed like a war zone. Trees were cut down from the middle, branches all over the place. And Adam told us that this was either elephant fight, or when young elephants come to puberty, they are full of testosterone, and some time they get moody and just destroy things.

Now when i say chasing, they weren't running. They were walking in a fast pace.

Nikon D800      ISO 100     Sigma 50-500mm    f/8,0      1/80 sec — Nikon D800 ISO 100 Sigma 50-500mm f/8,0 1/80 sec

Nikon D800     ISO 100     Nikon 80-400mm     f/5,6      1/80 sec — Nikon D800 ISO 100 Nikon 80-400mm f/5,6 1/80 sec

Every one held their breath as they went passing us by. It's amazing how they do not see us as a threat as long as every one is in the vehicle. But I must admit, my heart was pounding fast as they passed us. There are of course warning signs to be aware of. And Adam our Ranger knows of course every sign, so we felt safe. But still, I have heard about attacks before. Just take a look at the youtube clip I saw some time ago.

The winner of the fight, chasing the first one was now in front of us. I used my Nikon 80-400mm lens a lot and I was so surprised by the quality of the images. Fantastic lens to have on safari.

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The river came to life...Spectacular moment

It had been raining during the night. From the time we came to Leopard Mountain Lodge, the big river was dried up - nothing but red sand. Suddenly in the mid afternoon we were witness to a spectacular moment...... The river came to life. I ran to the my lodge and grabbed my camera to document this. Truly a surreal moment - to see a river come to life.

NIKON D800   ISO 100      F/11    1/125 SEC — NIKON D800 ISO 100 F/11 1/125 SEC

Bayete Zulu Game Reserve

One midday during our stay at Leopard Mountain Lodge, we were picked up and driven to Bayete Zulu Game Reserve. If you're going to South Africa, a trip here is mostly recommended. Here you learn about elephants and actually interact with them. Feeding them, touching them and so on. It was a magical interaction. We met the family of 3 elephants. Rambo (the male), Rachel ( the female) and their baby. Beside touching them and learning a lot about them, the most interesting fact I learned is that their keepers (handlers) are considered by the elephants to be their herd. So they can actually walk beside the elephants through the jungle and pass lions, without them attacking. They will defend the handler as their own. Safest place to be:)

He drinks 10 liters of water in 2-3 seconds

Nikon D800  ISO 100  24mm  f/6,3  1/250sec — Nikon D800 ISO 100 24mm f/6,3 1/250sec

Our driver recommended us to buy a book written by "Lawrence Anthony" called " THE ELEPHANT WHISPERER " and I picked up this book later in Durban bookstore and I just could`t stop reading. I highly recommend this book and another one called " THE LAST RHINOS " also written by him.

I had to buy this one also.  Buy it! All I can say:) — I had to buy this one also. Buy it! All I can say:)

Rambo is throwing dirt in the air to show off:)

The waterhole

The gateway it self was so beautify built

Enjoying a glass of wine or cold beer as we wait for the animals to arrive. This is life...

During our time at the Leopard Mountain Lodge, it rained a couple of hours at night. So the rain filled the river (see further up). So all we did see here was turtles.

But drinking fantastic South African wine and relaxing was great. So we didn't mind not seeing any animals:)

We only saw some monkeys far away in the trees and these turtles:)

And finally the great Lions

Nikon D800   ISO 800   370mm    f/5,6    1/80 sec    These lazy guys are brothers — Nikon D800 ISO 800 370mm f/5,6 1/80 sec These lazy guys are brothers

One of our last evenings during our game drive, our ranger Adam found the lions. We were so excited to see them. There they were, lying careless, fearless and just relaxing. You`ll soon see why they are the kings of the jungle when you see how fearless they are. It seemed they weren't paying any attention to the surroundings. But then again, who would dare to come their way? We managed to get pretty close. I was happy I had my Nikon 80-400mm with me. It truly is a great lens and as you can see there is hardly any noise even though the Iso is up to 800. The sun was almost gone. But there were still some light.

I can not explain the feeling you get when a Liion walks towards you...You see the muscles, the power..it is amazing

Female lions and their cubs

The next day lady luck was on our side again. And Adam spotted 2 female lions and their cubs. I really can not understand how he always spotted animals that the 8 of us couldn't see. I guess thats why he is a ranger:) I have a picture taken with my iPhone! Poor quality but it gives an idea of how far these lions were when he spotted them. See if you can see them. Because I certainly can't.

Can you see the lions???   taken with my iPhone — Can you see the lions??? taken with my iPhone

I had my Nikon 80-400mm and my "Bigma" Sigma 50-500 mm. All the pictures are taken with these 2 lenses at the exact same spot you see the vehicle is in the picture above. I get some questions about which Gear I use and so on, so I am gonna write about that sometime soon.

Suddenly a male came along. It was the third brother who now had a family.

When the male came, I was a bit worried about the cubs. But these guys were family. He started sniffing the female and suddenly:

He wanted to mate. But the massage from the female was loud and clear. Hell NO!

He made a perfect pose for me..Perfect ending to a perfect day. Our last night at the leopard Mountain Lodge

On our last morning drive - before checking out, we got lucky again and spotted the 2 female lions and their 2 cubs.

Our last morning at the Leopard Mountain Lodge

we learned that animals often use the roads to get around

We spotted these guys in the night when it was pitch black

This buffalo asked my nicely for a portrait

Pictures above:

The same night we saw the lions, on our way back to the lodge, we came across these little brothers. It was pitch black and we could hardly see each other , but by using ISO 4000, I still think the results came out not so bad.

The bird eats ticks from the skin. The beauty of mother nature.

Our camera's were happy to get a little rest...

Love his profile

These are the accrual colors without any adjustments. Simply breath taking.

These Warthogs often came near the lodge to bade in mud

I got to close and he actually charged at me

Sunrize from my lodge. It feels truly like I was in a fairytale

I just love this picture. Such beautiful animals

Sunset really makes the colors beautiful and vivid

This guy suddenly stopped and looked right at me...perfect shot

Adam mixing champagne with juice..South African style

Our surprise was brought here early in the morning

On the last morning game drive, Adam told us there was a special place on top of a hill he wanted to show us. When we finally got there, there was a table there waiting for us with champagne and fruit. Every one of us were deeply touched by this young rangers gesture. And the view from the hill - breath taking. We still talk about Adam and how a person can grow so quickly in our hearts by simply just being Adam. This was our final moment in Leopard Mountain Lodge. And he made our journey complete and all our dreams come true. Our deepest thanks to him.

The view in panorama taken with my Nikon D800

Finally a picture of me from the same hill. If this place isn't heaven, then I don't know where heaven is...

Durban - our final destination

After the driver had picked us up from Leopard Mountain Lodge, it was a 3 hours drive to our final destination, Umhlanga. For a stop-over, we were recommended Ilala Weavers in Hluhluwe. Check out their website. Fantastic Zulu basket weaving craft village, cultural museum and the famous Fig tree Restaurant and shop.

Umhlanga

I wanted to buy one of these. But they were to large

I bought one anyway. And had to buy a bigger suitcase and saw it in half and glued it back together in Norway. It is now hanging in my office.

We had reserved a 5 room apartment in Umhlanga which is the best expensive place in Durban

The last part of our South Africa safari vacation was planned to be a "city vacation", with swimming in the Indian Ocean, shopping and shortly put, big city relaxation. Umhlanga is considered to be the best place in Durban. There is hardly any crime there and is a safe place. The apartment we got was on the first floor, huge with swimming pool. It was situated on the beach. Perfect location.

Here you can see the short distance to the beach

Iphone panorama from east side of the apartment

When we arrived here, We all packed away our camera gear - and the next 4 days, we all only used our phones to take pictures. I also used my Panasonic lumix FT5 which I wrote about in part 1.

We didn't see this sign before our last day fortunately --------------->

Bring it on ocean. I drank a lot of sea water..

Shopping

“Durban is a shopper’s paradise and offers many different shopping experiences. Street markets in and around the city offer a variety of crafts and beadwork. The indian district in downtown Durban offers a huge selection of goods from East as well as spices and curry powders. Boutique clothing shops are dotted here and there where you’d least expect them, while the shopping malls houses all the big chain stores and are bursting at the seams with the latest clothes, fashion accessories and toys.”

— Destination Durban

Gateway Theatre of shopping

The main entrance to South Africa's BIGGEST shopping mall "GATEWAY"

Gateway is South Africa's largest shopping mall. It is 220,000 m2, and has about 12 000 parking spaces. Gateway has 18 movie theaters, 6 Nouveau Cinemas, two 3D cinemas, Imax theatre, a playhouse called Barnyard Theatre, more than 90 restaurants, more than 400 stores. The wave House, an arcade and theme park, indoor fun fair, a 4000 sq. meter skate park. The highest indoor climbing rock in THE WORLD, a gym, the highest fountain in Africa, tenpin bowling, clubs, dodgem cars valet parking. Kizo gallery, palm court, 1 on 1, adventure golf. MTN science centre, a Nissan 4x4 track ad a science theme park, out door go carts, train rides, bungy jumping and more than 50 other entertainment destinations. ( facts from Wikipedia).

Check out their official web page here.

Bubblegum Milkshake from Gateway..sooo good:)

Norway is an expensive country. South Africa is great when it comes to shopping, because of the low prices and the currency. The biggest surprise for us was eating at restaurants. 8 people with starters, 3 courses, desert and of course several wine and beers, never was more than 2000 Rand. I must add that we ate and drank a lot. In Norwegian currency that is about 1100 Norwegian Kroners. Which here in Norway would be the price for only ONE person.

I work out a lot, and I am always interested in sport clothing. I bought 6 pairs of Nike shoes, and I had to buy a second suitcase for everything I bought. Every thing is so cheap. At the airport I found out that a second suitcase cost less than a fraction of what I would have paid for overweight. Thank God for that because my overweight alone was 24 kg:) So I only paid about 500 Rand ( 250,- Norwegian Kroners ) for a whole suitcase weighting 24 kg:)

Another tip for Norwegian travelers is to buy Gillette shaving blades like Gillette Fusion etc. They cost almost half of what they cost in Norway. I can go on and on about how cheap everything is, so the best advice would be to bring a big suitcase:)

Bar Ba Cua restaurant

We ate at several restaurants until we found our favorite. Barbacua is an argentinian bar and restaurant with fantastic food. Check out their web page here. It was sad that we found this place during the last 2 days, so we ate there only 2 times. But my God, the food is to die for. Tender meat that melts in the mouth. If you are in Durban and you like steak, barbecue - meat in general, be sure to eat here. I highly recommend it.

We were picked up again at the apartment and taken to the airport and from there our journey was finished for this time. South Africa was nothing like I expected it to be. It was fantastic and then some. All these 3 places we lived in South Africa ( St. Lucia , Leopard Mountain, and Durban) were great in their own ways, but we all agreed that Leopard Mountain gets the undisputed first prize.

The people, culture, wild animals and landscapes - if I were to put everything in one word it would be "Devine". I have travelled to many places, but this was something completely different. My best vacation. And I am certain it will not be my last trip to South Africa. So if you are planning to go to South Africa, I hope this gave you some inspiration.

South Africa needs to be experienced, not red about.

Other countries and cities will follow shortly. We will notify on our Facebook.

Thanks for reading this.