Monday 12 August 2013

SUNDAY AT HEIA SAFARI RANCH

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The Magic of Heia Safari starts the minute you drive through the gates ....where Robert waves you through after filling out your details, with a big smile :"enjoy your day" 



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Even the air out here is different.

 Clear and Fresh with blue skies and a view forever. 


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Wherever you go there is a happy animal face looking at you 




The resident zebra greets you by reception, today I did not bring apples, maybe good as I see a sign saying Do Not Feed The Animals .......... though I am known to be illiterate at times, I am here to find my baby giraffe and don't need to be kicked out, before I even get started searching, so no apple today, my darlings ............... 



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Warning signs, Zebra they kick .....really...??



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The smile and Hello Hug from Gaby, the owner "welcome ,come sit down, have a coffee" is like coming home, after a long time away and yet nothing changes. 

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We decided to go for a walk, to see the changes and also stretch our legs, looking for the little newcomer, to the giraffe family


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If you want to catch a shot of an Egyptian Geese in flight, you have to shoo them, but I just sneaked up a little bit, so did not get too much wing flapping LOL


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The Dam looks pretty low at the moment, waiting for our spring rains


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I simply love the view and the light out here, 
never get tired of it

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Towards the hills across the lower part of the lake
the fishing is also very good here, 
only catch and release though.


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The legacy of Franz Richter, Gaby's father, 
The Heritage Lake




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Never fail to inspire awe in me this sight 


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The spill over carrying on downstream as the Crocodile River winds and flows down towards Hartebeespoort Dam. 


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 Still looking for Lumina ... and I found her, in between all the thick bush at the end of the farm below the dam wall after an hours hike, I spot Big Boy , father of the family sticking out like a familiar silhouette. They have to be close by, he would be guarding his little family.


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 and I was right, behind the bushes, I can just see her, she is lying down , with mother hovering
protectively over her



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 I move closer, totally deaf to darling husbands call "be careful, he could charge you ..." "ppppffffttt........ not scared of my darling giraffes, they know me, just have to gauge the mood and not push myself on them ......... so I siddle up closer, carefully watching, just in case Big Boy decides I am a threat ...........



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Look how well she blends in ........ Mother starts walking away from me, so I have to hurry to keep up without getting in the way, now having left husband totally behind


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Following close, but not too close ..........


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There she is, now you can see her better. Welcome to the world, little Lumina, may it treat you with love and freedom always.


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Looks as if she is saying, there is that lady again, mommmy, she is following us, pointing that box ...



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The cottage we stayed in for our Honeymoon Night, 29 May 2011, the children and friends gave us as a surprise present ........ Number 49 ....




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 The view from the verandah have not changed *bliss*


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The young Impala stag staring me down


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The wildebees is sleeping in the afternoon sun


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Zonkey got a new friend, the donkey Jack, so now she is no longer so much part of the zebra herd, which is so strange, she always used to look so sad, I thought, when I got her in amongst the zebra, now she is up by the reception, where she waits for Gaby for the feed bucket together with her new best friend. "Me is a donkey, not a zebra, zonkey" she tells me ........... she is adorable whatever she is


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The young springbok having an afternoon siesta 




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The wishing well ......... put some money in , maybe I can live here forever .........


 
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Such a wonderful formation of old trees. 

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It is time to go home, though I wish I could stay for just another hour, another day......



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This cacti is the one that bears the fruits known as prickly pear, a delicacy that you peel very carefully
before eating


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The Dark-capped Bulbul enjoying the nectar from the aloe flower. 

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The warm colours of the Aloes, this time of year is so cheering, as all else is dry 

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So many different kinds, I wish I was a bit more clued up with indigenous Aloes and plants. 



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 Bye bye everyone, till next time........................... the seasons change, nothing is ever quite the same out here, always something new to see and do, but some things stay the same old, the familiarity of Heia is like taking out your favourite jersey and snuggling up in front of a fire. Warms me like a home coming should ........ how I wish I could stay for ever and ever ...


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25 comments:

  1. A beautiful post Marianne.Your photos and commentary is awesome.

    Hello my friend, it has been a long time. I have just joined facebook again too.

    Huggles.

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    1. So nice to see you Shayna. Thank you as always for your lovely compliments

      What name are you under on FB??

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  2. Hi Marianne!! What a wonderful place to visit :-)) You got some great shots of all the animals. Awwww........little Lumina is just gorgeous. What are those orange trees/bushes in the final couple of shots? I really like them.

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    1. BTW.....are we gonna get some of your 'wild things' on PT? :-))

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    2. The old man is constantly moaning about the time I spend on the Internet ......... it is bloddy difficult to sneak time, this one I had to do last night half asleep ......... I think he is jealous ......... getting there, it is so very time consuming, though. Have left all the groups at Facebook, no point when one person there has blocked you, right? So maybe a bit more time now, to catch up here.

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    3. Mine had to learn to live with it when I was avidly blogging on a daily basis!! There is a gadget that can be added to your blog which allows you to link it automatically back to your Face Book Page but I can`t for the life of me remember how to do it at the moment. I did it for my primary blog and now want to add it to my Up Front and Serious. From your own FB page you can then share it to groups.

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    4. I am just going to copy and paste the link for now, Barbara, if anyone want to read or not ........ then better skeedadle over to PT and post my entries for Wild, before Mitch catch me and quarter me alive.

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    5. They are Aloes, Mitch, always bloom in winter, what kind, not too sure, there are a lot of different varieties. If you want to learn more about them, here is a link, I am trying to make head and tail of it at the moment. http://made-in-afrika.com/myblog/sitemap.aloe.htm

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  3. I can quite understand how it is that you put down roots in AS. So totally different from where I was on the west coast!! This is a fabulous post. Beautiful photos.

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    1. Thank you for coming past, darling friend. Chat later. Hugs.

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  4. Back now now to comment and explain, blog not quite finished yet either. LOL

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  5. Lovely photos and commentary. Well done.

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  6. what an amazing and beautiful place..... the stunner shot for me is the mother and child following..... wow!
    glad you had a great day there, I can understand revisiting and visiting again....

    sometimes it's good to just to pick a few venues for your time, it's about quality not quantity.... hugs....

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    1. you are right, Monica, we don't often go out, too busy at home with business, birds and garden, so special when we do get out and Heia Safari is one of our favourite haunts. Close to home and yet so far removed from our busy daily lives.

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  7. Another fantastic blog Marianne. Back to facebook now to answer all the comments from today. Thanks for all the pictures !

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    1. An absolute pleasure, Dai, will make sure to send you a link when I post. Where do you blog?

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  8. Thats a fantastic post Marianne;)

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  9. I really enjoyed your blog and commentary have a great day

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  10. Thanks for the trip... fantastic place. I wish I could see it in person.

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    1. Just pop on over, Bert, I will take you out there to pat a giraffe and feed a zebra. Thank you for stopping by.

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  11. So very sad that this has been sold. It is like paradise.

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    1. I am beyond sad, Benni, Gaby's late father Franz Richter, build the Ranch in 1970 and in 2004 he completed the largest man made private dam in Africa. Heritage Lake. It is beyond beautiful out there, just on our doorstep really. Franz was tragically killed by his mistress's boyfriend and Gaby's husband was murdered in a random housebreaking also on the property in April, 2013. I think it all became too much for both Gaby and her daughter Bianca. Apparently the property has been formed into a Nature Conservancy together with 4 adjoining properties, so exciting to see what might happen and transpire. There are 51 Rondawels for accommodations so surely the hotel itself will not really change, it needs some TLC, but if the new owner has as much money as I think he has, that will not be a problem. The end of an era for most of us, but new adventures beckons.

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  12. I actually enjoyed reading through this posting.Many thanks.

    Labour Attorneys Johannesburg

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for visiting, I just saw your comment now, as haven't blogged in a while. You are most welcome to pop past.

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