November 3-14, We ARE home, Life is back to normal, Some stats and thoughts on South Africa

Several friends and family have mentioned to us that we never "completed" the blog of our trip to South Africa, so thought I would confirm that we really are home and summarize a few things.

Tom took about 2500 photos during our close to 5 weeks there, and is in the process of sorting through them and weeding out duplicates, blurry ones,  etc.

We saw 386 species of birds, of which 336 were new for us.  There are over 900 species of birds in South Africa, so there are definitely more for us to see if and when we go back.  And, yes, we would LOVE to go back!  We've been asked many times what our favorite bird of the trip was, but there were so many amazing ones that it's impossible to narrow it down to under 100

Mammals tallied up at about 42, including the Big 5 (lion, elephant, leopard, rhino, buffalo).  Six leopards in 3 days was definitely the highlight of the mammals for me, but watching giraffe move their towering bodies so gracefully and powerfully was something you don't quite experience in the same way watching on tv or in a zoo, and looking into the eyes of an elephant only 5 or 6' away from the car literally took our breath away (most likely out of fear though).

Flowers are known to be at their best in South Africa in September, so we didn't expect to see near as many as we actually did.  The proteas were different than any flower we've seen before, and there were so many colors and sizes of them.

Insects weren't a problem anywhere for us, except for the Africanized honey bee that tangled with me 3 days before coming home and continued to remind me of its aggressive nature for almost 2 weeks.

The social structure in South Africa was a bit of an eye opener for both of us.  We didn't expect to see such large gaps between the haves and have-nots, and saw it throughout the country.  The most impressive and memorable social interaction I had was when I gave a young black woman staff member a 50 rand (about $3.75 ) tip at the end of one of our guest house stays, at which her expressionless face immediately lit up to an immense smile and she grabbed me and hugged me.  This really made me wonder what incomes are if 50 rand meant so much to this young woman.  I later found out she has 2 children living in one of the east Africa countries that she sends all of her income to.  Many people spoke to us of the high crime rate in the country and their concern of it.  Regardless though, everyone we met was pleasant, helpful and welcoming.   

It was a great experience and adventure, with beautiful scenery, birds, mammals, flowers and people all along the way.  If only one could get there from here without spending 35-40 hours in airports and planes.........