My cousins, Patsy and Charles were off visiting South Africa last month when all the excitement was happening. They sent some shots of their travels.

The above picture is the view from their room at the Champagne Castle Hotel in the Central Drakensberg.

This, of course, is an elephant. It was taken "Digibino" - which means that it was taken with a pair of binoculars incorporating a digital camera.

And this one, as well of the two lionesses.


Now this is a "King Protea" or Protea cynaroides. It is the largest of the genus Protea, and is the national flower of South Africa.
This species is also known as "Giant Protea", "Honeypot" or "King Sugar Bush".



And lastly, a picture of Biedouw Valley.

It is situated between the Biedouw and Tra-Tra Mountains, and watered by the Biedouw River.

Some 200 million year-old fossilized shellfish deposits are found here.