August 2018 – Hillfamily dot net

Yellowstone 2018

Reunion time! We explored a new (to us) part of Yellowstone National Park this time: Yellowstone Lake. We stayed in cabins near the Lake Lodge. It was 4th of July weekend, but we didn’t notice the crowds until we stopped at Old Faithful on the way out.

An amazing hike in the area is Storm Point Trail. I felt like I was in Ireland with grassy hills and steep cliffs along the water. And we saw a yellow-bellied marmot yawning on a rock.

Storm Point Trail hike

Yellow-bellied marmot

Storm Point Trail hike

Yellow-bellied marmot

Storm Point Trail hike

Yellow-bellied marmot yawn

Storm Point Trail hike

Elisabeth

Storm Point Trail hike

Over the years I’ve seen a few bears in the distance, but never up close. This time we had front-row seats to a female grizzly foraging and crossing the road in front of us.

Grizzly bear near Steamboat Point, Yellowstone

Here’s the video slide show –

And more photos –

Bison out the front door

Yellowstone Falls

Bison in front of Lake Lodge

At Yellowstone Falls

Yellowstone Falls

Tourists approaching bison

Real funny, Son.

Bison

Morning Glory

Bison

At Yellowstone Falls

Yellowstone

Yellowstone Falls

Cameron and Adeline

Yellowstone Lake

Bison at Lake Yellowstone

Viewing the yellow stone

Yellowstone Canyon

Yellowstone Falls hike

Yellowstone

Mud pot bubble burst

Yellowstone bike ride

Johannesburg and Pretoria

I fell a little behind in documenting the safari from October. We spent a couple of days in Johannesburg and a day in Pretoria. The different branches of government in South Africa are located in separate cities, so Pretoria is the administrative (executive branch) capital, Cape Town is the legislative capital, Bloemfontein is the judicial capital, and Johannesburg is the largest city. It was interesting to spend a day in Johannesburg and get one perspective on the country followed by a day in Pretoria to get a very different perspective.

You can watch the video slideshow version or browse through way too many photos or just go about your life without doing either.

Long drive from MalaMala (near Kruger National Park) to Johannesburg, via the loosely-defined Panorama Route (God’s Window, Bourke’s Luck, Graskop, etc.)

Stand and sit bathroom signs

Giraffe art at the Skukuza airport

Poisonous tree

Lunch in Graskop

Danger sign at God’s Window

God’s Window, South Africa

Flowers at God’s Window

Succulent

Cool tree at God’s Window

Do Not Feed the Wild Animals

Bourke’s Luck

Welcome to Bourke’s Luck

Potholes sign – Bourke’s Luck

Bourke’s Luck

Bridge at Bourke’s Luck

Looking down on Bourke’s Luck

Bourke’s Luck

Rock jumping at Bourke’s Luck

Bourke’s Luck

Bourke’s Luck Potholes

Shadow people at Bourke’s Luck

God’s Window

Succulents

God’s Window

Giant spider in our AirBNB –

Bike tour of Soweto with Lebo’s

Soweto bike tour

A little snack of beef heart and liver on the bike tour

Photo op

Grandpa to many

Kids in Soweto

Climing on the tourists

Soweto

Cool house on Soweto bike tour

Hector Peterson memorial

He told me he hand-crafted the trinket I bought so I took a picture with him. He didn’t.

Near Hector Peterson memorial

Mandela’s Family Restaurant

Mandela House

Aquafresh

Desmond Tutu House

Locals

Drinking something suspicious

Tourists with bike tour guide

Lunch at Lebo’s

Chicken legs for lunch

Wooden bike

Bob Marley sign at Lebo’s

Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers

Blending right in

Finale of bike tour

Soweto bike tour

Street hawker sizes up Michael

Soweto bike tour

Soweto

Kids checking the photos

Kids posing in Soweto

Soweto bike tour

Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill, the Zoo, LDS Temple, etc.

Youth event at Constitutional Court

Constitutional Court

Statue outside Constitutional Court

Constitutional Court

Mandela – Gandhi exhibit at Constitution Hill

Gandhi statue at Constitution Hill

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony – Gandhi

Gandhi and Mandela exhibit at Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill

Cells (some haunted) at Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill

South Africa LDS (Mormon) Temple

Shaking hands

Distant view of South Africa LDS Temple from Johannesburg Zoo

Apartheid Museum White card.

Apartheid Museum

Pretoria, including Voortrekker Monument, Kruger House, Church Square, City Hall, Union Buildings, Cullinan Diamond Mine area, and a delicious braai (barbecue) with our hosts