Africa 2

~~~ Provocative Quote

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela



~~~Free Ramblings

I barely made my connection from Phoenix to Flagstaff via a shuttle bus. Luckily for me, it was raining and snowing on I-17 and the shuttle was about 15 minutes late. As I started wheeling my two bags to the shuttle, the attendant taking to the bus asked if I needed any help. I said no, I had just gotten back from South Africa and was getting pretty good at traversing the airports. Turns out one of the other passengers was a young college age girl who was born and raised in Johannesburg. She was Afrikaans who came to the US about 8 years ago. We spoke for a few minutes on the way to the shuttle and in the shuttle. According to her, the political system had led to her family’s leaving. She couldn’t imagine why I would want to visit there or any of the other countries around South Africa. She truly believed that all the ‘good’ South Africans had left and that the ‘new’ government had ruined her homeland. It was sad to hear this articulate young woman (who was born during Apartheid and left soon after it ended) was unable to accept the changes.

A safari is so amazing. For a total of 9 days we got up every morning about 5am and in the jeep by 5:30. The morning drive lasted until about 10am. We always stopped about half way though for hot coffee. On rainy days we needed it. We then came back to camp and had a great breakfast. About 4pm we headed out again and returned soon after dark—about 7:30pm. Two of the three camps/lodges had an open Toyota or land cruiser with a driver and a tracker. The other lodge, in Chobe National Park, only had a driver. Some of the vehicles had no roof, some had a canvas roof. We were told to stay in the vehicle at all times, not to stick out our arms or legs, not to stand up, and to remain quiet. Each guide told us that the animals were used to the vehicle noise and the vehicle shape and knew that it would not harm them. Most of the time, the animals were within 10 yards of the vehicle. On several occasions they were within five feet of the vehicle. The drivers were correct; we only had one young male elephant spend any time checking us out. All the others just ignored us. We could watch them as long as we wanted to. On one of our morning trips we came upon another vehicle with a flat tire. They were watching a herd of impala. Our driver parked to help. She quietly exited the vehicle and walked along side our vehicle. As soon as her profile broke the jeep profile, the impala were off and running. On another occasion, a vehicle got stuck while coming out of the small river bed canyon. We had been watching a leopard from about 20 feet as it slept. Our vehicle had to be maneuvered so that our driver could get out of the vehicle and lock the hubs on the other vehicle. To block the leopard’s line of sight he pulled in so that we were only about 10 feet from the leopard. It was dusk, then dark. The trackers kept the spotlight on the leopard while our driver worked his way around. Within 15 minutes he had locked the hubs, attached a steel rope to the stuck jeep and pulled it out. We almost missed dinner that night, but the adventure would have been worth missing one dinner. Watching a pro in action made us feel safe—after the ordeal ended. During the ordeal, not so much.

At two of the camps we were lucky enough to see all the Big Five, up close and personal. The big five are the lion, the leopard, the elephant, the giraffe, and the Cape Buffalo. At all of the camps we also saw dozens of zebra, impalas, kudus, warthogs, waterbucks, dik-diks, steenboks, springbok, baboons, monkeys, and wildebeest. I am not a birder, but we did see and hear many of them too. We saw the ground birds and the tree birds. There were a variety of hornbills, a variety of eagles, vultures, heron, weaver, and guinea fowl.

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~~~Random Facts

The numbers '172' can be found on the back of the U.S. $5 dollar bill in the bushes at the base of the Lincoln Memorial.

If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

~~~Unusual News

LARGO, Fla. - Police in Florida said they arrested a man who called 911 and falsely reported a man was "smashing potatoes" over a woman's head. Largo police said Robert Turley, 51, called 911 three times Tuesday night, first saying a man armed with a knife was chasing a woman and then about 45 minutes later claiming the man was "smashing potatoes" over the woman's head, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Thursday. The man called a third time to claim the man was punching the woman in the face. Police found Turley, who was allegedly intoxicated, hiding in his neighbor's yard, and he admitted to making up the story because he was angry with his roommates, a man and a woman, the report said. He was charged with false report of a crime and taken to the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $250 bail. Turley has been arrested 12 times since 1991 and has served jail time for crimes including possession of drug paraphernalia, the newspaper said.

~~~Before They Were Famous

In Willie Nelson's younger days he was a door to door salesman

Jack Nicholson has worked in a toy store and as a lifeguard.

Before Chuck Norris became a famous martial artist and actor, he worked as an Air Policeman in the US Air Force.

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~~~November Month Long Observances

Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month ~ American Diabetes Month ~ American Indian Heritage Month ~ Lung Cancer Awareness Month ~ Military Family Appreciation Month ~ National Adoption Month ~ National Homeless Youth Awareness Month ~ National Inspirational Role Models Month ~ National Novel Writing Month ~ Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month ~ Transgender Awareness Month ~ Vegan Month



~~~Week of 16 November

American Education Week

~~~16 NOV Observances

320 days so far this year…48 days remain in 2009

International Day of Tolerance

Oklahoma Admission Day (1907)

^Iceland Dagur íslenskrar tungu (Icelandic Language Day)



~~~Births on this day

Oops..15 Nov, 1940 Martha Shideler, author and newsletter editor

~ The ARTS)

1889 – George S. Kaufman, American playwright
1908 Burgess Meredith Cleveland Ohio, actor
1928 Clu Gulager Holdenville OK, actor (Virginian)
1935 Elizabeth Drew journalist (Politics & Money: The Road to Corruption)
1953 Griff Rhys Jones British humorist/actor (Morons From Outer Space)
1967 Lisa Bonet San Francisco CA, actress (Cosby Show)

~ATHLETICS

1964 – Dwight Gooden, American baseball player (NY Mets)
1978 – Gary Naysmith, Scottish footballer

~POLITICS/BUSINESS/EDUCATION

42 -BC- Tiberius Cesar 2nd Roman emperor
1643 – Jean Chardin, French explorer
1888 Clinton Golden Pennsylvania founder (United Steelworkers of America)

~SCIENCE/RELIGION

1841 – Jules Violle, French physicist

~~~In Remembrance–

1960 Clark Gable dies after heart attack @ 59
2006 – Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate @ 94

~~~Historical Events on this day

1676 1st colonial prison organized, Nantucket, Massachusetts
1811 According to some sources, Tecumseh predicts a "light across the sky" tonight. It is supposed to have appeared, as predicted.
1894 6,000 Armenians massacred by Turks in Kurdistan
1914 Federal Reserve System formally opens
1925 American Association for the Advancement of Atheism formed in NY
1945 – UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization] is founded.
1958 - Six inches of snow fell on Tucson, Arizona
1959 : The last Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" opens at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway.
1988 Benazir Bhutto wins 1st free Pakistani elections in 11 years

~ Holy Mackerel
1976 Rick Barry (San Francisco), ends then longest NBA free throw streak of 60

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Quiz

Place these countries in order by population—largest to smallest

Namibia
Nauru [Pacific Island]
Nepal
Netherlands
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ANSWERS

Nepal 28,563,377 (growth rate: 1.2%)

Netherlands 16,715,999 (growth rate: 0.4%)

Namibia 2,108,665 (growth rate: 0.9%)

Nauru [Pacific Island] 14,019 (growth rate: 1.7%)