Monday, August 3, 2009

Joli On Safari



Just returned from a successful trip to Jeffrey's Bay in South Africa. Great surf for the Billabong Pro with a strong win for Joel Parkinson but not a lot of great free surfing. Missed a swell by a few days and then hung around after the contest waiting for two bumps on the Surfline swell maps. One came and went without much activity while the second bump provided plenty of surf in the 2 metre range with over 60mm of rain. Not ideal shooting weather. Shaun Tomson was on hand for the second swell but with overcast skies and more rain I ended up heading to the game reserves of Shamwari and Pumba to shoot four legged animals instead of the usual two legged surfing variety.
Got nice and close to lots of animals including hippos, elephants, rhinos and lions.
The scary thing was that a lioness took a liking to our open Landrover and charged us. Came within a metre of leaping into the truck. Scared the hell out of everyone including our ranger, who hightailed it through the bush to get away.

One of the elephants got nice and friendly too. Gave us a little 'don't argue' when we got a bit close but it all makes for some interesting photos.

Arrived home to Coolangatta to beautiful winter days and no decent surf. Bells Beach pumped on the weekend but my bags need to stay unpacked for a few days.