October/November 2004
Brought to you by your friends at Alligator Bayou

MESSAGE FROM AFRICA ... Frank, Jamie and I recently returned from a two-week visit to South Africa. We visited Kruger National Park and got a chance to see some of the most amazing animals in the world. We rode elephants, petted honey badgers and wart hogs, and got a true sense of nature.

There are fences to keep people in and the animals out! We saw lion’s feed, baby elephants with their herd, rhinos, leopards, crocs, buffalo, cheetahs, fish eagles, vultures and literally dozens of other astonishing animals in their native environment. We sat literally yards away from animals capable of eating us and watched them in awe – as they ignored our presence.

We also learned to appreciate our home here in America. There is a wide rift between “have” and “have not”, and we aren’t always able to appreciate how big it can be.

There are “preserves” in South Africa where a room runs over $1,200 U.S. dollars, per person, and around the countryside there are people who gather their food from the side of the road.

Our trip was eye opening for a lot of reasons, and we encourage our readers to see the world when they can. Our international visits have let us see the world for all of its size and majesty – but tread lightly and leave only your spirit behind.

The world we see everyday is so different when our perspective changes. We gathered some great ideas and met some people we are never going to forget.



PET ADOPTION Alligator Bayou is home to many - two legs, four legs and no legs. Beginning next issue, we will be posting photos and descriptions of a few of our four legged friends who could use a good home. NO NOT THE GATORS! Unfortunately we can't place these but we do sometimes have dogs and some cats that need a great and loving home. Some of our past “cast offs” include Molly. Molly is a lab mix who was thrown from a car and broke her leg. Molly is now one of our visitor’s favorites – She’s our official gator spotter and she has a great smile. Then there’s Momma Dog, who was abandoned with six puppies and refused to let my truck drive by without picking her and her kids up. So stay tuned for more in the next issue.
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