Safari goes Big

          For no reason at all, we had a surprise party for Zinnia Frenzy of 3rd Rock Grid this week. I say for no reason, but really, it was an opportunity to celebrate her and all the work she does for her grid and for the No Borders annual charity event. Her husband Kered Owl helped set up the surprise by telling her she had to come over to the Lodi Ballroom and fix a problem....
Jessie Campbell: S U R P R I S E !!

Zinnia looking elegantly surprised

Zinnia Frenzy: I am speechless lol
Rosy Ogrady, a regular performer on 3rd Rock Grid, aid a few words, and it was so nice to see her along with other musician friends of Zinnia's, Truelie Telling and CelticMaiden Warrior,  there to cheer her on.

Safari Buys the Farm

          Metropolis and Tangle were our two destination grids this week, and two wonderful regions... the common thread, beautiful building, and farming! HG Addresses at the end of the post as usual.
          First up a trip to see Satyr Aeon, sometimes known as Satyr Gator. This lovely man is behind one of the hypergrid's most valuable tools, opensimworld.com - a web directory you have already bookmarked I'm sure.

Satyr

          Satyr has a number of regions on Metropolis, including Opensimworld, Priape, and Roman. You can get Satyr's Farming system available in box form on Opensimworld, and there is a farm on Priape, but for this week's trip, he set up a farm on sim Roman, in order to avoid some lag issues.  

Safari goes High Seas and High Tech

This week was a cross your fingers, don't dare breathe kind of Safari. Two destinations, both on OSgrid, both exceptionally beautiful, interesting, and highly recommended - addresses as always at the end.

First up, a trip to a brand new region on OSgrid, built by Azi Az and Danger Lytton, one of OSgrid's most famed couples, for their talent, for their

Poetry and Particles

                The poetry of big, collaborative art - that was the theme of this week's trip, once again two great destinations, both highly recommended, HG Addresses at the end of the post as always.

Karima Hoisan on The River of Forgetting

                 First up, an invitation from Karima Hoisan to visit Kitely. It's always a joy to visit Karima's many regions on this grid. They are as varied as they are colorful, and The River of Forgetting is a special place because it's where Karima and Natascha Randt filmed their latest machinima, which they have entered in the prestigious SLartist@UWA Machinima competition in Second Life.

2018 Safari Calendars

            This year, there are two Safari Calendars.
             As always, the calendar features many of the people and places who have made the past year so varied and vivid. From Furries and Burlesque, to literature and fine art, to racing and relaxing beaches, this past year has certainly proved that OpenSim is full of wide open spaces, and lots of friends too.
            Both calendars are available inworld as free, full permission items, at the safari clubhouse. hg.francogrid.org:80:hgsafari  and they'll be available at other venues over coming days.

You can also buy a real world version of both on Lulu.com  if you are so inclined, then you can feel like you are inworld even when your internet goes wonky.
The Women of Opensim                                     The Men of Opensim
           The calendars inworld come complete with the Landmarks for all the destinations photographed, so you can go and visit the lovely and in some cases little known corners of opensim. Inevitably, there are more destinations and more intrepid grid jumpers than there are months in the year, so all our models consider themselves representatives of the wider world of interlocking grids.
           A big thanks to all the models for their time and patience and trust. I leave it to you to pick up the calendar and see if you can identify all the victims...

Puzzles and Poles

                  A unique gallery and a brand new game were the destinations for this week's Safari adventure, the last for 2017. Both places you'll love, so look to the end of the post to see the HG Addresses.

Antonio Salamander

               First, we headed off to Antonio Salamander's region on OSgrid. It's called Art of Puzzles, which really tells you everything about the subject matter.                 It was a particularly international event, as Antonio speaks German and his native Spanish, while most Safari regulars are fluent only in typonese and gibberish. 

How the Groac'h Solved Christmas

On Francogrid, for the holidays, there is a beautiful winter hunt called Loureedia. Built by Nani Ferguson and Ange Menges, it's a little seasonal gift to all of opensim.

Groac'h is a sorceress who's not a fan of Santa.

The Jewels in the Crown

HGLuv and Creanovale were the diamond destinations for this the 170th weekly Safari trip. Both gorgeous, both worth your time, and oth HG Addresses at the end of the post.

Hyacinth Jewell

Hyacinth Jewell is at the heart of HGLuv. Hya and some of the Luv regulars were waiting for us on Luv Plaza, the Welcome sim and a brilliant sampler of the regions you can visit here.

HIE is today!

The Hypergrid International Expo is today!

The address is craft-world.org:8002:hieexpo

This multi language conference begins at 9.00am SLT, 18.00 CET (that's the time in Paris, Berlin and Rome, if you're wondering). 

The event is on Craft Grid, courtesy of Licu Rau. 

You can see the program of events on our website (courtesy Phaandor Pertwee) at https://hie.ddnss.org/2017-program/ 

The Auditorium build is by Mal Burns, with beautiful design details by Arielle Delamerlibre.

The Moderators for this event are Cheops Forlife, Tosha Tyran, Loru Destiny and myself, and along with xSiberiax Ilfreddupurifica, they've all done so much work to make this event happen - thank you!

Safari Repels All Borders

Borders, not boarders... this wasn't a Pirate event (another one of those is coming up in the New Year, though) but rather, two 'border' events, as you'll see... First up, a trip to 3rd Rock Grid, then, a load test on HIE. The HG Addresses are at the end as usual.

            Alpine, on 3rdRock Grid, is full of winter sports. You can ski, skate,  try the sled race, and throw snowballs here. We met up with the 3rd Rock crew, including Michel Farrell, whose real world radio show 'The Music Cafe' is a great feature the grid, and well worth a listen, even if you're not inworld!.

Safari Walks on Aire

Two francophone destinations you're going to love! The destination addresses are at the end of the post, as always.

This week we finally returned to Aire Mille Flux after almost three years, and it was well worth the wait to be able to meet up with Marc Moana aka Marc Blieux, on the welcome region of one of the finest art grids in all opensim. We sat on drawing pins and learned about the origins of this magnificent place.

Safari Struts its Stuff

           PC - that's the things you know the Safari can generate... Party and Crashing!
          This week, two eminently visitable destinations,  on nestlife-world, and on Counter Earth grid, HG addresses at the end of the post as usual.

          First, we were treated to a re run of the Fashion Show on Loru Castle. It was a great event, with about 32 people present, from a dozen different grids.
          Nextlife-world, owned by Achim and Dina Twisterling, is not a huge grid but it held up very well to our arrival on the glorious Loru Castle region,  home of the Queen of the Evening, Loru Destiny.

Loru Destiny Fashion Show

Tomorrow at about 9.30 am SLT, 18.30 Central European time, Loru and Art Destiny are holding a  Fashion event, compered by Spike Sol, on Nextlife-world grid, owned by Achim and Dina Twisterling. 
The HG Address of the event is  nextlife-world.de:8002:loru castle

The gala will be held in the grounds of Loru Castle, a beautiful recreation of a real-world small German castle.

         It's a gem of a schloss,  really a summer pavilion from the 1600s, with lots of photo realistic textures...

Safari goes to Dallas

           On November 22, 1963, shots rang out in Dealey Plaza. President John F Kennedy was assassinated, and for many, it seemed the world had changed forever. To mark the anniversary of this event, the Safari visited AAcme Fall's remarkable reconstruction of the Plaza, on 3rdlife grid, to experience this world-famous place and time, and to learn more from AAcme, a recognized authority on the event.
           This is the second of two posts about HG Safari 166. 
           The HG Address for this wonderful place - a must-see in opensim - is at the end of the post.

JFK Memorial in Dealy Plaza

           Looking sophisticated in her Secret Service sunglasses was AAcme's wife Sunbeam Magic, waiting for us at the arrival point.

Safari Learns All About Eva

                 This week, two posts about two great builds with strong ties to the real world... this is the first post, please don't miss the other.  HG Address, as always, available if you scroll down to the end.

               We began this trip with a trip to 3DLES grid. The visit had a bit of a slow start, as the grid tried to digest our many HG germs. This scenario is exactly why we begin our trips at the clubhouse, not at the first destination, because it gives us a place to sit around and chat while we waited for our heroic host to get the server back online. And yes, that is a penguin. Dabici Straulino is back inworld, working on a winter Creanovale build.
Aime Socrates: many hunters for this safari tonight !
Thirza Ember: while we're waiting, who knows what Aphasia is?

An Undead Safari

        It was a scripting, dancing, shooting and scoring Safari this week. Our first destination didn't quite work out (more about that wonderful place in a future post) but Thai Low, owner of Endivatomic Grid, welcomed us over to his new region EZombie slightly earlier than usual, for a festive load test and general giggle.  The HG Address to this highly visitable region is at the end of the post.

        Ezombie region on Endivatomic Grid is a  first person shooter game set in a landscape of tunnels, streams, lawns, and cliffs.  You get a choice from half a dozen weapons at the beginning of the game, and there are 'go faster' bottles, first aid kits, and other bombs and gems that can help your score.  It's a work in progress, by Thai Low - definitely more progress than not. With about 15 of us on the region, those who chose to play had no problems moving about, there was no chat lag or difficulty dancing. 

Safari goes from Expo to Arthur

In 1889, Mark Twain wrote a novel about a Connecticut Yankee who falls asleep and wakes up to find himself transported back through history to a time where the clothes, the rules, and the technology are all vastly different from what he is used to. A great adventure, new friendships and challenges ensue... much like opensim, then. This week we went to two places where big plans for the future are coming to fruition, you should definitely visit and get involved... HG Addresses at the end of the post as always.

           First up, we went over to HIE grid, with a presentation and a concert by Whirli Placebo. Whirli is a talented musician... but what is HIE?

A Collector's Safari

       There's no end to the great builds in opensim, and this week our troupe visited two more great destinations, that cannot be too highly recommended. If you like collecting things, whether it be freebies, or knowledge about the world around you, these are both unmissable. Our second stop, on VIBE grid, is described in the next post, Nova's Vibe, As usual the address for our trip to Kroatan is at the end of the post, and hopefully this article will inspire you to go and visit soon, don't delay...

      The exhortation 'Don't delay' is particularly valid for our first stop, on Kroatan Grid. Last year the Halloween Hunt was a spooky hospital, this time it's an equally spooky small town,  steeped in atmosphere and good ghoulish humor, called Abbandonato. The build closes on November 5, so get your skates on! 

Nova's Vibe

 Our second stop this week was another collector's item, on VIBE grid. As with all our destinations, the HG Address or URL is at the end of the post.

Nova Saunders on VIBE grid

          Up next, a trip to a wonderful part of VIBE grid, as guests of Nova Saunders. 
        Nova's regions on the grid are dedicated to archaeology.  VIBE stands for Virtual Islands for Better Education, and in her day job, Nova is Marion Smeltzer, MA, a Practicing Public Archaeologist ad the president of Indiana County Archaeological Society. Her work in Vibe is creative on many levels, since it's not only bringing students into contact with  dozens of different historical sites, but also helping Government Agencies see the benefit of virtual worlds for teaching.

A Consuming Safari

This week the Safari visited two destinations this week,  and both the Halloween Hunt on IMA Outpost on Metropolis and Avatarfest will only be open for a limited time, so don't delay your visit!
HG Addresses as usual at the end of the post.

          First up, the IMA Outpost Alpha on Metro, which has been decorated as a Halloween Hunt by Lisa Laxton and friends. The attractive layout includes an ancient tower on the coast, and a number of semi distressed houses and bars, and some nifty zombie scripts to keep you on your toes, along with a large number of take-awayables. The region Windlight is appropriately ghostly, adding to the appeal of this well-put-together sim.
          This week rl events meant I couldn't be on Safari, so big thanks to Szavanna Sunshine and Wizardoz Chrome and Truelie Telling for being such good sports.

IMA stands for Infinite Metaverse Alliance. they have a G+ Group you can join