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Em Goes Exploring
Wow! The Kruger Park Safari was just amazing!
Since leaving Durban, we spent virtually two days travelling on the Baz Bus, stopping in a great hostel in Swaziland on the way. We met some good fun people in Johannesburg, where we intended to relax ready for our 5am Safari pickup. But no, by 7.30pm we were in an Irish Bar drunk as skunks and singing "Raining Men" on the Kareokee. A hilarious night, and did we feel it the next day!
By 2pm on Thursday, we had dumped our kit at the campsite (we had full on beds with mattresses) and were back in the Safari van to look for animals. By the end of the first day, we had seen Crocodiles, a very big Lizard (the size of a croc), Imparla, Giraffes, Elephants, Rhino and Buffalo. It was fab. It's winter here, so the sun went down by 5.30pm. We returned to our campsite, cooked a divine dinner, ate around the fire, sipped wine and chatted to our fellow Safari'es.
On Day 2, Vm (our guide), had us up at 5am on Friday. Another fantastic day in the bush - we were so luck to have seen the big 5 in one day. Lots of sitings of Imparla, Giraffes, Elephants, Rhinos, Wilderbeast, Waterbuk, Antelope, baboons, monkeys and copious amounts iof large birds and colourful birds....
We had a bit of a hairy moment with a male Elephant wanting to play, but Vms good skilss enabled us to pass and not be stuck where we were for the rest of the day. Lunch was hilarious, baboons have trained themselves to open the (apparently monkey-proof) bins and steel food, but to scare them off, the guards use pee-shooters to give them a fright!
Lucky for us, on our way back to camp no. 2, we caught site of a leopard! It was stunning, and we were lucky to have such a long view of the big cat since sitings are quite rare. 5 minutes later, we were graced with seeing 4 female lions and 4 cubs, playing by the roadside. Such fun to watch.
The second campsite was flatter, which was nice, but situated in the bush. Hyena walk the fence surrounding the campsite, so we set-about searching - low and behold one appeared from the bush (smelling everyones food). Surprsingly, the Hyena was as calm as could be and just lay to sleep in our splotlights!
Day 3 of our safari included another early wake-up! Our morning was pretty calm compared to yesterday, and took another form. We had the afternoon to relax at our lodge!, before a night drive in a big 3 game reserve. The lodge was just stunning. Provided with a welcome drink, before sitting and eating lunch on the deck. Our rooms were beautifully decorated - like a honeymoon destination, and the best bot was that were we got to sleep in a bed. We felt like royalty!
Our night drive started in the late afternoon and we were back by 8.00pm. Jess and I sat at the back of the safari truck, giggling all the way - it was like being on a rollercoaster as the truck bounced all over the place on the uneven roads. Vm drove us, and it was great being driven so close to the animals (not like our safari van), suh as Giraffe, Zebra, Rhino....until an Ostrich came came bounding towards us. I found this quite amusing, until it was clear that the Ostrich was not going to stop. The Ostrich circled the truck continuously, with a mean look on his face. Vm kindly told us that this Ostrich is called Terror and has a habit of chasing the truck and kicking it. This was not so nice, especially when we were sat at an elevated level, so our faces were right next to Terror's!
The drive continued, until the sun started setting. We were provided with a drink of our choice to watch the sun go down (formally known as sundowners). We were introduced to the national sport of Giraffe Poo spitting, and yes, we hd a go! Always told not to spit, I was clueless! The sun-set was beautiful, very bizarre to be drinking wine from a goblet in the middle of the South African bush, with Rhino and such-like hiding in the trees!
As we drove at night, it was strangeto hear a heard of Buffalo eating through the trees. We also had a near miss with a couple of Rhino! The view of the stars was wonderful. seeing the Milky Way above you. On our retun to the lodge, we were greated with dinner - al fresco, with a huge fire that we all sat around and were surrounded by bamboo fences. We were served our three course dinnner, of soup, steak and milk pudding as we drank fine wine and chatted. It was very special.
A few glasses of wine later, and a meeting with the owners snake (very slimey to touch), I was fast asleep!
Day 4 of our safari, started a walk around the game reserve. Abel gave a great insight into turmite mounds, animal tracks and vegetation in the area. We now know how to make a tooth brush, wipe our bottoms with soft leaves and make alcoholic beverages from nature! Later at the lodge, we were served the almighty of breakfasts. The morning was spent at the Blade Canyon (a bit like the Grand Canyon, but smaller). The views were stunning and we shopped at the local craft market.
A fantastic 4-days that I shall remember for ever!
Love Em x
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