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Hi everyone,
We have successfully completed the first little leg of our African adventure, which was 2 nights "glamping" in the Sabi Sands national park right next to the "Kruger". This was a very, very nice way to ease into the camping/safari activities that will come to be in the next 50 or so days. Sabi Sands is located about 4.5-5 hours out of Johannesburg however upon our return, dad chose the scenic route, which took us a couple extra hours but was quite incredible. When I first flew into Johannesburg the main thing I realized was just how green and flat the landscape was but this scenic route took us through the mountains and hillsides, which was something, spectacular. We visited waterfalls, canyons and rainforests (very similar to the Blue Mountains and Katoomba in Sydney but more awesome cause this is South Africa!!!)
"Glamping" was something I had experienced before but not quite to this high standard. We had air-conditioning in our tents along with an enclosed private shower. Plus with leopards and panthers wandering around just outside our tents, who wouldn't add that into the incredible atmosphere of this place. Dad chose the 2-night bush camp with Tydon Safaris which included 3 game drives where we saw 4 out of 5 of the "Big 5". We saw the buffalo, elephant, rhino and leopard just missing the chance to see the lion. Except who could complain with the amount of other animals we saw including impalas, antelopes, dear, giraffes, zebra, monkeys, baboons, hyenas, rabbits, jackals and the beautiful birds. This safari was different because the 4WD jeeps were fully open (like a convertible car) so we had no protection if a hyena just happened to jump onto the seat next to you (which I was assured wouldn't happen but that didn't stop me freaking out!)
A bittersweet moment (bitter for me, sweet for dad) was the last 10 minutes of our final game drive where our guide Debbie, spotted the leopard. It was about 8.15pm and dark by now but we had the spot light out and shining on this beautiful and magnificent cat. But the cat was not concerned with the 3 safari trucks and ridiculous amount of papparazi by all of us, it was on a mission … it was hungry. We saw it stalking this little, happy bunny rabbit (which looked so cute, it could easily be a pet in Sydney) and before we knew it, about 4 meters away from our safari truck, it pounced. The cry for help from the rabbit was heart wrenching (almost made me a vegetarian) but that's the wild for you! To see a leopard (especially at night) was lucky enough as we had not spotted any cats thus far, but to see in action hunting and killing was a one in a million chance. Such a fantastic way to start our trip!
Next stop is Port Elizabeth to watch the second cricket test match with Australia and South Africa (not that cricket is my thing but it's all about the atmosphere apparently) and then it wont be long until we start our 40 day tour from Cape Town, South Africa up to Nairobi, Kenya.
Catch you on the flipside!
- comments
Bart I'm glad you've set up a blog Kathryn! Looking forward to your blogs as we're not that adventurous at the moment :) have fun and say hi to Mr. T!
Robyn Moore Well the first couple of days of your world adventure couldn't have been more exciting. The leopard encounter must have started your heart racing!
Josie Woods Oh yeah standard .... Sounds bloody hectic I'm that jealous !!! Wait till I read that to Doug ....
Chozza Yippee what an amazeballs start! Missing you already. Safe travels honey
Tenza Amazing KA. What a wonderful thing to do. So jealous, I have never been there and always wanted to. You have sparked up the travel bug in me again. Oh to be 19 again.