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Day 1: Safari Adventure
So 5am meet at the safari club to begin our adventure, we had a relatively early night for a 4am get up.... However I don't really think I slept that much because I was way to excited, I don't think sarah did either because she did a lot of shuffling( but that could have been nerves !!!).
Sure enough 5 am we were signing our lives away and off we went. Now, we were expecting to be in a group of up to 12 people but we were actually the only 2!!! So we had a mini bus, driver / guide all to ourselves... Bonus (surely you pay extra for that!!!)
Sidney was to be our driver / guide ( whom I called Stanley till I properly woke up at 10 am!!) he told us the plan for the day. It was going to be 7 hours of driving to get to our first stop over, but it did include some activities to break it up. The first stop was for coffee at a service station.... At first it looked like any service station you would stop at then Sidney (not Stanley!) pointed out some Rhinos!!! Then when we entered I went through to the back and there was a glass back drop where there were ostriches just roaming around!!!! 'Welcome to your adventure' I thought to myself!!! In the road again, which is the straightest road I have ever been on, north to the mountainous region. At about 10.30 we reached Blyde river canyon, the 3rd largest in the world. Wow.... Check out the pictures, but they don't give it justice. Here we became minor celebrities, there were some teenage girls who insisted on having a photo call with us, again pictures show this as Sarah gathers a growing gang around her!! We travel onwards and upwards towards our lunch stop a popular town for Kruger explorers and after picking up a book about Kruger national park and a pair of binoculars we sit and have a beer and locally made quiche. Last wifi spot for a few days so an update on face book allows us to tell the world we have started our Africa adventure!!! Back onto the mini bus at 2.30 so we can make the short journey to Moholoholo rehabilitation centre to learn more about their work and see some of their animals. At 3pm Oscar, one of the workers delivered an engaging and informative introduction, aided by some graphic pictures. He dispelled some of the myths about animal and the human interaction with them, that meant that the work of the centre was not just to fix up the animals that enter the centre and return them to the wild but also to act as a voice to educate farmers in their control of wild animals if they enter their land. Not all the animals that enter the centre necessarily return to the wild, some are too injured and are either put down or remain in the centre for life, the reason for this is their injuries would mean they are too disabling to return to the wild or because they have imprinted to humans. These that live at the centre were the ones we were going to see. Before we moved around the grounds a honey badger was brought in and after a little run around and a stroke it followed the volunteer back to its enclosure!!! Wandering around the first stop were a group of vultures, we stood happily watching them through the fence and listened to their reason for being at the centre, the guide then collected some meat and a glove and I thought great we're going to watch them being fed.... When we too were invited to enter their enclosure and take a turn, I was wow yes please, Sarah was a little apprehensive. She said she would come in but no way was she going to feed them!!! I volunteered for my turn, photos show this and as you can tell from the photos Sarah decided to take the plunge also. Another life experience to tick off the list. Next was to watch a volunteer feed a baby white rhino, something Sarah relished because these are her favorite animal!!!!! Then we wandered to see lions, leopards, Cheaters, wild dogs, hyaenas.... No we didn't go into the enclosure but we got closer to them than we have ever experienced, just a wire fence between us not the double fencing or moat style barrier we have at zoos!!! Finally before leaving we went into the enclosure with some other large birds of prey, various eagles and hawks... One was partial to a stroke!! so I had to do it....why would I pass up this opportunity??!!! Sarah and I took a selfie with another and our visit came to an end. The final part of the journey to our two night stop off on the edge of Kruger national park would take us about an hour, completing our 500km or so journey for the day. On entering the private reserve we went from road to dirt track through a control gate of security, anti-poaching force and then seemed to be on it for 30 mins before arriving at our lodge. We were welcomed with a damp flannel and juice from one of the staff and the owner Olaf welcomed us. We then settled into our thatch roofed hut in the bush!!! A sit around the open fire and a beer later we were in awe of our surroundings, after a lovely meal with traditional dishes prepared by Stefanie (Olafs wife) we settled down for the night... After all we had to leave for a game drive on a 4x4 in Kruger park at 5am tomorrow!!!!
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