It was about an hours drive from the sanctuary to the game lodge with Gavin, my driver. he was a rather large man but really nice and extremely knowledgable! I particularly enjoyed his stories about his pet squirrel!! En route we passed over the Oliphant river and Gavin told me about the recent floods they'd had due to the high volume of rain in January, he was telling me about the roads and bridges that were now being rebuilt.. I would see the effects it had on the game reserve in the next few days when being thrown about the jeep as they attempt to drive over some of the roads! I was also quite shocked to hear more about the floods when I was at the lodge. The mere fact that in the one night they'd had more rainfall than they'd had the whole of the previous rainy season brought it all into perspective! It was sad to then hear about how a lot of peoples homes had literally been swept away.. they hardly stood a chance really being metal shacks! We pulled off the main road (after sitting in road works for an unbelievable amount of time!) onto -oh no!- another dirt road.. This one had a toll gate though to prevent people driving up and down the road because it was actually part of the reserve. On the way up the road we stopped because there was a bird sat on top of the fence next to us, Gavin said this was a lilac breasted roller and he wanted me to see the underside of its wings as it flew away.. as it took off I saw all the different shades of blue on its wings.. When we started driving again we had to stop fairly soon because there were 2 zebra and a warthog in the middle of the road!! As if that wasn't enough I turned to my left to see all manner of animals at a watering hole.. There were impala (small antelopes), a wildebeest (the joke of the animal kingdom, according to Gavin, due to its mismatch proportions) and more zebras and warthogs!! So, I hadn't even got to the lodge yet and I'd already seen a lot... It was looking promising!! Eventually, we pulled into the lodge where a member of staff (Candy) was waiting to greet me with a drink and a fruit skewer.. We sat down and she told me how the itinerary was planned out then took me to my room.. she went to carry my bag for me (all 19.9kg of it) but I insisted I would carry it.. much to her relief! When we got to my room she apologised profusely about the room.. I couldn't see the problem but it was because it was right on the end next to the gift shop, bar and pool but they had a wedding party there so they were all together, there was another couple already in the other room so mine was the only one left.. I thought this was quite funny to apologise for the room but nice at the same time as it showed that the staff actually cared about the guests (a rarity most places these days!) She left me alone to settle in and informed me that lunch would be on the lawn at 2. The room was actually a round hut with a thatched roof (a traditional Rondawel).. Nothing like the hut at the sanctuary though!! I'll post pictures -eventually- instead of describing it. Except I will say it was a little odd that the toilet was in a separate small room but the sink was in the main room.. Then the shower was outside with a high wall around! A completely diferent experience to the outdoor shower at the sanctuary... In fact it was amazing to shower with the sun on you.. no tan lines!! The most memorable thing about the room for me was a piece of decorated card with a hand-written welcome note from the owners (Tony and Alma), that's what the photo is... what a lovely touch!! 2 o'clock.. lunch on the lawn... lo and behold! Pepperoni pizza!!! I had been thinking on my way of how I really, really fancied pepperoni pizza!! This was accompanied by a big bowl of salad with the nicest dressing I've ever tasted (kicking myself for not finding out the recipe!) Then for dessert a pancake with ice cream and chocolate sauce!!! While I was eating, I looked up and there were 2 giraffe grazing about 100m -maybe less- in front of me.. I hardly needed to go on safari!! Nevertheless, at 4pm I went on my first game drive. Because of the wedding party it was just a Swedish couple and myself on our jeep.. suited me! Our driver was Nick and Rogers would be our tracker. Wow! My first game drive was something special! Saw loooooads! In addition to what I'd already seen we saw a female cudu ( a big version of the impala) which is extremely rare to spot apparently, some elephants and we did find a few lions but they were in some thick bush quite far away so we could barely see them! This is the first time I realised how crazy Rogers was... He got out of the jeep to find the lions, without the rifle. He just strolled right through the bushes quite close to them. When Nick went to follow him he took the rifle and a walkytalky... When we were about to have sundowners (drinks and snacks at sunset) they were told oover the radio that a leopard had been spotted coming our land moments ago so we packed everything up and went in search of the elusive leopard... No luck though!!! That evening we had dinner in the boma, tables around a bonfire... The staff, Candy and Lena, told me to sit next to them (as they ate with us) so that I wouldn't be on my own.. I needn't have worried though the guests from the wedding were more than welcoming! I think they were actually more intrigued how a young girl came to be here on her own! The old couple next to me (the brides father's brother and his wife) were HILARIOUS!!!! They were probably in their seventies at least and very posh.. however, they brought a box of red wine to the table.. in a small hotel like this it seems a bit rude but I learnt over the next couple of days thats just the way he was! His wife was German but funnily enough they lived in Wales, between Abergavenny and Hay-on-wye in the black mountains, they had a riding school and B'n'B. I could go on all night about this couple because they were so funny but it wouldn't be quite so funny.. but these werre a few golden quotes "I hate the Welsh accent, I made sure none of my sons grew up to have such a terrible accent".. "you went to a state school? Well that must have been tough on you?!".. "my sons wife used to cut her hair like a little boy too but now she's a successful architect, we were all so shocked".. on reading those you probably think they were pompous gits.. they were, but they were also really sweet too, they'd just had a privileged upbringing and didn't realise that they were being rude. The food was to die for!! (Except I did have a lovely pile of peas on my plate ) You had homemade bread, starter, main, dessert and tea/coffee... So full!!! I quickly knew the who's who of the wedding party.. the bride was originally from South Africa and the groom was English, they were now living in Hereford... how random! There was a strange mix of guests which kept me entertained throughout my stay plus the bride and groom had 2 young sons... also some funny moments from them! Next morning at 5am a gentle knock on the door... eurgh... Suncream on.. felt weird at that time! Clothes on, including a jumper... definitely weird! But this is what they advised. Went into the bar where they brought us tea and coffee and rusks which are basically very hard biscuits.. dunking is required to get through them! Our group left first.. being only 3 it was quite a lot easier to organise! This drive was even better!! The herbivore animals are all out early so we had plenty of giraffe, zebra, impala and birds. After stopping for a morning tea/coffee break we encountered some rhino grazing in the trees.. it seemed incredible that they were completely calm whilst we sat a few metres away watching them! Difficult getting a good picture of these though as the white rhino can't lift it's head very high off the ground. That was about it for the morning. Got back to the lodge and had some breakfast... There was cereal, fruit, toast, tea/coffee and juices as well as a coooked breakfast. I didn't have cooked breakfast as I was struggling to adjust to all the rich food after the vegan diet.. However, Nick our driver was cooking the eggs which made me laugh, this was the type of place where everyone did everything by the look of it. Then it was nap time.... 2pm.. lunch time again.. The wedding party invited me to sit with them, I politely declined as I kinda liked sitting on my own watching the animals wander past. Then a young couple came over and introduced themselves.. the Swedish couple had left after breakfast and these were their replacements. They were from Kentucky but he was originally South African. They also invited me to sit with them but I also declined that as I would have felt rude for saying no to the others. Again, the food was amazing!!! 4pm.. evening game drive.. James and Aerine (the american couple) were raring to go as they had spent a few days at another reserve and wanted to compare, so we were off long before the other jeeps again.. this was the way it worked out every game drive. We spent a lot of time driving around without seeing much this afternoon, so we spotted lots of birds and things which was nice actually. Then, suddenly, driving along a road I hadn't seen before, Rogers perks up and appears to see something through the mass of bush... suddenly we tear up the road and stop at what looked like a built up picnic area. Nick and Rogers go up the steps and we follow more interested in the views until they tell us that there are lions nearby and point out where to look.. I can't believe they can spot animals that far away.. I could just about see something when Rogers put me to stand in an exact place and pointed right at it!! When another jeep came along we moved on.. only a few yards though before we stopped by the watering hole hoping they'd come to take a drink soon... Another jeep! This is when all the trackers and guides got out of the jeeps and walked down towards the watering hole... as I said, crazy!! Even crazier, a minute later they turned and beckoned us down... everyone remained where they were... they kept beckoning... everyone exchanged confused looks... still beckoning... James, Aerine and I take the lead. When we got down to the watering hole where the guides were we could see the lions faintly through the bushes. Nick passed us his binoculars... SCARY!! It was as if they were stood lying right in front of us... even scarier, they were looking directly at us... even more scary than that, there was a female in the bush very near us!! The guides assured us that we were quite safe.. if we had cause to worry we were to jump into the watering hole as lions are scared of water... handy to know! After about 5-10 minutes we went back to the jeep (slightly relived to be honest) and as the wedding group were going to have their sundowners in the picnic area we drove a little further down the road to an open plain for our sundowners. As we're stood with our drinks and nibbles we notice that the lion pride have started to cross the plain, I think Nick and Rogers probably knew this was going to happen. We're just stood there watching them when the two curious little cubs start wandering towards us... they weren't too brave though and soon rejoined the pride. Next a lioness decided to check us out, she padded calmly towards us but she was still far enough away for us not too worry, she didn't stop though, she kept advancing towards us, with a low voice Nick told us to move calmly behind the jeep.. we did exactly as he said.. she stopped advancing, stared for a minute or so before continuing across the plain with the rest of the pride. Nick told us to get back in the jeep because he thought we could intercept them further up the road. Drinks still in hand, off we went and of course, as the the road rounded to the left, there they were crossing the road in front of us! With the Lions crossing in front of the jeep it felt a bit too close for comfort and then I turned to my left and there was a lion nonchalently wandering along the side of the jeep!! I stopped breathing! Even the very thought of it now makes the breath stick in my chest.. despite Nick reassuring us that we were perfectly safe as long as we were sat in the jeep because they see the jeep as a single unit which is too big for them to attack, you can't help thinking that you are going to be lion food within seconds! I know its a cliche but you can actually feel some sort of fear/adrenalin pulsing through your veins which completely freezes you to the spot! Nick was right though, they were completely ignoring the jeep and just crossing the road around us.
Once the majority of the pride had passed by the other jeeps started to join us so we moved further down the road. Suddenly, 4-year-old Sam spots a lion for the first time... "HIYA!!!".... How stupid did we all feel?! There we are, absolutely peterified and shown up by a 4-year-old!!
It was pitch dark by now so the trackers were using floodlights so we could see what was going on. Nick told us that he thought they were on the prowl looking for some prey. Then as we drove a bit further down the road we stopped right by a herd(?) of impala... floodlights went off... we were going to see a kill.......