South Africa -- Day 12

This Tuesday morning was an early riser to get up and out of the house by 7:30 AM. Mart had a doctor’s appointment we needed to get to before starting our journey. When that was complete, we went to the Rosebank Mall for breakfast. We were also going to stop by the rooftop market and see if we could find the people that ripped me off of some merchandise on Sunday. They charged me for something, but didn’t put it in my bag. Unfortunately, we forgot to do this in the hectic-ness of trying to get on the road. We picked up some electronic mosquito repellent (we already had our pills and sprays and lotions). We got on the road.

About an hour into the drive, my brother checked the GPS. Thank God! We found out we were going the wrong way! We turned around and drove an hour back the same direction we had just come from and finally started heading the right direction. We had been hoping to get there in time to do the afternoon 4:30 game drive, but that wasn’t looking promising. We finally arrived around 5:30 PM. To get to the place, you turn onto this horribly bumpy road that you kinda need a 4-wheel vehicle to drive on. My brother’s C320 didn’t fare too well on this road. He had kind of been expecting it having been here before and had contemplated renting a truck just for this mile-long part of the drive, but decided against it. I’m sure he was regretting it after the 4^th or 5^th ravine. We finally made it to the car park, where you leave the car and the get into a safari truck for the 30 minute drive to the lodge and resort. We piled in with all our luggage and we were off. The views were amazing as we climbed this mountainside. At one point, our guide Patrick pulled over and pointed out Mozambique and Swaziland, which borders Bongani. Great pictures.

We finally arrived at the camp, where we were greeted with champagne and juice cocktails in reception. We were taken to our rooms by Security, as you are not allowed to walk around after dark by yourself. We got to our rooms and had our luggage brought in. It was at this point that my brother realized he had forgotten his suitcase! He is pretty sure he never brought it out of the condo. We went into our rooms and boy were they rustic! We realized we were really in the bush. The resort is beautiful but you are in the bush. We had our obligatory mosquito nets around our beds, but the beds looked amazingly comfy. We are in a thatch roofed hut adjoined to my brother’s room by a beautiful viewing deck. But we couldn’t see anything, as it is pitch black out here at night! No stars, no lights – nothing but night… and animals. We got unpacked and called Security to walk us back up to the main lodge for dinner. The chef, Hardy, came out to greet us and tell us about the menu. Currently there was an Indian family staying here, so dinner had been prepared for their taste, a spicy chicken curry and a lamb curry, along with pita, veggies, salad and desserts. It was delicious. After dinner, we sat in the bar for awhile and chatted, called my sister and eventually headed back to our rooms, but I let Security know I would need an escort back up in about an hour.  I wanted to try to get online, as they claimed there was WiFi in the bar. About an hour later, I called for Security again and had them walk me back up to the main lodge. There was no one up and about but me and the staff! I was unable to get a wireless connection, but I did manage to finally get a signal on my phone and called home. I talked to Cyn for a short while (couldn’t talk for long at $3.00 a minute) to let her know I was alive and in the bush and had not yet been eaten by anything! After my call, I packed up my computer, as it was obvious they had no signal and called for Security again (I think they were getting tired of me!). He walked me “home.” By the time I got in, Jess was covered in her mosquito net and snoozing. I showered, as we were told the itinerary for the next morning was wakeup call at 5:30, in the lodge by 5:45 for coffee and head out on our morning game drive by 6:00. I wanted to be ready to go in the morning for the big day!