We were up very early today for our first game drive. We were dressed and in the main lodge for morning coffee by 5:45. By 6:00, we were in the safari truck and headed out. Patrick was our guide for the day. Our first sighting was a big herd of water buffalo. It amazed me how the animals were totally unfazed by the big truck and its noise. We were told that they just think it is another animal, nothing out to bother them. Even the impala and antelope didn’t run from it, they would just stay right by the side of the road, eating grass! So the water buffalo were huge and there were a lot of them mixed with a few zebras. Gross fact of the day: in the opening on their head where the two horns meet, insects lay eggs and they hatch into worms and/or maggots. Then these poor creatures are tortured by these things crawling around in their heads. They ram their heads up against tree trunks trying to knock them out. Isn’t that horrible? Glad I could share! We were told that when an animal is scared, they will fight, flight or freeze. Sounds like people. We saw a giraffe at one point, as well. We then went for awhile without seeing too much. Patrick took us on a hunt for rhinos and cats, neither of which we found. We then went on a hunt for elephants, which we did find! We found a family of them on their way to the watering hole. There were two baby elephants playing in the bushes while Mom tried to herd them along. At one point, she squared off and stared at us so long and hard, we had to turn the truck around to have an escape route ready in case she charged us! But thankfully, she didn’t. She just herded her babies along and kept going to the water. We saw kudu (giant elk-looking things) and even more impala. At one point, we stopped and had morning coffee on a cliff overlooking one of the valleys on the mountain. It was breathtaking. And to be sitting there, having a cup of coffee on a cliff in the African bush – the reality of it was just overwhelming and awe-inspiring. We took lots of pictures, needless to say. We did a bit more driving and viewing of zebras and such before heading back to the lodge for breakfast around 9:30.
Breakfast was made-to-order omelettes and some sides like mushrooms and tomatoes. After breakfast, we stopped in the gift shop so my brother could buy a shirt, Mom picked up a verdite plaque of The Big 5 (verdite is a green stone only found in South Africa; The Big 5 are what you are supposed to try to get to see when you are here on safari – buffalo, rhino, elephant, leopard and lion). We explored the grounds a little, found the beautiful infinity pool and a second pool. The view from the infinity pool was amazing. It was set high on a cliff overlooking a green valley with a small watering hole for the animals. I can imagine spending hours up there with that view. After this, we headed back to our rooms. With no television, no internet, no radio, we were at a loss. It was too cold to go to the pools, like I wanted to do. So, Jess broke out her book, I took out the eReader and we read. And eventually took naps. And then read some more. Soon enough, we decided to go up to the bar in the main lodge and just hang out till dinner. All they play on the television in the bar is sports, so I found a British gossip mag to read. It is interesting to realize the people that are *not* celebrities in other countries that seem so big at home. Anyway, dinner was finally ready. The chef had come to talk to us earlier about what we wanted him to prepare for that evening, so we had rump steaks with mashed potatoes and vegetables. There was also chicken and lamb, and a mixed green salad. Dessert was some sort of date and peach concoction. Very gourmet-y. After this, it was back to the room. Jess had finished her book, so I gave up my eReader and started her on a book on that. That left me to play on the computer with no internet. So I organized my photos and listened to some music. We had a 4:00 AM wakeup call for the next morning to go to Kruger National Park, so we turned out the lights about 10:30. I couldn’t manage to get to sleep until after midnight….
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