May 3, 2012

May 3, 2012

This morning is our first game drive. We received a 5:30am wake up call and were picked up at the boat dock at 6:45am. Chris is our guide and there are three other couples with us. The vehicle is a four-wheel drive and diesel powered. It is open with a roll bar and canvas top.

The first stop was the wildebeest and then we saw two rhino. So far the difference from our last safari is the closeness of the animals. We continued our drive with a zebra sighting and then some impalas, kudo, and a few more. We stopped for coffee where we watched the giraffes. We got back to the lodge around 9:30am for breakfast. The game viewing is much more intimate. You can get closer and because the animals are used to seeing humans and vehicles they don't take much notice. I am impressed with the food too. Everything was made to order and they had a full selection of cold meats and cheeses and various fruits. The coffee was hot.

At 11am we drove to the area where they keep three lions, a young male and two older females. These lions were raised by humans, so they can not be reintroduced back in the wild. The Reserve will not breed them and will just care for them until they die. The current philosophy is that lions that cannot survive in the wild should not be allowed to reproduce.
Hopefully over time this will reduce the number of captive loins. Too many start as pets and then the owner discovers the animal is too much to handle or too expensive to raise and it winds up in a reserve. We learned that hand raised lions are the most dangerous and unpredictable.

Our last thing this morning was a ride on the river. Not much to see but a few birds. Then later in the after noon will be another game drive and the sundowners with the elephants.

With all going on and the big breakfast we skipped lunch. Back to the afternoon drive.

This afternoons game drive took a different route then the morning one and we had a new guide named Richard. We saw black impalas, cape mountain zebra, ostrich, eland, a whole family of giraffes, kudu, nyala antelope, waterbuck, vervet monkey and white rhinoceros.

At the end we stopped to have sundowners with the reserves' three elephant. The sundowners were great, but the elephants were shy and would come close to us.
If you are unaware on sundowners, it is the tradition of stopping while on a game drive in the late afternoon when the sun is going down and having cocktails and small snacks in the bush with the animals. Your guide brings out a picnic basket and amazing things appear. You can enjoy an adult beverage of your choice and watch the animals as the sun sets.

On the way to dinner we saw four Rhino, the two sisters we have seen before and a mother and child.

At dinner we had warthog steak, ostrich steak and crocodile tail. The tail wasn't that good but the two others were very good. It was an excellent meal. The lodge does everything it can to accommodate your needs and make your experience the best possible.

The weather has been better then we hoped, no rain, patchy sunshine. It was cold in the morning, but by early afternoon it had warmed up enough to just be in shirt sleeves. We do have the heat going in out tent and it is very comfortable.

Tomorrow is our last full day here. We have an early wake up for the morning game drive, then we are going to play with three lion cubs and then Evelyn is taking a two hour horseback game drive while I relax. Our tent has a front patio with chairs and a beautiful
View of the small river that runs right in front if it. It is very peaceful and relaxing.


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Hal