Safari! (Day 3)

   I could have stayed at the lodge for the whole rest of the trip I think.  It was so comfortable and the days were filled with really exciting encounters.

I forgot to mention in the last entry that last night I took a bath complete with wonderfully smelling bath salts. ( I was in my bathing suit of course because the tub was out in the open.)  At first, I was afraid to relax because I made the water too hot and was afraid I would pass out in the tub.  haha  As it cooled down, I was able to fully relax and it was wonderful!  I think I will have to start taking baths again when I get home!

Back to today, we had one last game drive before it was time to pack up and go.  Since everyone but one other girl was going on a special elephant back safari, we had the car all to ourselves.  

The rest of the group setting out to meet the elephants.

This game drive was especially rewarding because we tracked the lions all over the place.  (As opposed to stumbling across them or getting tipped off by the radio.)  We found the tracks right outside camp and followed them over 3 km!  

We then lost the tracks and were about to give up when I spotted one of the lionesses!  EVeryone congratulated me and I felt like a biology super hero.  haha  We watched them for quite a while as they napped.  We then drove on to give the zillions of other cars a chance to see them too.

On the way tracking the lions, our guides showed us a bunch of really interesting things about the plants as well.  We saw a tree that had poisonous sap that people used to kill fish.  Animals like rhinos and buffalo rub their horns on the tree so they poison their opponent when they fight, and to repel insects.  PEople also use the sap to get rid of tooth infections.   We also saw a tree stripped of bark by hungry elephants and got to hold some safari toilet paper.  

We also had the rare treat of seeing a hippo out of the water!

And some Mufasa killers...er I mean wildebeest nervously staring in the direction the lion's sent was coming from.  

Capping off the 4 our of 5 Big Five animals we saw, we stumbled across a buffalo wallowing happily in the mud.

I thought we were all done, but then we found the herd of elephants again on the way back to camp!

I should also mention that we encountered the most rare and interesting creature of all.  Wild girl with neck brace!  haha  Whenever we passed another tour group, they would openly gawk at me, which I am used to, so it's ok.  One man actually took a picture of me and then showed it to his friend and they both laughed.  That was a little more than I was used to, but at least I could provide some entertainment I guess.  I would have given them an autograph too if they had asked for it.  Or you know, told them to suck it.  It depends on what mood I'm in.  :0P

BAck at the lodge, I did some quick shopping and then packed up and checked out.  The ride to the airport was really fun!  We were running late so we sped at 60km/hr through the bush and over the bumps!  It was also very beautiful.  

The trip back was pretty rough on me.  I was exceedingly POTSie which hasn't happened in quite a while.  I slept a bit on the plane and that helped.  I was glad to get back to the boat and get to bed early tonight.  

Safari! (Day 2, Part 1)

  Surprisingly, I woke up on my own two minutes before the wake up call at 5am.  I headed to first breakfast sleepy, but excited.  (We eat like hobbits here.  There is breakfast, snack, second breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, snack, and dinner!)  Usually, first breakfast is just pastries, but they put out peanut butter especially for me and my need for protein in the morning.  :0)  People were so helpful and accommodating the whole trip!  It really helps me to feel included.

   We drove a bit before we saw any animals, but it was well worth it.  The whole game drive up until this point, I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be seeing any cheetahs.  We were driving through wooded areas and I knew that cheetahs needed large open areas to be able to hunt.  Then we came across such a wide open area and I started to get excited.  

Maybe I would fulfill a childhood dream of seeing a cheetah in the wild!  And I did!  In fact, I saw two!  

One even walked just a few feet behind the jeep!  I was pretty much in heaven.  (For those of you who don't know, cheetahs have been my favorite animal since I was nine years old.  I've done reports on them and watched documentaries about them all through school.)  I think I almost cried a little.  As I was watching these beautiful creatures that had captured my imagination for over a decade, I felt connected to my fourth grade self when I watched shows on Animal Planet and dreamed of the day I would be there myself.  I am so glad I made it to one of my childhood dreams!

Scoping out the nearby herd of antelope.  Unfortunately they were too big to be cheetah food, so hunting would have to wait.

A bit of a drive away, we did see cheetah food though.  These smaller antelope species are, as our guides said, the McDonald's of the savannah.  (You can tell by the M they have stamped on their bum.)  Many of the carnivores just love to eat these guys.

Next it was time for a morning snack of biscuits and tea.  

I already have way too many pictures in this entry, so I'm going to split this day up to make sure the e-mail to my blog goes through.  More later....

Safari!

   When I think back on today, it seems like it was a whole week!  It's amazing how much one can get done when they wake up at 5am and stay up until 11pm!  

    I had two flights and an awesome car ride to get to the safari resort.  And I do mean resort.  I was worried because the description said we would be staying in tents, but these are luxury tents with air conditioning, bath salts, and chocolate on the pillows.  I don't think I've stayed in a nicer place in my life!

   Backing up, the flights were pretty standard.  Get on, take off, fly, land.  There was some confusion about me being in a wheelchair, but it all worked out and we got to the flight on time.  An interesting thing about airports here is that it is perfectly acceptable to show up to the airport 40 minutes before a flight.  Security takes about a minute and there aren't any crowds to contend with.  It made for a very relaxing trip.  The airlines also gave us a meal, even on the flight that was only an hour long.  (Take note, airlines in the U.S.)

   The second plane was a tiny one with propellers!  It was quite bouncy but fun.  The airport we came into was in the middle of the South African bush and very small.  Within ten to fifteen minutes of landing we were already meeting with our guides who would take us to our lodge.  I was expecting a bus, like for most of SAS transportation, but we got to ride in a safari car right away!  And what a trip it was!  We saw lots of different kinds of antelope, warthogs, and even rhinos!  

The way they run with their tails straight up in the air is endearing beyond words.  I want one.

You can just barely see the bum of a baby rhino behind the big ones.

Unfortunately also lots of spiders that were bigger than my open hand.  They are like everywhere and it is terrifying to me.

     We were greeted at the lodge with a cool cloth to wipe the just off of our faces and guava drinks.  After a brief overview of our accommodations and the schedule for the next few days, we headed to our rooms to unpack and get ready for afternoon tea.  Instead of numbers, the rooms were given animal names.  I stayed in giraffe.  :0)   I spent probably 80% of that time ogling at the room and taking pictures and about 20% actually unpacking and getting changed.  

Our camp.

No doors or blinds for the shower!  Hope there weren't any peepers. haha

The most comfortable bed in the world.

Our luxury tend from the outside.  

   Afternoon tea was as quaint and fun as it sounds.  There were some sweet and savory snacks accompanied by hot and cold coffee and tea.  After some chatting and noming, I checked out the beautiful beautiful internet on my phone.  It felt strange and wonderful to be connected to the world again.  I did have to check myself though, because I quickly could have slid back into my anti-social internet habits.  

   At 4:30, it was time for the first game drive!  Somehow I managed to get on the least crowded jeep so we all had a "window seat."  The ride in itself was really fun.  Think Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland but without seat-belts and everything is real!  I expected the game drives to be lots of driving and a few lucky spottings of animals.  The rhino we saw about two minutes into the game drive told me my expectations were going to be very much surpassed.  

A rhino blowing kisses at us.  Or smiling.  With rhinos it's always hard to tell, you know.

  Our guides were really funny and loved to mess with us and play pranks.  One of the things the tracker did was to say he smelt something if he knew we were close.  It took us forever to figure out that he knew we were coming up to an animal because of the radio.  We were driving a long and suddenly stopped and he said that he smelled something.  He had us all try to guess what he smelled but none of us did.  We slowly pulled forward and saw...

  Amazing!  There were two lionesses and three cubs!  They were quite active for this time in the day with the little ones playing and nursing and the adults swatting at the cubs when they got to annoying.  I couldn't believe I was seeing real lions in the wild!  It's an almost spiritual experience.  I was in awe as I watched them carry on with business as usual, not giving a single care that we were there.  Even if I ever made it to a safari, I never thought I would be lucky enough to see something like this!

  Eventually, we had to move on to give other groups a chance.  There were tons of antelope, birds, and warthogs to see.  Part way through the game drive, we stopped for a drink and a snack.  I took the opportunity to take some memorable photos. 

Day turned into dusk which turned into night.  Still there was more to see.  Our guides somehow spotted this little guy in a tree by the side of the road.  It's a baby camelian!  

We got another sighting in of the lions before we headed back for an 8:00 dinner as well.

The cubs are nursing.  :0)

Dinner was fantastic as was the setting.  We were at beautifully set tables surrounding a central bonfire.  

By the end of dinner, I was stuffed and sleepy.  I stayed up a bit longer to get in some skype time with my family and then fell asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.  It was an awesome day!