10.4.09
I got up bright and early at 5 and got ready and was eating breakfast by 0530. SAS doesn’t want us to take food out of the dinning halls – so this morning they were opening the cereal boxes for us. That is slightly ridiculous.
Anyway, the safari was split into 2 groups because they couldn’t get us all onto one flight. My group is the early one and we had to be at the bus at 6am. We take a flight from Cape Town to Joburg to Kruger. The other group leaves at 8am and flies direct to Kruger from Cape Town. Well it turns out that the tour company gave our field office the wrong names of who was in what group. I was in the right group, but about 6 people got kicked off our bus and had to wait until 8 and then a few other people got phone calls at 0615 saying they had to be on the bus in 5 minutes. That really sucks because they thought that they had 2 more hours.
Our bus ended up leaving at 0645 due to the mix up with the names. We made it to the airport about 0715 and we got checked in and through security and we were at the gate by 0740. It was close, but we all made it. I kind of felt like the family in Home Alone running through the airport. It made things exciting – that’s for sure.
We got to Joburg without any incident. We had to get our bags and then had about 20 minutes before we had to go through security again. Leigh-Anne, Becky and I walked around a bought some snacks. We even tried some ostrich jerky. It tasted like normal jerky, but just a lot chewier. We made it through the security quickly – it amazes me at how lax they are.
We were delayed getting on our plane so we sat on a bus for about 20 minutes. This is when I realize my one flaw in packing. While I have all the clothes, extra batteries, bug spray and sun screen I could want – I realized that I did not have my camera. I had my video camera, my small SD400, my Flip, and my zoom lens, but NO 20D. Yep, I went on a safari without my camera. Guess that is just another reason to come back. But we finally drove out onto the tarmac and boarded our puddle jumper. It was probably the worst 50-minute flight ever. The plane was tiny and we flew through clouds and it was super bumpy. I was glad to be back on the ground. The airport we landed in was pretty much amazing. It was designed to look all lodgey – kind of like the Animal Kingdom lodge at WDW. It was awesome. I think that every airport should be themed.
We found our bus and drove to our resort. Becky and I entertained ourselves with the South African version of Cosmo. It was very different then the one from home. I actually liked it better. Maybe it will get a subscription to that Cosmo.
We made it to the resort and it is SO NICE. Leigh-Anne and I are roommates so that was nice. We dropped our bags in our room before heading back to the main area for some lunch. Our rooms = amazing. We each have a nice soft QUEEN size bed complete with lots of fluffy pillows… heaven.
Lunch was served buffet style by the resort cooks. It was delicious. They had carrots, chicken, beef, spinach, rice and venison stew and so much more. Coming from ship food to that was a nice surprise. I even packed granola bars in case the food was bad. Needless to say, those will remain uneaten.
After we had all eaten, we headed out to our safari vehicles. All the guides were just hanging out next to them. Leigh-Anne and I jumped in one, claiming our window seats, and hoped we got one of the cute guides and not the one with the peg leg. Although, that could have been intense because I am sure that he lost it some crazy way like a hippo ate it or he got charged by a rhino. This is Africa after all. When ended up with John as our guide, which was fine by Leigh-Anne and I. He grew up in Kruger. His mom is an Afrikaner and his Dad is from Kenya. He was a great guide. Right off the bat we saw Elephants!! What a great way to start.
We ended up staying out for about 3 hours. On the drive we saw 3 of the big 5. The Big 5 came about during the days of big game hunting. The Big 5 consist of leopard, lion, buffalo, elephant and rhino. They were considered to be the hardest animal to hunt. One the first drive of the big 5, we saw elephants, rhino and LIONS! We also saw impala, baboons (but not the kind that rafiki is…yeah I asked) and antelope. It was so fun! I can’t freaking believe that I am in South Africa on a freaking safari! It is so beautiful!
We made it back to the lodge just after sun down. Leigh-Anne and I walked around a bit. The resort is huge! I think my favorite part is the golf course sign that reads “Watch Out for Golf Balls, Hippos and Crocodiles.” Best sign ever. We eventually found some swings that you stood in rather then sit, and we played on those for a little bit.
We ate dinner down in a little hut/bar thing by the golf course. It was just a delicious as lunch was. I ate with Becky, Alex, and Leigh-Anne. We had some rousing conversation about being a vegetarian, gays at WKU and this trip in general. I really want to Alex again he has some very interesting points of view.
Leigh-Anne, Becky and I decided to walk around a bit after dinner, while Alex went to bed. We weren’t walking very far when we met another South African here on holiday. We started chatting and he asked us if we wanted to see a baby owl. Turns out he and his Dad saw this baby owl fall out of its nest. The Dad had picked up the baby so now the mom will reject it. So they are taking it home with them. The baby was so cute!!! I have never seen an owl that up close in the wild. We got to talking and he is from Joburg and his dad is currently living in Dubai. They have been coming to this resort for 20 years. They were super nice. He asked us where in the States we were from. When I said Tennessee he was like “Whiskey!” Then Leigh-Anne said Alabama and he started singing “Sweet Home Alabama.” That was pretty entertaining.
We eventually headed back to the room and fell asleep watching Disney channel.

NOTE: South African Accents > Australian accents > British Accents. Not only do South Africans have the best accent ever, but everyone here is also really passionate about animals. All they can talk about is how serene South Africa is and they are so right. Being out in Kruger and hearing nothing but the animals was incredible. It was kind of like the boundary waters. I can’t wait for tomorrow! I love
South Africa!!