And several elephants - this elephant was resting its leg on the log!
A pretty flower:
And enjoyed the landscape:
Awed at this very large kudu male:
Braked for the mongoose on the road:
But we got to observe a pack of baboons for awhile. One of the large males was scratched and Will thinks it’s because he may have been fighting with another male to fight for the alpha male position:
We saw several baby baboons being carried by their mamas and were jumping around:
There was another large baboon sitting on the hill - we joked he must be meditating!
But then he started mating with a baboon nearby…so definitely not meditating:
Will got excited to see a Verreaux's eagle-owl flying and then saw another as they nest in pairs. We tried to look for them in the tall tree and when Will couldn’t find them, I thought I’d got it. I showed him this picture and he told me it’s just a branch…I tried:
We saw more helmeted guineafowl:
A baby impala:
A large, but aged African Cape buffalo:
But the highlight of the morning is when the Brazilian girls presented their thank you notes to Lucky and Will. I had seen a draft last night and it just makes your heart explode. On Lucky’s note was a drawing of a fish and Will’s had a leopard face.
We learned so much on our 8 safaris. I learned the difference between the cheetah and leopard and that the honey badger is the toughest animal. Will said he really loved our group and Renata declared us the best group of the year! I joked it’s still the first week and we all laughed. But it was such a wonderful experience! I had remarked to Amanda if we should have opted for an adults-only lodge earlier in the week, but we really enjoyed our safari time with the family. Also, as Amanda aptly pointed out, we would have been miserable with all honeymooners.
As we packed up and checked out, some final photos of the interior design at the lodge - a rhino, zebra, and giraffe - oh my!
As we waited for our transfers, we sat with Fernando and Renata in the lobby and then took this ladies only selfie:
Will saw us off and he had his books in tow as he is studying for his level 2 ranger exam. He has to learn so many species! It was impressive how he could navigate the roads, while helping Lucky with the tracks, keeping an eye out for wildlife, and identifying small animals with one glance or one call. This is on top of all our questions! The sensory overload to perform the ranger duties is quite impressive and exceptional. We are so grateful for such an amazing experience. Here’s a view of the empty truck bays with our truck prepared to take us to the airport:
Gladstone was our transit guide and on the way we saw this lion couple by the road! I remarked to Amanda that we’ve seen a bachelor, a pride, and now a mating couple! They were digesting from having eaten and might have just mated, per Gladstone, before the male rolled over (like a dog):
As we approached the airport that was protected by a fence, we saw our last kudu - look at the cool ears!
We returned to Skukuza airport which was super busy with recent arrivals and as mentioned, we had gotten a preview on Wednesday. In front was this rhino statue and the terminal feels glampy (best public WiFi yet though):
We briefly saw the Brazilian family and confirmed they saw the lion couple too! So glad that they got to see a male lion.
We took our 1 hour flight to Johannesburg with a 1 hour transfer to a 2 hour flight to Port Elizabeth on the southern coast. Here’s a picture of me before we enjoyed “the freedom of the South African skies”!
At Port Elizabeth, we successfully picked up our rental car which is a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and drove west 2 hours to Stormsrivier. I booked us at “At the Woods” Guesthouse. There are only independent hotels in the area and many lovely things to see on our next part of our South African adventure!
No comments:
Post a Comment