Safaris start early.  The first wakeup is the easiest as it’s like waking up on Christmas day after months of anticipation.  After months of planning and preparation, it’s hard to believe that the day is here and the adventure is about to begin.  

Our lodge has telephones so we get a wake-up call at 5:00 am.   Some lodges don’t have telephones so you will probably get a wake-up knock on the door instead.  

We were up at 4:30 so we would be ready to go at 5:15 when our escort arrived to walk us to the lodge.   We had everything laid out, with our cameras and phones charged along with spare batteries.  Our suite is the furthest so the escort starts with us and we will pick up Susan and Cindy and Brad on our way to the lodge.  

Coffee, juice, and pastries are available for a quick bite before we climb into the Land Rover at 5:30 and head out on our first three-hour game drive.  

GAME DRIVE #1

As we head out down the dirt road,  the skies are starting to lighten and a low mist hangs close to the ground.  The sounds of insects and birds fill the air whenever we slow and the sound of our Land Rover fades.  

What makes African Safaris different from seeing animals at a zoo or a contained safari park is the anticipation of What’s Next.  At any moment animals may appear around the next turn and then after a bit – they may wander off.  During one drive you may see Zebras every 15 minutes and then not see them again for two days.  

The keen eyesight of your guide and tracker is incredible.  They will often stop and point to a small lizard you could barely or a Rhino over a mile away camouflaged by the bush.  

NOTE: One advantage of going to a private safari is that your Land Rover is allowed to drive off the roads and go anywhere to get a little closer.  If you are in Kruger or the other National Parks, your vehicle is restricted to the established roads.  Safari vehicles in public parks are also required to have roofs and higher sides.  

As you drive about in your open vehicle, it’s always a little startling when you find yourself within 10 feet of some rather large and potentially dangerous animals.  On your first drive, your guide will firmly remind you to not stand up or leave the vehicle unless specifically authorized.  Animals view the safari vehicles as non-threatening, mobile objects.  However, if you present a human silhouette then the animal may feel threatened and become aggressive.  The guides won’t carry any weapons on game drives as it’s always easier to speed away rather than confront an aggressive animal.  If you are taking a bush walk on foot, then your guide may carry a rifle.  

Zebras, Wildebeest, and Impalas are the first animals we spot and we are able to stop and observe them within about 20 yards.  

As our drive continues we see Weaver birds and lizards, but nothing more.  After two hours we stop for about 20 minutes for our morning snack.  Coffee, tea, and hot chocolate are available in addition to rolls, muffins, and cookies.  We leave our rest stop at about 8 am and have another thirty minutes until we have to head back.  

As our first drive was wrapping up, we were a little disappointed we haven’t seen more animals, but as I mentioned, there is always the chance of something spectacular around the next turn.  Sure enough, we come upon a tower of 11 Giraffes and they are quite content to stay in the area, munching on leaves and we stand off about 20 yards and observe.  After about 10 minutes we head back to the lodge for breakfast.  

BREAKFAST

Waiting for us is a cold buffet of cereals, pastries, fruit, yogurts, cheese, and meats.  A waitress soon appears to take our hot breakfast order.  As expected the food and service are outstanding.  

While we are eating, we watched as a Vervet Monkey slowly approach the cold breakfast buffet, then quickly hopped on the table, grabbed a croissant in each hand and one in his mouth before making his escape into nearby trees.  

LUNCH

In the daytime, we don’t need escorts so we are able to explore the grounds at our leisure.  Lunch is at 1 pm, and there will be a tea service at 3 pm followed by our second game drive at 4 pm.  The lodge has a spa and bush walks and other activities are available, but we are too exhausted from our early start to do anything but take a nap and get ready for the afternoon drive.  

Our suites have large outdoor circular lounging beds, under a cover, but are open with great views.  While we were relaxing on this bed, Judy spotted a line of elephants, about 1 mile away, walking down a dirt road.  They were visible for a couple of minutes before they disappeared into the trees.  More on these elephants later.  

We had a nice lunch from 1 -2 pm in the main lodge and returned to our suite to relax until our 4 pm game drive.  

GAME DRIVE #2

Before we started our drive, we showed our guide, Peace, the video of the Elephants walking down the road that we observed from our suite.  He knew the location of this road and we sped off in that direction.  

We found the water hole along the road where the Elephants were headed.  Our guide followed their tracks for over twenty minutes until we discovered a large male Elephant munching on some trees.  

NOTE:  We learned that whenever we approached Lions or Elephants, the tracker would leave his exposed “tracker” seat and sit next to the driver.  Apparently, Elephants and Lions are more unpredictable and the tracker doesn’t want to be too exposed or more likely to fall off the Land Rover if we are forced to make a quick getaway.  

Elephants are huge but we are surprised at how quickly these large animals can disappear into the bush as they search for more trees and branches to munch.  

For the next thirty minutes we drove around in search of more elephants and we would find a few here and there and observe them busily pulling branches off trees with their powerful trunks and then moving on.  

As we continued on our drive we came across another tower of 13 Giraffes, more Zebras, Wildebeests, and Kudus.  

Our guide amazed us once again when he spotted a Rhino far in the distance.  We couldn’t see anything, even with binoculars but sure enough, after we raced down the road  – there was the female White Rhino with her baby.  

SUNSET

As the sun set, we stopped for a game drive ritual, the sundowner beverage, and snack stop.  Anything from beer, wine, soft drinks, or gin and tonics were available along with trail mix and other snacks.  

For the final half-hour of our game drive it was quite dark and the trackers would shine a bright spotlight to try and catch the light reflecting from the eyes of an animal along the road.  We didn’t see any animals once the sun set but we did stop for a bit a get a good look at the Southern Cross in the evening sky.  

DINNER

Back at the lodge, we stayed in the restaurant to avoid having to make an escorted round trip from our suites.  Tonight’s dinner was special as it included a local show featuring traditional Zulu dancers along with a traditional grilled buffet.  

We were off to our suite at 9:30 pm.  Rain was in the forecast for tomorrow, so we weren’t sure what weather to expect when the sun rose.  Would we get rained out?