Morning - As with most visitors, the safari is my dream come true. This is what I came to South Africa for. The rest was just icing on the cake. Our itinerary didn’t include a game drive the afternoon we arrived, so I was very anxious to see what the day would bring. Our flight from Capetown to Johannesburg was about 1 ½ hours. From there we changed to a smaller plane to Hoedsprit, about an hour flight.
One of the things that continues to amaze me is the level of service by South African Airways. No matter if you are in the air for an hour or 3 hours, you receive a meal and juice, sodas and even wine. Good Food, Unlimited Drinks, Service with a smile – that’s almost extinct in the U.S.A. After a 30 minute drive, we arrived at Jackelberry Lodge where we were met by our hostess, Crystal, with a mango drink and cold towel in hand.
Afternoon – Sweet! We are going on a game drive after lunch. We are taken to our suite – we have the Honeymoon Suite – maybe because I had told our tour operator that it was our anniversary. The room – unbelievable! Our four poster king bed had mosquito netting draped over it. Two of the walls were windows from floor to ceiling for viewing the outside, but with slats we could close for privacy. We had a sitting area, and our two decks had comfy chairs to sit in and relax. Our bathroom had a Jacuzzi tub and shower which led to our private outdoor shower. Everything we could possibly need was there – insect repellent, umbrellas, even a bottle of sherry and chocolates. It was very romantic – totally more than I expected!
Our first game drive – We headed out about 3:30 on our first game drive. We were in a land rover which had enough room for our driver – John, tracker – Lawrence, and 4 other guests. Dennis has totally gotten into photography, so I was afraid that he would be one of those annoying people who are always in your face, blocking the view of the other guests, but he did quite well and only got reprimanded once for standing in the land rover. Our driver pulls over and starts pulling leaves off a tree. He then starts handling them to myself and the two other women in our group. I don’t have a clue what he’s doing, until he informs us that this is our eco-friendly toilet paper. I’m glad I didn’t have much to drink with lunch!
It doesn’t take long before we start seeing animals – zebras and differing species of antelope. Kudus have beautiful antlers and ngalas look like they have long underwear on. We pass a watering hole and stop to watch a group of hippos. We see a baby hippo with his mother.
I’m a big hippo fan, so I can’t believe my luck that I got to see the hippos on my very first game drive. Then we see the elephants – in fact one walks right in front of us. Our guide later tells us that he will probably receive a “talking to” for allowing it to get so close. However, we weren’t following it – it walked right across the road in front of us. At this point it was getting dark, and I was wondering what we could possibly see in the dark. Ah, a leopard! He was trying to climb a tree to get some guinea fowl for dinner. Whoops! He fell out of tree.
Again he tries – no success. A third time we watch him climb the tree. At first I was rooting for the guinea fowl, but at this point I’m feeling a little sorry for the leopard. He has a cut from where he fell out of the tree. Amazing! Our guide says that leopards are one of the hardest animals to find, so we are feeling VERY lucky to have had such a great first game drive! We head back to the lodge to find dinner waiting. After a fantastic meal served out in the open, it’s time to head for bed. We return back to our suite to find our bed turned down with an animal bedtime story lying on our pillow. Cute! Our wake up knock on the door is at 5:30am.
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