Stuart picked us up at Joburg International last Friday and we ate lunch with his family. Afterward, we passed the afternoon watching Doogie Howser’s independent film, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” If you like corny and inappropriate comedies, go and download it now.

On Saturday, I attended Warwic’s bachelor party (while Hayley went to Robyn’s bachelorette), which was held at his groomsman’s house. The backyard was built for parties with a huge outdoor patio overlooking a pool and braaii (BBQ) area. We talked, ate and drank while Warwic was forced to wear a Borat bathing suit.

We relaxed most of Sunday and Monday, walking around malls and eating with friends. On Tuesday through Friday, we stayed at a B&B called Amritz in Boshoek which is two hours outside of Johannesburg, near Sun City and the Pilansberg National Park. We had trouble finding the place due to road construction, but after finally arriving we couldn’t have been more pleased with our accommodation. Staying on an African farm was a unique experience, although the lodge had all the comforts of home and was very chill. The hospitality of the owners made staying there one of the highlights of our South Africa trip.

Wednesday, we drove through the Pilansberg National Park and spotted a cheetah! It was relaxing under a tree, watching a few zebra in the distance. We also spotted many rhino, and at the watering holes we saw groups of hippopotami sunbathing together. We ate lunch at the park café and watched warthogs, vervet monkeys and exotic birds relax at a nearby watering hole.

The next day we visited Sun City. We walked around, had lunch overlooking the lake and jumped on trampolines. Included in our admission were two free coupons for sixty Rand, fifty of which I played on one hand of blackjack. I was dealt a four, then luckily a seven came up next. The dealer showed a ten so I doubled down- always double down on eleven, baby. It paid off as the dealer flipped over a face card on my eleven! I picked up the chips and cashed out for 150 Rand.

Unfortunately, our luck ran out while driving back from Sun City. Our car bottomed out on an unfinished dirt road, cracking the protective plastic cover under the car. After dealing with the ridiculous, unnecessary bureaucracy of car insurance companies and local police stations, we finally registered our claim. Unfortunately, we will not be able to get the car fixed before we leave, but luckily we have friends that are helping us out. I suppose we were lucky that the damage was localized to protective shield, but we feel badly about damaging a car that isn’t ours.

We drove from Boshoek to Kyalami on Friday for Robyn and Warwic’s wedding. We stayed at another nice B&B called the Blue Gum Lodge. Our room was enormous, comparable to a princess suite in a Las Vegas hotel. Being a B&B, homemade breakfast was included. It was a steal at $100 per night.

The wedding was held at Her Majesty’s, a beautiful rural venue that has a true African bush feel. The ceremony site was a rustic looking chapel overlooking acres of golden grass fields. The wedding was definitely one of the most beautiful that I’ve attended. The food and cake were delicious. There was an open bar for drinks, and everybody I talked to was open and welcoming. We danced until midnight in good company then drove the short way back to our B&B.

After eating a hearty breakfast the next morning, we drove back to Joburg and ran a few errands before meeting up with the wedding party for the after wedding brunch. We ate at an elegant Greek restaurant and chatted with friends. After a few hours, we said our goodbyes.

I started writing this entry last night while watching Da Vinci Code. Unfortunately, the movie was much worse than the book. I switched the channel to the Bourne Ultimatum- what a relief! Today we saw District 9 and ate crépes and waffles at Milky Lane. Tomorrow we fly to Sydney.

Continued down under…

Tags: cheetah, kyalami, pilansberg, rhino, south africa, Travel

Three waking hours and a sleeping pill later, we arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. For two days we relaxed, met up with friends and got used to driving on the opposite side of the street. We shopped for groceries, setup temporary cell phones and set off the house alarm, sending ADT security out for a visit. On the third day, we packed the car and departed for Kruger National Park.

The drive was mostly fine, aside from an accidental two hour detour through who knows where. We took a wrong turn after stopping for gas and ended up driving through a “Hi-Jacking Hot Spot” and Belfast, an ultra sketchy town somewhere north of Pretoria. With the help of Stuart’s GPS and by following some guy in a BMW, we were able to navigate ourselves back to a main highway.

We arrived at the Orpen Gate around 4:30 PM. There were two checkin points: one at the park entrance and one at the Satara campsite. We were informed at the first point that the final checkin time for Satara, the second checkin, was 5:30 PM. The confirmation email recommended two hours for driving from the gate to the camp. We had just under an hour. Damnit.

Driving on the main paved road through Kruger, we nearly ran over two snakes crossing the road. We saw plenty of baboons, buck and giraffe. We noticed a gathering of cars at one point. Two guys tried to point out the cheetah to us, but we just didn’t have the quality binoculars to see it or the time to wait. Unfortunately, we didn’t see another cheetah the whole trip. We arrived at 5:28 PM and Hayley ran straight to reception to check us in.

Our unit number was F150, situated in a circle of fifteen or so thatched huts all surrounding a flat area of dirt and tall thorny trees. The rest of the night we relaxed, ate dinner, unpacked and read. Gates open at 6 AM around Satara, so we set our alarm for 5:30 AM and had an early night.

Up at the crack of dawn, we brushed our teeth, ate a small breakfast, and drove into the bush. Our first encounter was with five or so grazing Buffalo, one of the animals that comprise the “Big 5″ most dangerous animals to hunt (now known as poaching). The others include elephant, lion, rhino and leopard. To see all five in one day is very rare, but we were already off to a good start.

We passed many different types of buck: water buck, impala, kudu, nyala. We also saw plenty of exotic birds, giraffe and zebra grazing near the side of the road. About an hour into the drive, we spotted a rhino, our next “Big 5″ sighting. We sat for a little while and watched, but he wasn’t doing anything exciting so we moved on.

Another hour later and we had our first elephant encounter. We spotted a family off to the left side of the dirt road, grazing under a few trees. They were absolutely enormous, the male was probably triple the mass of our VW Polo. We waited for a little while until one of the younger (although still enormous) elephants walked our way. We cut the engine to avoid any trouble, watched it move within thirty feet of us then head up the road a little ways. It stopped to eat the bushes on the side of the street and we wanted a better look, so we started inching closer. The elephant was using its tusk and foot to break thorny branches and scoop them into its mouth. It was an absolutely incredible sight. We were probably within ten feet of the elephant driving slowly past when it waved its trunk and ears aggressively at us, blowing air through its trunk. We stopped, let it do its thing, then slowly inched past it. I kicked the accelerator a little hard at the end and I think I spooked him a bit, but we pulled away safely so all was good.

Adrenaline fading, we drove another few kilometers before noticing a few cars parked on the side of the street, implying something good to be seen. We pulled up to one car, and they pointed out the pack of lions relaxing under a distant tree. We stopped and took some photos and video. Relaxing in the shade to avoid the hot sun is typical of lions, but also fairly boring to watch from a distance. We watched for fifteen minutes or so before heading back to camp for lunch.

Our sunset drive started with possibly the best sight of the entire trip. Driving slowly on the paved road, Hayley alerted me to slow down as a Hyena was running our way. I stopped the car, and it was running urgently towards something we couldn’t see, passing two feet in front of our bumper. We watched it run away then made our way around the bend, revealing the Hyena’s destination. A dead giraffe carcass lay sprawled out under a tree off to right of the road and vultures were circling above. We parked and watched as another Hyena dug into the beast, ripping skin and meat from the giraffe. A whole flock of ten or so vultures slowly inched their way closer to the kill, but the Hyena regularly snapped at them, a warning to keep their distance. We watched for a while then drove off, leaving the other cars that had collected on the road.

On our way to the main water hole, we saw an Ostrich running off in the distance. We saw several buck, giraffe and zebra before finding a huge lot of cars parked a few kilos up from the dead giraffe. Off in the distance we spotted (actually, were shown by another game viewer) our final “Big 5″ animal, the elusive Leopard. Relaxing on the limb of a tree, the Leopard seemed pretty mellow, enjoying the shade that the tree had to offer. Its tail hung limply off the branch and its head was propped neatly against a smaller branch. We drove forward to as many vantage points as possible and then made our way to the watering hole.

While the main watering hole offered stunning views of the landscape, there wasn’t really much to see. We saw many birds, including two fish eagles communicating to each other across the river. Occasionally they circled the area, looking for prey, but would always return to the limb of a tree and keep watch over the valley.

A dirt road curves around the main watering hole in Satara, and we took it hoping to see animals that we couldn’t spot from the main road. While we didn’t see anything at the main watering hole, just off the dirt road is another manmade watering hole, and at the time eight or so elephant were drinking and splashing each other around it. We were stunned by the site, and even more stunned when we realized that there was another elephant hidden in the bushes on the other side of the street, grazing on some nearby bushes. We sat next to another car for a while, watching and taking in the surroundings. After ten minutes, a few elephants by the manmade watering hole starting making deafening noises, calling towards our left. In response, we heard similar noises off in the distance. After another few minutes, a new group of elephants arrived and joined their friends by the watering hole.

After the elephants passed, the car in front of us (our scape goat) moved on. The nearby elephant was still there, but he seemed pretty occupied, so we followed the other car. The road dead ended in a small cul-de-sac, offering an incredible view of the fifteen or so elephant playing around the water hole. The large animals were drenching themselves, spraying water and drinking, while the babies played near a smaller manmade water hole off to the side. We watched for a while after the other car drove off. It was truly an amazing sight.

We decided to pull out of the cul-de-sac, which is when the trouble started. A new, large SUV pulled up next to the nearby elephant in the bush. Seeing the threat, the largest elephant by the watering hole started running toward them, stopping half way with his ears propped out and his feet set apart. The car backed up a little bit but didn’t move. We were stuck in the cul-de-sac watching this happen, worried about what would happen when the whole herd saw us. The dominant male elephant trumpeted to the young adult in the nearby bushes. Five minutes passed (or at least it felt like it) before the nearby elephant walked across the street to join the group. We were relieved. We took off and didn’t look back.

On our way back to camp, we saw Giraffe drinking from the main watering hole with their front legs spread apart to help them reach the water. We also saw another giraffe family, one of which was covered with tick birds. We had a braai (bbq) then went to bed.

The next day started slowly. We saw plenty of buck and zebra, but few big game. We spotted one elephant walking in the road and another near a creek bed. Before grabbing lunch, we drove by the main watering hole. To our surprise we found countless elephant drinking and playing around the small reservoir. They were discretely divided into three groups, and we witnessed one quarrel when a large elephant tried to join another group. The males from the group ran over and stood their ground, protecting the baby in their group. It ended pretty quickly though, with no real confrontation.

We also saw herds of impala and zebra drinking from the watering hole. Occasionally they would jump backward while drinking, spooked by something in the water. Soon afterward we saw a crocodile walk up the bank and relax in the sun.

After lunch we went back to the watering hole and saw that the dirt mound in the middle of the reservoir was moving! The hippo had been very still for the entire day or longer, probably enjoying the deepest area of the reservoir. It raised its head occasionally to breathe but would always lazily let it fall back down underwater. We saw a family of mongoose, watched the fish eagles, witnessed a beautiful orange African sunset, then drove back to camp for dinner and an early night.

The last day we didn’t see much wildlife on our way out. We followed the GPS home, which took us through a few small towns and then on main national routes. It was a much more relaxed and pleasant drive than the first. We stopped at Spur, a popular american food chain in South Africa. This one was the “Big Bear Spur”. Hayley snapped a picture of me in front of the sign, then we made our way back to Johannesburg.

We spent two days relaxing and visiting with friends, including a delicious dinner at Robyn and Warwic’s, before flying down to Cape Town. I will describe this in another post. Plans include wine tasting, visiting the southern cape, and riding the tram up to table mountain. Also I will document driving our craptastic rental car down some of the sketchiest roads in the world.

Tags: buffalo, elephant, hippo, impala, kruger park, leopard, lion, rhino, south africa, Travel