The day again started at 4:45 with breakfast drinks and
biscuits at 5:15 and we were ready to go at 5:30.
The other couple had their hats on the seat behind the
front ones and told us we could sit there. (the man wore leg braces and the
front seats weren’t that comfortable for him) Anyway, it was nice to see where
we were going and not have taller people in front of us. It was a bit cool and
rainy this morning and it got worse as the morning wore on.
Our first “big” sighting was a large snail. We joked about
not getting trampled by the large snail. Then we saw some African Spoonbills
which look just like Roseate Spoonbills except white. We also saw or heard some
3 banded Plovers, Aarrow Bock Babbler, Brown headed Parrot and Levaillant’s
Cuckoo.
African Spoonbills
Helmeted Guinea Fowl
3 banded Plovers
There was a lot of chatter on the radio which led me to
think we might finally see lions. The other 4 in the vehicle had not ever seen
any in the wild and of course they were keen to see them before they left. All
of us in the vehicle were leaving right after breakfast.
We took a totally different route than usual and a lot of
talk about something being near the border of Kruger. We came around the corner
and went off road and I could see ears peaking out of the grass. LIONS! I was
hugging Harriet as I knew how thrilled she was to see them. Turned out there
were 10 females lounging around. One in particular was moving away from the
rest of them. Calton said she probably was the dominant female. They said they
don’t see this pride very often. The pride they normally see with the males and
females had crossed over into Kruger a few days before we got there. While the
animals are free to go between Sabi Sands and Kruger, we weren’t allowed to
cross over. So, we had all had given up hope of seeing any.
We watched them for quite a while with the vehicle moving a
few times to get better views for everyone. Calton said we should take our
morning coffee break and then we could come back. He also recommended a book
called Brothers Coalition of the Sabi Sands. Many lion prides these days have
bothers that are both dominant and they stay together. Since it is about the
lions here in Sabi Sands he thought we might enjoy reading it.
We saw more antelope and some Wildebeest on the way to our refreshment break.
After our break we went back to see the lions and they hadn’t moved very far. One was laying on her back with her legs sprawled just like a house cat. So cute.
After our break we went back to see the lions and they hadn’t moved very far. One was laying on her back with her legs sprawled just like a house cat. So cute.
We finally left and found a large herd of elephants with
several babies.
It was now raining pretty hard and we all agreed to just go
back to the lodge. We had seen the lions, and everyone was happy. We got photos
of us looking like drowned rats. We said wouldn’t it be nice if they had hot
towels instead of cold ones and sure enough we were greeted with hot towels and
refreshing drinks.
The lodge had breakfast set up in the covered area with the
fireplace roaring. In our short stay we managed to eat in all of their
potential dining areas.
Charley, Greg, Calton, Annette, ? Rifos, Harriet & ?
After breakfast we went back to shower and get packed to
leave. We noticed a family of Nyala. We followed them back to the lounge area
and they came right up to the bar area. It was a large family with 1 male and
female and lots of babies.
Nyala
Nyala family seen from the bar area
Greg, Annette, Harriet & Charley
Our driver (same one that drove us there from Seasons in
Africa) took us to Hoedspruit, the other airport which was about an hour closer
than the one where we came in. On the way we passed a few other game reserves
and we saw 3 Warthogs trotting by at Kapama Reserve.
from the van window on the drive to the airport
We got checked in and wandered around the gift shop and
waited for us to be called to board. We had a 2.5 hour flight and were served
lunch on the plane. We arrived and found our driver from Iliois Travel to take
us to the ship in Cape Town.
We got to the ship and dropped our things and went upstairs
for dinner at the buffet. We talked to our tablemates who also didn’t make
dinner downstairs. Apparently, they had some really rough weather and the ship
was really rocking on the way to Cape Town. The ship was late getting in due to
that and Princess canceled or rescheduled the morning tours. Then, the got in 2
hours earlier than they thought, but they had already canceled the morning
tours.
Hoedspruit airport waiting to go through security
Hoedspruit airport
from the plane
the drive to the port
on the drive to the ship from the airport
from the ship
Then we watched the Likhwezi Project Band which was the
Culture Show brought on board. They combined song and dance from various South
African cultures accompanied by Marimba drums and percussion. I don’t know how
“authentic” it was, but it was very entertaining.
We came straight back to the cabin to get ready for our
tour the next morning. We have 2 full days in Cape Town before we get 1 sea day
to rest and then 2 ports in Namibia.
Safari Day 3 https://photos.app.goo.gl/YgJmmk83e7nGgLFg7
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