Day 11 Sabi Sabi

Today they awakened us with a knock on the door at 06:00. I was really groggy and had a hard time waking up. We were supposed to be at the Land Rover by 06:30 for our morning drive, and we needed to get coffee and pastry before we left in the lodge. Susan was faster getting ready than I for some unknown reason (she normally take 5 times longer), but I just couldn’t wake up. So, Jonas called our bungalow saying everyone was ready and to hurry. When I went by the coffee and pastry they had put it all away, and I can honestly say that I don’t do well without my morning coffee. Maybe I should give up coffee for Lent this year because I appear to be addicted to it!

They actually had warm water bottles under the blankets on the Land Rover for us, so I curled up with one and was in a fog the whole drive… drifting in and out of sleep. The animals stir more at dawn and dusk, so it is the best time to see them… and winter, as it was now, was even better yet! We saw just about everything but zebra and giraffe. There was a male lion sitting on a termite hill and we drove up within about 15 feets and watched him for a long time. Apparently, the animals think that the Land Rover is just another animal unless someone stands up or makes too much noise, so it was an awesome experience to be close to such a lethal animal. The tracker on the front of the Land Rover said he has been brushed by the lion’s tail before without even being afraid. If that were me it would be time to change my Jockeys!

We saw the leopard’s kill from the night before hanging in a tall tree with the leopard at the base of the tree to fend off any unwanted interlopers. Again, we were within 15 feet of the animal and it was breathtaking to experience. Susan was grossed out by the half eaten carcass, but as the song in the “Lion King” says, “Akunamatata” and that is the circle of life.

The only animals that don’t seem to think a Land Rover with people in it is one animal are the elephants. They don’t like anything getting to close to them, and we got amazingly close to them as well. What is bizarre is that they can be just a few feet away and the huge animals are virtually invisible! With their big padded feet you don’t even hear them… but if you get too close, they flap their huge ears forward and charge at you to warn you away. If you don’t move then, they charge at you to kill you. Obviously, the guides and trackers are well aware of their habits so they back off quickly.

After the morning game drive we returned to the lodge for breakfast…. again an amazing treat. As for me, I finally came around when I had my coffee!!! I was finally ready to greet the world and enjoy the day. It doesn’t take much, but without it I just don’t function that early. Then, shortly after breakfast we went out on foot on a game walk. The rangers took us and had us in single file with a guide in the front and rear carrying rifles for protection. We got about a mile or so away when we ran into a herd of buffalo, and the Cape Buffalo is one of the most dangerous animals in the bush, so we skirted wide around them and returned to the lodge in about an hour. Along the way our guides stopped to show us different plants and smaller animals, so it was wonderful!

We had a couple of hours of free time to relax or nap before lunch in the lodge. It was also buffet style and wonderful and we all sat together during that time. We did notice that there were Spaniards, Brazilians, French, Japanese, Chinese and other nationalities of English speaking countries, so there was always someone interesting to talk with during these down times. They had internet but it was slower than dial up, so we gave up on that.

The evening game drive as a repeat of the night before, only longer… from 3:30 PM to 7 PM. We saw many elephants, rhinos, and hippos, but the treat of the night was a baby white rhino with its mother. The baby was so cute and little and uncoordinated that you just wanted to pet it. It was intrigued by our Land Rover, but when it got too close Mommy Rhino stepped in and turned him around. She had two horns, but the larger one (furthest out on the snout) was about 4 feet long and it was just about the height of my knee in the Land Rover, so despite the cuteness of the baby, I was relieved to back away. You cannot imagine how privileged we feel to have such an intimate experience with an almost extinct animal!

The final treat of our drive was spotting a male and female pair of hippos. During the daylight hours the hippos keep to the water to remain cool and protect their skin which has some delicate skin pigmentation. At night they forage up to 20 kilometers away (based on how plentiful food is for them). We learned never to come between a hippo and it’s pool of choice as they are very territorial and will kill humans in an instant if they happen to cross their paths in the morning when the hippos are heading back to their territory. More people are killed by hippos each year than any other animal in Africa.