Day 7 - To Djuma / First Game Drive

So, now for the real fun.

Not that Cape Town isn't cool, but it is not why I went to Africa!

Early get up and off to the Cape Town airport for our flight to Nelsprut from where we would hop on a 12 seat Cessna and fly directly to Kruger Game Preserve.

Everything went pretty well except the weather in Nelsprut was bad enough that the little guys weren't flying. So, on to a bus and about 2 or 3 hours later we were driving into the land where the wild things are.

I don't have the pictures but on the way in our first sighting was of a warthog...or maybe the impala were first...I'm not sure, but the warthog was cool. I see deer all the time.

Of course later I learned that they aren't deer, they are antelope. And oh are there antelope.

When we arrived at Djuma Bush Lodge we were given a quick "safety" brief, you know, things like:
Don't walk around at night unescorted.
Take your malaria pills and use the mosquito nets.
Don't stand up in the Land Cruisers.
Don't feed the animals.
Don't stick your head in a lion's mouth.

Then we were shown to our rooms. Each couple had a nice little cottage with all the amenities of home.

A quick lunch since we were late and the sun was going down and off on a game drive. 12 of us, so 6 to a vehicle. Djuma has their own property that butts up against that of other lodges. None are fenced so that the animals have the freedom to roam. One of the really cool thing about Djuma is that they can drive off the road and follow or seek out the animals. This proved to be very important as we hunted down the elusive lions and cheetah and leopards.

Right outside the camp we ran into this big fella.

This is a white rhino. I know it's black but the color has nothing to do with it.

White is actually supposed to be wide. These guys have wider mouths, or broad upper lips, unlike the black rhino which have a narrow upper lip.

Yeah, you get close enough to check out their lips.

An easier was to tell from a distance is that white rhino shepard their young out in front and the young of black rhinos fall in behind. Interesting huh?

The zebra, and that's with a soft e not a hard e, were just hanging out, chowing down.

We would end up seeing them almost every day. But, it wasn't until we got to Chobe that we would see a herd of hundreds grazing in the open plains.

Ahead of myself again.

We almost didn't see the giraffe.

I never would have thought their camaflouge would work so well.

As you can tell it was starting to get dark though and things were getting harder to pick out.

But, as the sun went down we were introduced to a new and nightly custom.

The SUNDOWNER.

I've started practicing the tradition at home now as well...except when I'm on call...which is all the time...except tonight!

Anyway, we park in some place with a great view, watch the sun go down, relax, and enjoy a tasty beverage of our choosing. They don't bring out a complete bar so you have to put your order in ahead of time. My drink was gin and tonic (to fight off malaria). By the end of the trip I had converted several others as well. Leigh chose the vodka tonic. She's not a big gin fan.

After the sundowner it was back to the game drive. But, this time with the help of a million candle power spot light.

Nights are cat time and I couldn't wait. I love big cats!