Landing at 6 pm in O.R. Tambo Airport in Johannesburg was a relief. It ended up being just around 15 hours of flying time. Vinnie and I both slept most of the night waking to the turbulence which seemed to occur only once in a while. It was a pretty uneventful flight. Thank goodness!
Hayden Elliot, our guide and owner of Outdoor Africa, met us at the terminal. Our driver, Gilbert, who works for the guest house in which we stayed was super helpful loading all of our bags. He drove us to Africa Sky Guest House, a B&B guest house about 10 km from the airport. It was nice to arrive and get moved into our room. We finally ate dinner around 8:30 at Africa Sky. The folks there are super friendly and the food was REALLY good! I had a fish which I thought they told me was called Rocklips, but evidently that might not be the real name because no one else has ever heard of it. Whatever it was, it was yummy! (Editor's note: Mrs. Jensen was actually served klipfish.) Vinnie had lamb (feels like England)!
The next morning we had a leisurely walk around the facility. Bradley and Calista made arrangements to meet back up with a guide from the guest house on their trip back through Johannesburg on December 20th. Hayden arrived around 10 am to drive us to our first game destination. It was a long 4+ hour drive due to the traffic and road conditions. The main roads in SA are actually quite nice, very much like home. In fact SA has surprised/pleased us with it's cleanliness and friendly people. The infrastructure seems to be much like the US, but the poor people are really poor, not like the "poor" in the U.S. Everyone keeps their homes clean and even the "shacks" are well made and spotless. Mind you, we didn't go into the city! I'm sure that is a totally different story. Anyway, Hayden filled us in on all the ins and outs of South Africa on the way and was very good pointing out all the gold mines (most not in use) and the platinum mines which are in use.
We arrive at Thakadu Guest house which is located up on the border of Botswana and SA. We are actually in the Madikwe Game Reserve which is HUGE. We arrived at 3 pm, were quickly shown to our super cool room, had a quick afternoon Tea and jumped right into our first game drive at 4 pm! We saw lots of animals: Kudu, impala, wilder beast, zebras, lots of birds, elephants and a crocodile. The vehicle is bumpy but we stop often to be able to take photo's and look around. Our guide from the game ranch was named Patience, who was the first Black female game guide in South Africa. She was very knowledgeable and between her and Hayden we were regaled with stories and theories about each animal and plant we came upon. I couldn't begin to tell all of the stories never mind recall the names of many of the birds. The most exciting moment came when we were stopped watching the elephants, 4 young one's and one adult. The youngsters had crossed the road right in front of us and were followed, slowly, by the adult female. She did not like us being there so walked up to the front of the car and started to charge it. The guide honked her horn and started the car and thankfully she backed off after giving us the hairy eyeball for a moment or two. Vinnie has it all on film so we will post it when we get a decent connection. I admit it was scary! Dad lost his sunglasses after we stopped for our evening libations (wine and other alcoholic drinks). They must have bounced off his head. bumpy ride!
At 9 pm we arrived back from our drive, tired but still excited about the day we'd had. Dinner was an outdoor BBQ with formal seating spread around a huge open fire. The food was pretty good, but not being that hungry might have affected my opinion. Vinnie and I both fell in bed, exhausted and slept till waking to a screaming something at 4:30 am.
We are "Glamping" which consists of a permanent frame that has a very nice tent bungalow with shower, toilet and sinks on one side and bed and sitting area on the other. Hung over the bed is a air conditioner that blows very cold air down onto our faces at night. we turned that thing OFF. The back wall opens up with huge glass sliding doors overlooking the slow moving river below. This morning as I jumped out of bed to see what the screaming was all about, I saw two antelopy things below us. Very Cool!
This morning we had a second game drive that we had to meet for at 5:20 am. Vinnie bravely chased of the monkeys that were helping themselves to the fruits and cookies that had been laid out along with the coffee bar. Coffee was available but I didn't take any since I feared what might occur about 30 minutes later. We aren't allowed off of the vehicles (I guess they are scared you might get eaten) or even to stand while in the vehicle. Anyway, we departed around 5:30, just the four of us (my father, Bradley, his friend Calista, Vinnie and me) along with our private guide, Hayden, and the ranches guide, Patience. It was rather chilly so we all had our jackets and were bundled up tight. It was a windy day and I guess that means the animals lay low. We did find two, elusive and running, black Rhino's along with much of the same as yesterday. Vinnie spotted two giraffes in the distance which we were able to shoot. I sat in the back to begin with but it was so bumpy that I moved to the front when we stopped for refreshments ( along with a quick pee in the bush. very brave of us!) We had been trying to find some leopards or lions but they were not to be found. We arrived back at the guest house around 10 am and immediately had breakfast. Our room had been cleaned when we arrived back so I showered while Vinnie tried to figure out the plugs in the room and started to recharge all the batteries. I'd opened the back sliding door to let the breeze in. We've been told that we can leave it open all night and nothing will come in. While I was "advising" Vinnie on his computer work, I looked out onto the back deck and saw we had a visitor. A good sized monkey was sitting on the railing just watching us. We took lots of photo's and Vinnie was trying to convince me to move closer (wasn't happening.I've seen movies) when all of a sudden it jumps down onto the back porch and starts to rush towards the open door. I slammed the door shut just in time to prevent it from coming in and having a nap or reeking havoc in the room. I guess we won't be leaving the door open tonight!!
We have another game drive tonight (hunting cats) and then one more in the morning before departing for our next destination.
Okay, quiz time!! Take a look through the pictures and answer any questions you can. The one who answers the most correct wins! At some point I'll be adding little prizes . but I haven't had a chance to shop yet!!
Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy! Vinnie and Anita. OUT!
