Sabie Townhouse

... Best thing I remember about this final enclosure was how some of them came a little late for food or came back later, stood on their toes to look into Jessica's empty bowl on the ground, saw that it was empty and left again in dismay.

If you're ever near Nelspruit and have a couple of hours to spare, be sure to visit this Chimpansee Eden. It's definitely worth it and the pancakes in the restaurant aren't half bad either, nor is the lodge located on the same premises.

... very
rare, a herd of tsessebe, just off the road. We followed this up with 3
hyena who came onto the road and offered a magnificent photo
opportunity with the rising sun. Next was a honey badger, who tried to
trick us by using a storm drain under the road to hide but eventually
showed himself and crossed the road in front of us. As the sun warmed
up the veld, one by one the usual suspects showed themselves including
a massive bull elephant at ...

... about half a dozen four month old cubs. They were wide awake as it was early morn and watching them at play was priceless. There were several lionesses in the group and one about 11 yr old large lion, looking a bit ragged. The sad fact that the ranger told us was that these cubs will very likely not survive. They looked so beautiful and healthy, we were shocked to hear this. Our ranger told us that the old ...

... is talking to his ladyfriends. The sun is starting to go down, when that wonderful creator, jumps in a tree, providing us with our best picture, so far. We arrive in Lower Sabie to discover that ... the camp is a copy of the previous one. The same but not quite. We have late lunch on the terrace of the camp, with a view. With the rhino, the leopard, the cheetahs and so many other animals, we conclude this was a good day again.

Rugby tonight! We're at the Woodsman Restauarant and Pub to watch the game. In case you don't know, South Africa's Springbok are playing England for the world championship. Everyone's dressed in green and gold...Erik's happy! We think we're finally over the jet lag after sleeping 13 hours last night. Our first night in Johannesburg, we woke up in the middle of the night (no watches, so ...

... from like a pendulum about 120 feet in each direction. The great thing about Africa is that you don't have to sign any liability waivers. I didn't see one the entire weekend. We spent the rest of the afternoon baking in the sun on top the cliff at the edge of the waterfall watching all of us go one by one. This is where I had my first brush with crime in South Africa. Someone stole my shoes. I had left them out to dry from the river earlier that ...

... walked the distance to the site, in the rain there really was nothing to see and we got very wet to boot. About all it did was prove to my newfound friends that I was not a sissy. At Pilgrim's Rest the rest of the group were to have lunch and I was to be dropped off at the Royal Hotel about 1. I felt rather like a piece of lost luggage as none of the drivers had been told by whoever arranged for me to travel with them what my ongoing itinerary on Sunday would be. They ...

... and long enough to lick its own ear. You could smell when herbivores had passed recently. A common conversation was whether the road was scattered with splats (buffalo) or balls (elephants) and how fresh they were. The mopane thickets were good for warthogs. Sparsely-treed grasslands for all the antelopes, kudu, waterbuck, nyalla, duiker and eland. Grasslands offered up a lioness with cubs, herd after herd of zebra and a white rhino. Rocky outcrops hyraxes*** and ...

... eagles, Wahlberg eagle, gray hornbill, southern yellow billed hornbill, African pied wagtail plus many more that we did not get a good enough view of to identify. That evening we went to another all you can eat meat feast. Not great, but for $13 it was reasonable.

Well, well, finally, the real adventure is underway. I don't have the feeling that I've been exposed to South African culture yet, having walked the streets of Pretoria for a few days, visited all the parks in and near Hatfield and heard a few stories. I'm hoping this is going to change at Enkosini, as there will be 12 volunteers inluding myself and I'm sure there'll be plenty of great tips. We'll also be visiting local schools and, of ...