Kambaku Safari Lodge Timbavati Private Nature Reserve

... compare to Europe which apparently has only 76.) We glimpsed a few crocodiles, not too many. We saw about 4 different hippo pods. One bunch of about 20 was asleep - half in / half out the water, with their heads all resting on each other. Pretty cool. And just so you know, when hippos are together in the water they are called a pod, when out of the water they are called a bloat!!! Saw a couple of neat lookin' birds - some eagles, a ...

... the morning) if he would be willing to drive and get some bananas. So we were able to at least ensure that every child had a banana to eat - prob not as fulfilling as a bowl of porridge or maize and beans, but better than nothing at all. My little Du-Li was there again and was feeling better so was in happier spirits though she still has quite a serious disposition. Was sad to say good-bye and she cried when I had to put her down (I'd ...

... boy and a girl, who would probably have tried to duck out but we snagged em and they were just too polite to leave!! We went over the lesson with them to get some feedback as to what they thought of it / the difficulty level, etc (as this is a new project). They were great - the boy was very talkative, the girl not so much. Believe it or not, they were 19 and 18 respectively!!! Yes, in Grade 9! We talked about lots of things - music ...

... Don't know if I said before that this little munchkin has an older sister who is about 5 and also at the nursery and her name is pronounced Bahbie - which I thought was funny as it sounds like Barby, which some of u call me. But I digress. Now that I've been at this nursery three times the children seem to be a litle more settled and willing to listen - not as excited as they were they first day. So I felt like ...

... handcrafted woodwork, bowls,spoons, jewellery, carpets. There was also lots of fruit and veggies - avocado (5 for 10 rand), pineapples, about 8 for 50 rand!!! Just so you know, the exchange rate is prob around 8 or 10 rand for $1!!! Off to Theo's village - Nkundusi. I was imagining a small village, with a central area, etc. Not so. There are 5,000 homes in this village! And each home has a fair bit of land. This area seemed a lot more well off ...

... creche aka nursery. This creche is free and thus many of the poorer children attend this one. This building was built and painted by African Impact - the prince (?) in this area I guess lost face as foreigners stepped in and made more of an impact on the community than he had done at that time, so he took a bit of an attitude, and accordingly th eAfrican Imact volunteers are only allowed to assist with the baby group at this nursery - up to ...

... nearby. We quickly head over to catch them just in time for their daily nap. It was around 9:00 in the morning, so the nocturnal cats were all ready to go to bed. We watch them for about 15 minutes until they get annoyed with us and move to a tree a little further away to get some peace and quiet. We start to pull away, making it not further than 10 feet, when we see Themba about ready to jump out of his seat. Themba has been doing this ...

... at least 16 in all, including babies) and the alpha male wagged his ears and trumpeted away...meanwhile, our driver, Israel (doesn't sound at all African, does it?) proceeds to drive right next to the lions. When I say we were less than one foot away, I am not kidding. One gets up and moves so we are in between the two. The other male decides to join his friend and gets up, stares at Dan...and slowly moves behind the jeep (which, by the way, is ...

... by 8 and were on our truck shortly thereafter. This truck was not nearly as nice as my previous one, but that should be compensated by what seems to be much nicer people. After a brief introduction, we set off across Africa with 8 tour members, one German/English translator, one driver/guide and one cook. We are quite a mixed group, with two Spanish schoolteacher women, two French Swiss women (mother and daughter), one Dutch girl, one German ...