Kruger Lane Retreat Hazyview

... have looked good to him. He stopped the charge and turned to the tree where he began to rub his body against the bark. Obviously his itch took preference over trying to stump us to dust. The guide quickly put the vehicle in gear and ran past the tipsy elephant. We saw lots of other wildlife as well as a pack of ...

... of summer it was still rather dry. The falls had some water but not a lot of volume. Regardless, they were beautiful. One note here, the falls are pretty much unspoiled. Access does cost and is well worth the money to maintain the security and the parking. As at God's Window there are local wares for sale. We stopped and had a picnic lunch at Lisbon Falls and just communed with nature. Funny how we all talk, laugh and joke but here the ...

... it hard to believe we were there. Unfortunately there were necessities to take care of. Since we had so many people and kitchen facilities we need food. A short drive into Hazyview and we were at the Pick and Pay. OK, so we are in Africa shopping at a major grocery store. Kind of a surprise but, hey, take advantage of it. This was not only fun but an experience. When we asked for sliced Turkey we were met with a blank stare. Oh well ...

... of Elephants, I said I wanted to see rhinos, a kill sight, watch a lion chase down an antelope, and see a cheetah race a leopard... mine were slightly impossible, but whatever one can wish. Our first animal was the dainty little warthog who runs around the park like they are on stilettos... its hilarious. Some more wildebeests. MY RHINOS... they were kind of far away, but massive. These animals were larger than a VW bug and always watching you, when they weren't eating. Giraffes ...

... get in front of us. In South Africa, it's customary for the locals to flash their hazard lights in appreciation when a friendly driver gives way. This was the very first time I ever veered to the side shoulder to let someone go through. So, when he flashed those bright amber lights, I felt a rush of excitement come through me. I'm one of them!!! Double Woohoo!! I quickly grew fond of this truck - he became our escort ...

... to pour rain harder than it had all day. This was another moment I am not going to forget on this whole trip. There isn't much light and everyone around me is dancing in the pouring rain with this live band who were dancing as well just feet away. There was just so many people, glass bottles everywhere, and I was drenched in about two minutes. It was spectacular. I was wearing on of my Auntie Ellen's dresses that I had borrowed for church since I left straight ...

Hello, I'm trying to get our map going. I don't know if its been sending blank wriiten sections to you all. I hope it isn't sending these editions on the map but if it is you can disregard the rest until I send another that says "read me." After that they all will have words and hopefully pictures. Wish me luck.

... put well out of view to keep the baboons out. Just as we were getting ready for bed, she called us in to her room to show us a "bush baby" baby which had made its' way out of the nest to the door frame of her room where it could go no further. It may have fallen out of the nest or while walking along the rafters. After taking some photos of it, we headed to our respective beds (the boys slept out on the porch upstairs) and I for one, slept like a log.

... ever closer to the police car's bumper, giving them a blast of the horn and swerving violently past. I waited for the sirens to start up and a full blown chase to commence but remarkably there was no response from the police at all and we were left to speed into Nelspruit's Friday night rush hour. I retrieved the requisite amount of cash from the ATM after nervously running through my rather limited options (namely run like hell)should I find ...

... of animals, wildebeest, impala (a type of antelope, of which there are millions of), warthogs, dung beetles, and baboons to name but a few. We then went to the Orpen restcamp and set up our accommodation for the night... tents. It was brilliant, with the tents fixed up the 2 guides began cooking dinner, while the rest of us sat around the campfire drinking beer. The food that they cooked up was a "typical African meal", we had pop, more of that sausage stuff (bratwurst ...