Ngala Safari Lodge Ngala Private Game Reserve

I've just received mu luggage today, after South African Airways lost it on the way from Livingstone. Fortunately, I was able to buy some underwear and borrow some things from others in my tour group. This is a much more diverse group than the last one, with 14 travelers from England, the U.S., Canada, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, the ...

Sarah and I had been talking about what we were going to do while in Joburg throughout our Bostwanian safari, and we had more or less decided on heading up to the Kruger National Park – I was dying to see the cats, which had eluded us in Botswana (maybe for the best – since we were on foot). In typical me fashion (I'm trying to drag Sarah over), we arrived in Joburg, met the family we were staying with, had some food, met up with our safari-ing buddies, had ...

... and finally 2.5 hours into the drive, something worthy of taking a picture of. We watched for 15 minutes when you could see the light bulb go off in the rangers head. "I can take you to see a herd of elephants." Elephants are the second easiest animal to find after the hippos. They mostly stay in one place as well. Why he didn't think of this 2 days earlier is beyond me. But I guess we were lucky. There were close to 50 elephants ...

... I decide to take a nap as we had a few hours till lunch.

Since these lodges are small, travel agents usually book all the rooms for a 2 day period to include as a package. However, not all the rooms were filled up during the 2 days we were there. There were 12 people total, and the second group of 8, who also came from Cape Town, but on the later flight (so they got to sleep in), came strolling in around 2:00. This woke ...

... previous legs of my trip would soon be regained and then some - it was so incredibly delicious (and ever present)!! Each day at Ngala we got a wakeup "knock" at 5 am - we needed to be ready for our morning drive at 5:30 with Barney, our guide, and Joe, our tracker. As it was still rainy season in the region, the brush was very green and pretty thick - very different from the open savannah of Tanzania I'd experienced on my last safari. Having to track ...

... in camp for our 3 new volunteers and they were all duly impressed with what Mother Nature dealt out. We all were and let's just say that none of us slept more than an hour that night. The entire camp was asleep after the morning drive. Mike said it was the quietest he had seen it in a long time. I barely touched on the visit to the orphanage on my first Friday in camp. The kids have all been orphaned by the loss of parents from AIDS. When we arrived, the kids started ...

... any horse lovers will know, they all have their own characters. The other day I managed to lock myself in the tack room; fortunately, one of the horses can open latches so I called him over and he let me out!! On the farm there are giraffes, zebra, impala, kudu, waterbuck, warthogs, civets, honey badgers, mongooses, monkeys, baboons. There are no permanent predators, ie big cats, however, they do sometimes get in through the fences........ Last week we were doing ...

... it only a warning) from one direction, then reversing out of the way, only to see tusks in the rear view mirror and ******* that one off too... it wasn't part of the plan. They are such majestic, beautiful creatures, but are very aware of their size, and don't like you to get too close (understandable, we are in their back yard after all). We were reminded of this fact only last night. While getting ready for bed, we heard branches crashing, realising ...

... sites, the larger rest camps have guest houses which cater for groups. Bungalows are in the 2-3 star range and most have on suite bathrooms, a fridge and a stove all implements for cooking are supplied as well as linen. Camp sites have electrical points however if you decide to book a campsite you will need to supply your own tent, sleeping bag and mattress. There are safari companies that offer all inclusive packages utilizing the rest camp ...

... s with teeth and empty bellies to consider) we headed back to cook up a storm. Mark, Kyle and myself had brought along enough meat to feed ten people, but together with onions, sweet potato, butternut squash and potatoes it made a fine feast. A couple of beers, the glistening southern cross and the sounds of hyenas close by gave such a perfect setting for the end of my first day in Kruger, and then an elephant came by. (The wonder never ends)