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Trip Start Jul 28, 2006
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Trip End Aug 09, 2006


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Flag of South Africa  ,
Sunday, July 30, 2006

We are staying at the Kapama River Lodge in Hoedspruit, SA. When we traveled here last night it was a bit scary. Everyone cautioned us about driving at night, but we had to travel about 2 hours in the dark on very bumpy back roads (they said if we lost our steering, to keep on driving--not sure how you do that). Matt drove us and did very well considering the conditions. My brother handed Matt a knife before we left the airport and asked him if he was willing to use it. I guess if you break down along the road, it can be dangerous---bandits. They were burning the fields to free them of ticks, so it was like driving into hell, literally. The sides of the roads were burning so fiercely--you could feel it through the vehicle. And you had to put something over your nose and mouth just to breathe. There are no lights, so it was pitch black, mixed with the scent of fire and ash. We didn't know what to expect when we arrived. And we were completely exhauseted from our two day travel/4 hours of sleep. They woke us up at 5:30 am to go on our first safari. What awaited us completely erased the long travel and the frightening drive to this place. It was glorious. It was beautiful. As the sun rose, we drove through the bush in an open Land Rover. It was so quiet and peaceful. Such a stark contrast from the drive the night before. I can tell you, we are beginning to fall in love with Africa. The air is clean, the sky is blue and the animals are fascinating. We went on another safari tonight and hunted lions at dusk. We were literally driving over trees. They sent our scouts out on foot to track them and they found several females with cubs and one male. We were within ten feet of them. The mom and her cubs were so beautiful. I couldn't believe the extent our Ranger went to to drive us so closely to the lions. I have to admit, I was a little frightened by the spiders that would occasionally descend from the trees, but even still, it was worth it. We have seen giraffe, cape buffalo and zebra and baboons and several other animals. Matt was stabbed by a very big thorn tree while we were driving over trees to find the lions. He's okay though. We took lots of video and will try to post at some point. They only have dial up here, so it is probably impossible right now, but we may try tomorrow. I will have to write more later, but I just wanted everyone to know that we are safe and we are having a glorious time.

Love,
Rebecca
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Comments

celliannie
celliannie on Jul 30, 2006 at 05:06PM

terrifying & delightful
so glad to hear you are there and enjoying even amidst the reality of danger. falling in love with africa, eh? that's awesome. love, annie

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