if dawn does have a butt crack, we saw it. got up at scheduled time and made it to the designated meeting spot with 10 mins to spare. first to arrive - that's a first! 8 other people showed up, as well as our driver/guide mos, and we all packed into the truck. because there were so few of us (sunrise game drives are not the most popular options), we could all spread out and get "window" seats in the open air truck. and my goodness it was cold, despite my multiple layers. glad there were fuzzy blankets to huddle under!
we started out in near-pitch darkness. there were 3 spotlights we could use to help illuminate the terrain. mos explained we'd see the eyes first, then should move the light to the animals body so we wouldn't blind it. other rule: keep arms inside vehicle at all times, and hopefully no one will get hurt. ha. one of the first animals we saw was a giraffe - let the checklist begin! then a zebra. some warthogs. and finally some white rhino. we saw a beautiful sunrise. unlike back home, where it's dark then all of a sudden light, there are lovely colors in africa.
in full light we could switch off the spotlights and use the increasing brightness of the sun. soon thereafter we came across a family of giraffe - so cute! but next came one of the highlights of my entire trip. a female lion came running at full speed behind our truck, and shortly after her, 2 males! they were apparently chasing her but she was long gone, and they stayed by our truck for quite a while. it was incredible how close they were, i even managed to pick up their growling on my video camera. so regal looking, and exactly like you picture in your head.
could have watched the lions all day, but they eventually moved on to continue their search for the female. we also moved on to a lake where we managed to see some hippos in the distance. this is where we learned hippos can't swim (makes sense) but instead walk on the bottom of the lake, and they can hold their breath for 7-8 mins at a time. one started to come closer (it was still very far away) and a fellow passenger totally freaked out. he knew hippos were among the most dangerous animals and was concerned the hippo would jump into the truck. seriously? hippos can't jump dude! and we just had lions all around our truck! people never cease to amaze me..
continuing along our journey, saw more giraffe, zebras, warthogs, guinea fowl, elephants & waterbok (massive!). managed to see a herd of buffalo defend themselves against a pride of female lions.. seems they were chasing the buffalo but then the buffalo started chasing the lions! everything was so surreal, and never expected to see the lions (3 out of the big 5). back at satara camp, thanked mos for an excellent drive and made our way back to our bungalow to pack up and head to lower sabie camp. jeff managed to fall asleep several times along the drive - seriously dude, we're in africa! ah well, some things never change.
along our way we saw tons of pretty birds, giraffe, water buffalo, grazers, a rhino & a massive baobob tree. pit stop at orpen dam before climbing in elevation and then descending again. crazy how on the other side of the hill (as we continued south thru kruger park) the landscape changed. there were less trees and more grasses - how i pictured our safari would be. we managed to come across another large herd of elephants in the distance. but as i turned down the dirt road towards lower sabie, realized there was another herd (very close this time) blocking our path. not about to come between a family, put the car in reverse and backed away slowly. very slowly. guess we'd have to find another way, since they didn't seem to be moving anytime soon.
back on the main road detour, came across some very irritated-looking birds. they were very mean looking and walked down the road 3 across like they owned it. i was actually more frightened of them than the elephants! crossed the lower sabie river and arrived at our camp. since we were so early we managed to grab some lunch (chicken burger this time), check in and move our stuff into our bungalow. not as cute as satara's, plus i managed to bang my head really hard into the AC unit outside. it hurt bad! and wouldn't stop bleeding. ugh. i probably have a disease now.
eventually it was time to head to our 16:30 sunset drive. and wouldn't you know it, we were met by a bus load of obnoxious american tourists. double ugh. jeff and i sat next to each other; i took the window first and we switched halfway. jan was our driver/guide this time. he had a thick south african accent, and was actually really funny but his delivery was so dry, you'd miss the joke if you weren't listening closely enough. jeff and i cracked up several times, but it went totally over the heads of most of our fellow passengers.
right off the bat we came across a lone bull elephant and learned that they're kicked out of the herd between the ages of 15 and 25 b/c "they're naughty". also saw more warthogs, storks, zebra and impalas. the sun began to set, and again saw some just gorgeous colors. soon it was time to pull out the spotlights again.
almost immediately we saw a hyena. it hadn't occurred to me we'd be seeing different animals at night (duh). i just wanted to see a sunset! jan made a joke about seeing the world's only vegetarian hyena, as he was much more interested in the grasses then the herd of impala just 20 meters away. more giraffe, buffalo, bush babies, and birds. besides the hyena, our night drive highlight was a herd of hippos on the side of the road. we were so close! eventually it was time to head back to camp, where we showered and got ready for another long day.
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