Theme for the Day:Realm of the Lion King.
Word for the Day:Safari
In Swahili, safari means journey.
Yahoo!! I'm now blogging the Safari part of our trip. We were up bright and early as this was our travel day from Knysna to the Kapama Reserve.
"Masambene Baantu!"
We were all really excited when we boarded the bus that morning!!!
On our way to the George Airport we stopped for a few photos at Dolphin Point. See how the hill looks like a dolphin? I have my hand on top of the dolphin's head. After a group photo with Navine we thanked him and said good bye. We got back on the bus and headed for the George Airport.
The check in to the George Airport was quick and painless. Tina and Craig took care of the ticketing and the bags. The Manager of the George Airport helped as well. Thank You! That was the easiest airport check in ever! We went through security and went to the gait waiting area. Ryan and Lizzie had fun playing in the kids area. The Adult Adventurers (and Lizzie) had a great time playing a game that Craig had brought with him called Apples to Apples.
Our plane to Jo-berg was about an hour late. All of us were soooooo excited to get to the Kapama Lodge. We were really happy when the plane came. All of the Adventurers entered the plane through the back door. This organized us all in the back of the plane. It also gave us a great photo op! The Magic of the Mouse works again!!!
I was so excited I was actually wiggling!!!!! I have not wiggled since I was like four years old!!! As you can see Tina and the rest of the Adventurers were as excited as I was. Craig was excited too. He was busy taking photos of all of us.
Our trip to George to Jo-berg was a quick one. We were there in a little over an hour. When we arrived at Jo-berg we parked right by the plane that we were taking from Jo-berg to Hoedspruit Airport. We disembarked from the plane that we were on and walked right over and onto the next plane.
Jo-berg Airport had held our next plane for us (Thank You!). They also strategically landed our George plane right next to our Jo-berg plane. Also we were the first ones to board the Jo-berg plane. The rest of the passengers were waiting in the airport. The Power of the Mouse never ceases to amaze me!!
Our trip from Jo-berg to Hoedspruit Airport was another short one. When we landed we seemed to be taking a long time to get to the parking spot. Craig told us that the landing runway was over two miles long. It is a alternate landing sight for the Space Shuttle just in case the shuttle needs to land in South Africa. No wonder it took us a long time to get to the parking space. We disembarked from the plane and headed for the main building. Once inside the building we knew that we were really close to officially being on Safari!!!! The excitement continued to build.
After everything was sorted and collected we headed outside for our ride to Kapama Lodge. When we excited the Hoedspruit Airport we could see our Game Guides with our Safari Vehicles. It was truly an OMG moment!!!! I can not put into words how so very excited I was at that very moment!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSS the Safari had officially begun!!!! It still sends chills down my spine when I think about this!!
Our Game Guide's name was Frikke
Safari Vehicle's Name was Simba (awh isn't that cute)
We literally drove across the road and we were at the gate of the Kapama Reserve. It can not get any better than this!! Frikkie unlocked the gate and we drove in. The gate was then locked behind us and away we went. On our way to checking into the Kapama Lodge we saw quite a few animals. We were on our first unofficial game drive.
That was another sureal moment for sure. I could not believe that we were now on Safari, that we were in the Safari Vehicles and that we were on our first unofficial game drive!!! It was another one of those moments that I had to pinch myself just to make sure that it was true and not a dream.
Tina and Craig checked us into the Kapama Lodge. We were served a nice cool beverage in the lobby when we arrived.
We then went to Lunch in the Siyatla Lounge.
After Lunch our guides took us to our rooms. Tina was so very excited to show us our Spa Suite. And what a room it was! Lovely and gorgeous is how I would explain the room. I felt so very blessed to stay in a room like this. It felt like it was almost too good to be true. I kept expecting someone to knock on the door and say "Ma'am we've made a mistake. This is not your room."
At 4:30 PM we went for our first official game drive. As you can see we are all just a "little" excited!!!
Before we got into the thick of things we had a safety lesson by Frikkie. He showed us which tress and bushes we needed to duck under while we were driving around on Safari. Otherwise we would have sticky things sticking in ouch places. And we did not need that. With our safety lesson done we continued our game drive.
Just prior to sunset we stopped by a little pond for a short break. Drinks and light snacks were served. I tickled with how posh this felt. Drinking a Coke Light (Diet Coke0 while watching the sunset is very cool indeed! Ryan got a chance to try out the spotters seat. Lizzie is showing us the pin for the day.
It was really cool to watch our first South Africa Safari Sunset!!!!
After our short break we were back on Safari. We came upon a lioness with her cub. We could take flash photos of the front of the lioness but not of the baby lion. Flash photos will ruin the baby lion's. It was ok to take pictures of the baby lion from the back.
The moon was full for the duration of our Safari evening game drives. This really added to the whole Safari experience.
We spent part of the night looking for this little chameleon critter. Can you see him in the tree?
After a lovely night of game driving it was time for Dinner. Again our guides would not tell us where Dinner was. Another Disney surprise awaited us. As we drove up to our Karibu Dinner we could see lanterns lighting our way. The whole camp fire area was also lit with lanterns. It was like something straight out of a fairytale. This is what dreams are made of!!!
This South Africa braai (barbecue) was a delight to partake in! Just the smell of the meat on the grill was making me drool.
Rose and Kereth were celebrating their 40th Wedding Anniversary while we were on the trip. Here is a picture of Rose cutting their Anniversary Cake.
Lizzie had a blast roasting marshmallows that night! She has a knack for getting them just right.
After a day of travel and Safari we were ready for bed. Off to Disney Dreams...
Next Up: The Big Five!!!!!!
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