Day 4
December 04, 2008
JV lied. Our wake up call was at 4:28 am and not 4:30. Either way the call seemed to come right away. I felt as if I had just fallen asleep, but according to Roger I was snoring before my head hit the pillow. Poor Roger, we had just met in Paris and now he was sharing a room with someone who could imitate a snoring rhino in her sleep. He says that once he is asleep that he is out, but he also seems like a really nice guy and wouldn't say WTF! She snores!!! Either way, we quickly changed into our safari clothes and head out for coffee and tea. They also provide what we thought was biscotti, but it turns out it is called rusk. We were having our coffee and tea on the outside patio, where I notice a monkey in the tree. Before you know it, the monkey had crawled all the way to the top of the table and grabbed Roger's rusk before JV started yelling and slamming the table. Being the typical tourist, I was trying to take some pics, but it all happened so fast. JV was surprised that the monkey was so daring, especially since we were all sitting there. I finally did take my camera out and took pictures of the monkey eating the rusk in the tree. I needed evidence, since Roger had left to use the restroom, that it wasn't me who ate his rusk.
The safari begins. We climb up into our converted Land Rover Jeep that has 4 rows of seats. It is completely open with no windows and just has a canvas covering above. JV is obviously in the first row driving. He also brings his special walking stick, which is actually a rifle. YIKES!!! We are not at the San Diego Wild Animal Park???? Rey and I take the 2nd row, Moira and Larry the 3rd, and Roger our photographer takes the entire 4th row. He needs the room to take those action shots and have both sides available. As JV is loading the supplies into the jeep, he notices a bird that just tried to fly through the window. The bird seems hurt and allows JV to pick him up. It is a beautiful and colorful bird, blue, red, yellow, and purples. It turns out it is a Kingfisher Malacite, which is rare to find. JV is able to pick it up in his hand and hold it. He then hands it to Rey to hold, while he drives the jeep. As we head out, we see some zebras. Also, JV hears over the radio that there was a lion kill along the main road. He quickly drives to the spot. As we are driving to our destination, we spot the female lion walking along the side of the road. JV says she has just gone to get water. He also notices that her belly is big and she is full. We follow her til she stops at a nearby bush and lays in the shade. Amazing. Just further down the road is the male lion. He is sitting next to the wilder beast that was killed probably at midnight, according to JV. JV is able to speculate that the wilder beast was separated from the group, so that she could give birth. we see a set of small leg bones by the carcass. We sit in our jeep and just observe this magnificent creature and the circle of life is happening right in front of us ( i know, i know, too much Lion King). Eventually the male lion leaves and we continue our safari. We end up seeing impalas, rhinos, and lactating zebras. JV then takes us off the main road and we go off-roading up the mountain. We see the amazing effects of erosion and deposition (CSSP fans should enjoy that vocabulary). At the top, JV has a little spread for us. He lays out a little portable table with a table cloth. He then serves us coffee and tea and rusks for a mid-morning snack. After a short break of coffee and tea, we clean up and had out again. JV stops every now and then to tell us about the plant life and fruit trees that grow on Kruger. We actually stop and pick some fruit from a sour plum, which is true to its name, it was really sour. Eventually, he head back and it is time for breakfast.
We had an awesome menu of choices, but we all chose the same item, the traditional English Breakfast. It consisted of eggs, bacon, chicken livers, tomatoes, and mushrooms. We also had freshly squeezed orange or guava juice. As we quickly eat our breakfast, JV mentions the walk and asks if anyone is interested. Luckily, it had been overcast the whole morning and it is a good temperature to go on a hike. Rey, Roger, and I are definitely interested. Larry and Moira are not and decide to rest for the evening safari. JV says he needs to find another rifle man to go out walking. He will keep us posted and says that hopefully the other group will arrive, so that he can take us out. Good news, JV has found another guide, Lazareth. We are to meet at the reception hall at 10:15. We meet and we are out of the gates. As the gates opened, the sun broke through the clouds and it became hot quickly. This is where JV and Lazareth talk about the rules and how we are to walk single file. They are in the front and both have their rifles out and ready to fire. Both have reassured us that neither one of them has ever used their gun. As we walk, we find dung, skeletal remains, and track marks. They also educate us about the plant life in Kruger. JV at one points makes a bracelet out of a tree bark and braids it. He then ties it onto my wrist. Just for the recorded, he misjudge the bigness of my wrist and had to braid more. Anyways, he lets me know that I am not to take it off and when it falls off naturally, I am to make a wish. The bracelet is pretty strong and Lazareth says that they use this bark to make rope. As we are walking around, I notice that we are looking across the pasture towards our rooms and salas. It was weird to think that just yesterday, the elephants were standing where I was. I realized that this all for real and we not in San Diego's Wild Animal Park. I realized how small I was in this part of the world. We eventually hike back to our rooms, where we have some time to freshen up before lunch. I know, I know, we sure do eat a lot on this safari. This is such the perfect safari for me. Roger and I decide to use our plunge pool to cool down. The plunge pool is not heated and it did feel good. I must admit, it was pretty cold. I only plunged in because I didn't know it was deep on the other side.
For lunch, I had a salad and a tuna steak on top of some asian noodles. Dessert was homemade strawberry ice cream. We enjoy this meal out on the patio. It is so nice. We are able to listen to all the sounds of the birds and insects. It is definitely a different world out here. As we lazily finish our lunch, it is time to get ready for our evening safari. We quickly get our cameras and we meet JV at the reception hall. Larry and Moira are there as well. They're refreshed from their naps and are excited for the safari. Moira would really like to see a giraffe and Rey would love to see a leopard. We head out and the first thing on the radio is a group of rhinos by the camp. These creatures are massive. Also, I forgot to point out that on some of the pictures I am using the famous one arm stretch technique, which I learned from Jennifer Tibbs and Deena Parmar. Throughout our trip, Rey and Roger are annoyed, yet still willing to do the one arm stretch pose for my camera. I am trying to get this pose at most of our destinations. You will see in the pictures. Anyways, after the rhinos, we take off and see some deer and even a warthog (not cute ~ sorry). We drive for awhile and not see any animals. I, of course, fall asleep during our drive on some parts. I do wake up on an important part, Rey spots wild dogs, which JV says are rare to find. Not only do we see the dogs, but we also see the pups. JV is excited and asks Roger for his pictures later. We then go off-roading and head to the top of one of the mountains. JV times it perfectly that we are at the top in time for sunset. He also busts out the spread of wine, beer, or soda. He has dried fruit, nuts and billtong (beef jerkey). We toast at sunset and just take in the view all around us. I get some great pictures of chemical erosion. As we head down the mountain, we run into a bull elephant trying to push a tree down. I was a bit nervous, JV told us to remain silent and we were not allowed to take pictures until he directed us to. JV seemed tense, which made all of us tense. Eventually, we were able to shoot away, but we didn't the up close pictures we wanted. JV then told us about how the elephant was testing us and seeing whether we were there to harm him. JV said we needed to show him respect, which we did. Side note, I learned from JV that male animals are usually referred to as bull and female are referred to as cows, whether or not they are an elephant. So, you have a bull elephant and a cow elephant, doesn't that sound weird?? Took awhile for that to sink in for me. At one point, JV asked what we thought a female firefly was, since the male one is referred to a firefly. Being the kid that could have ridden the small bus to school, I said cowfly? butterfly? and waterfly? I think I was getting tired. All of these were wrong, I also think I made JV wonder about the poor second graders that I teach back in the States. Just so you know, a female firefly is called a glow worm. We continue our drive and JV now is driving stick and he has a large light that he flashes through the trees and tall grass. He stops abruptly by a small tree and tells me to hold the light in this one spot. He pulls off a chameleon, which Rey, Roger and I hold. Larry and Moira quickly shook their heads to the idea of a lizard climbing on their arms. I am still astonished that JV was able to spot the lizard while driving in the dark. It is starting to get really dark and late. JV starts heading back to the camp.
We then have a half hour to an hour to freshen up for dinner. We relax and take showers and get ready for our meal. We seat on the outside patio and we are given our menus. For starters, we have a choice of soup or prawns. The main entrees were venison, chicken, or tagliatelle verde. The desert is chocolate pudding or homemade ice cream. Again, JV sits at the head of the table and we are joined by Larry and Moira. We talk about the days events and what we saw and didn't see. We all talk about our next adventures. It turns out that we are all leaving on Friday. Larry and Moira and going to stay a couple of days in Johannesburg before heading back to Ireland. We let them know that we are headed to Cape Town for the next week. Once we were full after dessert, of course, we realized that we are all exhausted. We say our goodnights and head to bed.
Once in our room, Roger feels the energy to blog. I, too, have the intention to blog, but never make it off the bed. I start snoring away and then I am woken up by thunder and lightening. It is pretty loud. I look over at Roger who has also been woken up. Being the true photographer that he is, he jumps out of bed and starts snapping away. I wanted to, but fell back asleep. The next thing I heard was the phone ringing.
No comments:
Post a Comment