We slept in a little, had a scrumptious breakfast, which certainly is the most important meal of the day! And got to see the male peacock in all his glory.
At 10am, we headed to our horseback safari ride. Vino was our guide and he was excellent! Sadly, I forgot my horses name halfway through the trip, it started with an M, so well just call her Em. Em was a great horse!
It didn’t take me long to realize that I didn’t have as much cushion on my bum as I thought I did! I had a great conversation with the traveler in front of me. He was from London and had visited Cuba for two months and rode a bareback horse on the beach. He was a jokester, so it made the safari all the more enjoyable.
We were able get fairly close to see the zebras, and from afar saw a family of ostriches, hippos and baboons, so no pics of those on this venture.
We had a few hours to relax and have a drink by the pool. The reserve peacocks kept circling around looking for food, so it was slightly challenging to fully relax.
But the weather was so amazing, breezy and refreshing it quickly calmed me as soon as they moved on to another spot. After lunch we headed to the spa, booked our evening massages and chilled in the heated pool until Safari time.
Safari Time!
Our Safari guide was Freddy. He was very knowledgeable of the animals. Our first stop on the reserve, he showed us a pile of dung and had us guess what animal was it’s creator. I think Freddy had a minor fixation with dung, because he would stop and educate us on all the different kinds. Apparently you can tell what animals create what kind of dung by opening it up an seeing if there are leaves or grass in it. Betcha didn’t know that! You’re welcome! But, I can’t remember which animals do what…
First we saw the antelopes. Kudu and Springbok. Springboks can jump up to 6 feet in the air and are the official antelopes of South Africa.
We saw about 6 rhinos. We were able to get to the first 3 closely, then after a whole the other 3 came rushing. Almost straight toward us! Freddy drove us to a different area and explained that they were hit by poachers not to long ago. So, whenever the female thinks she senses hanger she charges quicker than usual now. Poachers can get several thousands of dollars from one animal. If caught, the penalty is severe, sometimes life in prison. He mentioned that poachers sometimes cut off the legs of the rhinos to use their footprints to mask their own. Poachers: the most savage of beasts!
Views of the reserve:
Then we saw two giraffes…
On to the elephants! There were two, Mana, meaning “sent from God” and the other one. Sorry, I can’t remember his name, but I should because the other one is the naughty one. Freddy said he would drink water and spray it on the tourists! Luckily, there wasn’t any water nearby when we saw them.
As we headed back, we came across a lonely male water buffalo. Seems there’s only one male to a herd and if the gets overpowered by another male, he has to leave. He either regains strength to try to regain his spot, or he just wanders alone…
Our guide then stopped for a delightful wine and snack break. What better time for a mini photo shoot!
We had to cut it short because the elephants were coming down the road!
Unfortunately, we didn’t pack up fast enough and got stuck behind the two elephants who decided to walk along the road. That slowed down our return significantly… but how often can you say you were late because you got stuck behind two elephants!
By the time we headed to where the lions were it was too late to get close. He told us that usually the only time lions attack humans is when they have toothaches. Apparently humans are soft mean. According to Freddy, women are softer than men, so we would be the prime choice for a lion. Not funny, Freddy, not funny!
Saw the best sunset ever as we made our way back to the lodge…
We got to see some more of the animals on the way back also. And we got some more info on the animals. Hippos kill a heck of a lot of people, probably the most than any other animal! But the aren’t carnivores. They are faster than you think, they’ll open their mouth up super wide, bite you in half and then leave your to be dinner for the carnivorous animals. You’re welcome for that nugget of info also!
Ostriches are the second fastest animal. Freddy said that when he was asked if we came back as animals in the afterlife what would he be. He said he’d be an ostrich because the male can produce about 20 something babies at one time! Note to self and all other women: stay away from Freddy! It was amazing to see the male and female ostrich with their 20 something babies hopping around them.
We got back almost an hour later than expected, so we rescheduled our massages for the morning to have dinner instead. We are women of priorities!
#priscillastravels 