On my second morning in South Africa, I woke up much earlier than I would have preferred to travel out to my very first safari.
Four long hours, two punctuated naps, and one rest stop later we arrived at the Garden Route Game Lodge.
Although the Garden Route is no Kruger National Park, it’s still home to several kinds of animals including 4 of the Big 5 predators of the wild. I was just excited to get away from everyone for a while and get back to nature. Thankfully for me, safaris, and safari resorts specifically, are like beach vacations without the beach.
You eat.
You drink.
You look at cool stuff.
And most of all, you RELAX!
We certainly weren’t hurting for places to relax.
After a few hours of… you guessed it… relaxing, we went on our first evening game drive, with our fearless guide, Byron.
In our 9-seater jeeps we drove all over the grounds and saw some pretty awesome stuff including…
Buffaloes:
Zebras:
Rhinos:
And the always elusive African sunset:
Ohhh…. Ahhh….
After that terrific sendoff, we headed back to the lodge for an amazing dinner of local game meats and went to bed early for our sunrise drive in the morning.
The morning game drive was just as magical, and we were able to see a whole new set of animals as well as a particularly stunning sunrise.
We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the cheetahs, which roam freely throughout the property.
One even got a little close for comfort.
For something a little tamer, we left to hang out with the elephants.
It was just a gorgeous day in general.
After the drive, we went back to the lodge for breakfast—which was so plentiful that I was full until dinner. I wish I had taken a picture of the spread. My goodness. So much food.
From there we explored the reptile center for a date with snake destiny.
And tortoise destiny?
Say what you will, but that little guy was STRONG!
After our time with the reptiles, we had several hours before the next game drive so we decided, when in Rome, why not do some more relaxing!
We spent the afternoon by the pool, drinking and swapping SAS stories. There was a brief storm, and we danced in the rain. I even got to send some love and emails home to the US. That day’s relaxation finished the vacation that Mauritius had started.
Needless to say, I was thankful.
That evening we went on our second sunset drive. Once again, we saw a whole new set of animals including at lion up close and personal!
We even got to pet cheetahs:
And feed the elephants!
And wouldn’t you know it, we managed to come across one of the most rare sightings on the reserve: the spotted owl.
You can even see its eyes!
That night, after dinner, all of the guides made a bonfire and we sat drinking and talking for hours.
The next morning we had our last of the 4 game drives. The morning was really misty and overcast, so we were pretty certain that we wouldn’t see anything in the two-hour drive.
We were wrong.
The day started clearing up, and then animals came out in droves!
It began with all of the giraffes:
A water buffalo march:
And then… the mother of all sightings (literally)… a newborn baby springbok.
Our guide said it couldn’t be more than one day old. Insane!
Brand new life in the world! Pretty cool stuff!
The entire safari experience was pretty magical. I felt like I got exactly what I wanted out of it—time to relax and time to get back to nature. Luckily for me, I got to do that with an awesome group of people who are now some of my closest friends on the ship.
The rest of the trip was spent in and around Cape Town.
Absolutely nothing from this point on out went to plan. But that’s what really made the story interesting. Check back soon!
Question of the Day: What’s your favorite of the Big 5 animals?
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