The day after their arrival I loaded the girls in the car and drove them to Ukutula Lion Park and Lodge. I took Chase's family there back in February so I was due for a visit and some snuggle time with baby lions. On the drive up to Ukutula we were about 5K from the turn off when I looked at my gas gage and realized it was sitting on empty, OOPS!! I had a moment of panic as we rolled into the Ukutula gates and the the computer started counting down my "cruising" range, 5K, 4K, 3K, 2K, 1K... uh oh. We read the signs as we coasted in, "Do not step out of vehicle, roaming Lions may be present". We all started saying a little prayer and thankfully coasted right into the parking lot. I embarrassingly told the front desk what happened and they responded with "Oh, Don't worry, It happens all the time". I had a huge sigh of relief, and we were ready to see the lions. We walked with the juvenile lions and had play time with the younger ones as well. It was a fun start to the day and a memorable experience for girls! When it was time to leave a kind gentleman siphoned some gas into my tank and we were good to go to the nearest gas station! That evening we enjoyed dinner at the local Mozambiq Bar and Grill and I told Chase our car story after he had a few sips of beer! :)
The next day I took the ladies to a new spot for me. Glen Afric Lodge, in Hartsbeesport, where we could have some one on one time with Elephants! This experience was much different from my other experience with Ellies at the Elephant Sanctuary. At the Elephant Sanctuary they had many what seemed to be strict rules on how you interacted with the Elephants. The rules, though I am positive were there for our own safety, made me feel nervous around the elephants and I was scared to go and touch them, I didn't want to make a wrong move and get stepped on! At Glen Afric it was a much more laid back experience. They had rules but they were presented more as guidelines. We walked with a group of people down to a creek where we were to "greet" the Elephants who were getting a drink in the water. We were encouraged to approach them, touch them and take pictures. We then walked with the Elephants for about 10 minutes down a trail to a group of trees. Once at the trees the Ellies started eating away and we were again encouraged to touch them, get close to them, and take pictures. It was totally different from my experience at the Sanctuary. I will say that at the Sanctuary we go a lot more information about Elephants, here the handlers and guides offered information, but it was much more on a question basis. Once we were done at the trees a group of people were going with the Elephants for an hour walk, but we decided we were good with out that part. That evening we took the ladies to one of our favorite restaurants The Tin Roof, where they got to meet several of our expat friends and enjoy some fine dining!
Finally, the next day my good friend Mandy, joined us and we headed off to Madikwe Game Reserve for a safari girls weekend. Madikwe was another first for me, so I was super excited to experience it with them. We stayed for three nights at the Madikwe River Lodge, and though the lodge itself wasn't super fancy the drive experiences where amazing. We had a fantastic guide, and we got to see everything and more! Some of the highlights for me were the Cheetahs, Wild Dogs, and the Leopard!
Cheetahs: Day two of our drives our guide, took us to see three male cheetahs. I hadn't seen cheetahs in the wild yet, so this was really awesome for me. I love how peaceful they seem and it was cute to see three guys just hanging out together walking around and napping!
Wild Dogs: Our wild dog encounter was cool too, we cam upon three dogs who had recently killed a Kudu. The Kudu was pretty mangled by the time we got there they had eaten the important parts. The dogs left for a bit and there was a Hyena near by who kept coming in to eat off of their kill. It was interesting to see the dogs eating and to learn from our guide about which parts of the animals the dogs will eat first.
Leopard: From the beginning of our game drives we had told our guide that we wanted to see a leopard. Leopards are sometimes hard to spot on drives because they can be skittish, and are very reclusive. They also spend their days high in trees, or deep in the brush. So on our last evening game drive our guide got the call that there was a male leopard spotted. Before we knew it, he was telling us to hold on tight and his foot was on the gas as we were speeding across the park to see the leopard. It was pretty intense for a few minutes! We then were able to approach the leopard and cruise next to him as he walked through thick thick brush. As we were following him the other truck had left and we needed to keep following him until another truck arrived. The guides in the park work together this way to get the most sightings for their guests. As we were following the leopard we got a flat tire and had to move out of the brush. This flat tire was one of three we got over our three days of drives!
After the leopard sighting I asked our guide to take us to his favorite spot for sun downers and he took us up to a high cliff to look out over the park, it was gorgeous and a great end to our safari experience.
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| Chetahs just hanging out |
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| Wild Dogs eating Kudu |
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| The Leopard! |
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| We got to see lots of baby Elephants too! |
I had a great week with Cari and Cristina, Thanks for visiting ladies!! Now, the question is, Who is visiting in 2015?
