Today - the 4th of July, we awoke to another sunny day. We were up and packing and then a 9am breakfast call. Alex and Anne made us the most amazing crepes for breakfast. Then we packed up and hit the road- on our way to Thanda Safari lodge for a 1pm check in. We stopped at Hluhluwe at Alex said that we had to try the billing at Allen's butcher shop- we found the place and ordered up some of the best billing I've ever had. Next door was a delightful coffee shop, so we had a latte and snacks and then were back on the N2 North to Thanda. We turned off the road onto the orange dirt road and in 5km were at the gate. Our driver was not there yet, so we parked the car and waited for him to arrive. In 15minutes the land ranger arrived and Themba, our driver for the next few days showed up. He drove us the 15 minutes to the lodge and we were on the lookout the entire way for game. We did see some Eland and that was about all. We knew this place was spectacular, but truly not how spectacular until we arrived at our bungalow - #4. Wow, this place is huge, the girls have twin beds set up in the living room, our king size bed will do just fine; then there is the lookout deck with a huge round bed to lay on and look at the reserve below; the plunge pool seems a little cold, but we might risk going in- we were warned that we should not sleep outside as the animals could come up to the deck; lastly the bathroom is to die for- I see a bath in my future.
We had about 30 minutes to settle in and then we had to meet up at the main lodge area to start our 3pm game drive. Themba was there along with 2 other couples. We started the ride off seeing some Nyla right away, quickly followed up some water buffalo. Next we happened of some giraffe- they were eating bones (?) weird, but apparently they do this to get some extra calcium. They are so comical bending down to pick up the bones.
After the giraffe we came on some elephants pulling apart the Accia trees- I don't have a huge zoom on my camera- we were so close we could here each crunch. Some "cute" warthogs ran away from us as we approached the watering hole- so dry. The effects of a severe drought are very evident, the watering hole is tiny and Themba says they have to actually keep it filled so the animals don't die. Then we began the hunt for the cheetahs- they are pretty elusive and we drove for about an hour before we saw them laying right in the road. They were not bothered by us at all and we parked and watched them for some time- so close it was crazy. That was truly an amazing thing to see. When they left we drove a ways away and stopped for some appies and wine. Then we drove the rest of the way in the dark- no lick on any night animals. 3 hours later we were back at the lodge.
We are not allowed to walk back to our rooms by ourselves as this area is not wired off the animals can roam free- including up to the rooms. So Sipho walked us back to freshen up before dinner. Dinner was amazing- the girls started with a vegetable soup with blue cheese "Delaney said- ew it's like I just ate barf!" But they are up- we had a smoked salmon salad followed by a Blesbok steak on squash and a side of polenta - wow!! Malva pudding ended a perfect day.
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