Cape Town to Durban was an easy two hour flight that gave us the afternoon to explore the "Golden Mile" of beachfront in the city. During apartheid, many of these beaches were infamously whites only, but now they are as multicultural as it gets. Even for a winter afternoon, the promenade was packed with men, women, and children of all ages and ethnicity. It made for great people watching in a way that Cape Town was not.
Our hotel was right on the beach overlooking the Indian ocean so I was up early the next morning looking to get a quick run in and hoping to get a pic of the sunrise. I certainly wasn't alone. Despite it being 6am on a weekend, loads of people were already out. After my run, I met Clark back at the hotel for a quick breakfast before being picked up by the game lodge. We had a three hour drive ahead of us, but first we needed to swing by the airport to pick up the other guests who would accompany us for the remainder of our time at the lodge. We were eager to meet these people. I had premonitions of awful American tourists who would embarrass me consistently throughout the week, but secretly I had a feeling they would be interesting people and that they would more than likely make good company. Pretty soon, they arrived and they are actually really nice people, a couple of them teachers or retired teachers. For the drive though, and I admittedly have very little patience for being around people in general, but for the love of god they talked nonstop about food the entire way, and I was hungry. We were passing increasingly foreign terrain with the African bush and all I could hear was yapping about custards and delectable treats. As soon as we checked in at the lodge, we were greeted by our guide, Janine. She informed us that our first drive would be that afternoon and to meet her at the jeep at 5. As soon as we piled in there, the talking continued. There was seemingly not one moment of peaceful silence the next morning either. They probably thought I was a mute, but I suppose it has to do with the way in which we all take in new stimulation. To me, in new situations, I tend to go into keen observation mode, usually quiet and contemplative. Others seem capable of matching the new stimulus with profound energy, usually manifested in non-stop chatter that would thouroughly exhaust me if I were to attempt it.
As far as the game drives go, they were pretty cool. The first animals we saw were kudu, Nyala, impalas, and warthogs. Apparently they are in great number so pretty soon we were passing those as one passes by a deer back home. It was cool to learn about the differences in males and females of the different species though. For instance, the Nyala males look way different than the females. Pretty soon we came upon our first zebras, elephants, and giraffes, and then were treated to a nice showing of hippos at a water hole. The best was yet to come though, because not only did we happen upon a cheetah sitting in a clearing, but upon second look, she had a just recently taken down an impala. Panting and with her ears perked, mindful of having her prize stolen from her, she was checking all around before diving back into the feast. Even the giraffes that were close by were curious enough to come over and crane their necks in from the trees to have a look at what the cheetah was having for dinner. It was really interesting, albeit a bit gruesome.
We woke early the next morning for another game drive spotting two more cheetah lazily resting in the road. Later in the afternoon, we had our first sighting of rhinoceros with a young baby of four months old. The game drives have been quite fun and we will have more, but the reserve we are at is quite small so there are limited in their carrying capacity of some of the predators and large animals like elephants. For instance, in order to see lion, we must book a tour with one of the larger game parks nearby. This is kind of how they empty your wallet here. We basically have an all expense paid trip with lodging, food, and game drives, but the side excursions, which are must unless you want to keep seeing the same giraffes, are extra. We narrowed down a few options, but it looks like we might take one trip to a game reserve outside of the this one in hopes of seeing lion, and we will also try and visit a cheetah rehabilitation center and take a tour that specializes in elephant interactions. If pictures appear of us feeding elephants and posing with purring cheetahs, you will know we made it.
Wish me luck with my touring companions, or at least wish me some patience that I could probably use more of in the first place.
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