Day 12 10/23/10

This morning we left Mlilwane in Swaziland at 6:00 and headed out to our next adventure at the Arathusa lodge in Kruger National Park. A herd of nyala were right out side our rondavel as we packed the car. They were so close I could almost reach out and touch them. At one point I a mother and fawn walked within 6 ft of me and stood there looking at me while I ate a breakfast bar. It was a wonderful feeling and will be a cherished memory! We decided to take the mountain route out of Swaziland, along the way we passed a gasoline truck and at that point didn’t think any thing much more. We stopped for gas in one of the only stations on the way and found out that they were out of gas and waiting for said gas truck! We waited an hour for the gas truck to arrive and refill the station. After we got back on our way we had smooth sailing to Kruger. Kruger national park is huge and we entered one of the southern most gates. The drive was slow going but well worth it. First we saw a rhinoceros, then a mother elephant with her calf, we then saw two lion cubs and to top it off a giraffe and then finally two leopards. At this point I have seen 4 of the top 5, lion, rhinoceros, elephant, leopard, the only one left was the cape buffalo. We had to exit the park and get back on the main highway to get to our final destination Arathusa lodge. The trip took longer then expected and we thought we were lost several times along the way but in the end we reached made it in with 15 minutes to spare to make lunch at 2:00 and take the 4:00 safari tour. Arathusa is a luxury lodge, all meals and a few drinks included. WiFi, weak but there, air conditioned rooms with phones quite a step up from our previous accommodations. Right off the bat on our safari we ran into a herd of cape buffalo, the fifth puzzle piece to the big five. The safari truck is open air and they animals are almost in the seats with you, or at least it seems that way. We also saw, dwarf mongoose, Egyptian geese, steenbok, bush babies, a whole herd of at least 60 elephants, a hippo, brown snake eagle, fish eagle, nyala, impala, lions, kudu, and warthogs. After snacks and drinks at sunset we continued our safari with the tracker using a spot light to find the animals, it was like a page from Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom! When we returned we washed up and had a delicious dinner of gemsbok steak, which tastes like a very expensive steak, it was time to clean up and get some sleep. We have a 5:30 safari and don’t want to be late!