Mpumalanga

Today we decided to change it up and decided to do a bushwalk. It is a totally different experience. Just as we were about to set off we heard a loud male lion roaring in the distance. Beautiful and scary at the same time, reminding us all that you never quite know what you will find anywhere in the bush. Frank estimated it was about 2km away. Frank briefed us that we had to go single file, not talk and communicate by clicking our fingers. He carried a rifle and said when he gave a command we had to follow it, no questions and not to run if we saw anything approaching us. We wondered how this would all go with Ted… The sun was just rising, a stunning part of the day. We were lucky right at this moment to spot giraffes and zebras. They were curious to observe us as they rarely see people on foot. The zebras made some noises and were more scared but calmed down when they saw the giraffes calm. We continued on, sometimes on the road tracks and sometimes cross country through the plains in the long grass and dodging thorns and spider webs. Ted had fun scaring Dad with a long piece of grass when we were near a spider’s web, tickling the back of his neck and making him jump and us all laugh. We learned a lot about spiders, plants and the environment, and spotted leopard, elephant and hyena tracks. We crossed a river bed and saw how clever elephants are as they dig using their trunks to find clean water. We saw beautiful birds, impala and kudu in the distance on the walk - very skittish. We arrived at a beautiful waterhole with Eddie (our tracker) having set up our coffee break. We ended up walking 3.8 km, taking about 2 hours. Frank asked us to check for ticks and Jess was freaking out, the only who had them, and they were all over her pants. She was worried she’d get limes disease, but Frank assured her that they only itch. We then spotted two lapwing birds squawking and flicking up a snake in the air next to the waterhole. It was quite a funny sight. The birds were scared off by the snake and we realised that they were trying to defend their nest. We watched in amazement as the snake swallowed a lapwing egg from the nest, this tiny snake stretching and stretching its mouth to a size about 10x its circumference. It took a good half hour to do so and it moved about 50m in the process, looking very funny like it had a bulging head. On the way to our bush breakfast we saw more elephants, one with an estimated 2 week old calf. More commentary and wildlife discussion, always more to learn. Our guide Frank with 17 years experience is a fountain of knowledge. It was Liv’s turn to ride on the hot seat!

Liv and I enjoyed a soothing bath to wash off the walk and sleep today has eluded me. Jess had an outdoor shower to get all the ticks off and then her ambience was interrupted by a wasp. We all enjoyed pool time, reading books, backgammon and enjoyed chatting to Chris, Sally, Ben and Ollie (the British family). We then headed off on our afternoon safari and think it was the hottest ones yet as it was 39 degrees and the sun was beating down. We had another close encounter with an elephant doing a mock charge, stretching its ears wide, stomping and trumpeting. It unnerved Jess and me, despite us being towards the back of the vehicle and it happening directly in front of Eddie who sits outside the vehicle. Frank is so calm and talked us through exactly what it meant and why you have to stay put, not reverse back and let him think he’s boss, as it was a young male learning. We then ended up at the same waterhole we had morning coffee, set up for our last sundowners. The British clan (the Mitchell’s) joined us and we watched the spectacular sun go down. We were offered a local worm delicacy, Pete, Jess and I tried it - not to our taste! Jess regretted her decision when the light was shone on them.

We returned back to the lodge for a communal dinner. Ted tried Eland, Pete and I enjoyed a klip fish and the girls went for the vegetarian option. We had a lot of laughs with the Mitchell family and were sorry our time didn’t overlap more. We stayed up well past our bedtime, knowing we were on for our last morning safari.Read more