Today we woke up early - about 7am (after I screwed up the alarm for 6:45). We already had the bags packed so it wasn't too bad to get ready, but breakfast didn't go so quickly. We headed over there like usual but when fiddling with the toaster somehow the power went out - for the entire complex. We quickly got very behind. Mabel apologized, but we didn't mind. She had a gas grill that was still going and all was well. We missed out on the toast but the world went on. After we ate our food and put our bags in the car we went up to finally pay our bill. We prepaid 3/4 of the bill but we needed to pay the last 1/4. We'd been trying to pay since we got there but the lady that runs the place, Lucienne, kept saying tomorrow - tomorrow. We tried to go in and pay as we left and she just said pay when you get back. It was at this moment we realized that we'd overpaid and probably paid more with our 3/4 than most people pay for their entire trip - thank you World Cup prices.
We stressed a little bit about making it on time but in the end we made great time. However, the drive over there was a little ridiculous because the Garmin decided to try to send us the wrong way down on a one-way street. Eventually we made it and dropped off the rental with ease. We then made our way to the check-in area and checked our smaller bags then made our way to the baggage storage area to leave our bags at the airport. We dropped them off and it felt fairly safe although I guess we'll find out when we make it back to Jo'burg. We went to wait for the flight and it was all uphill from here. We got on the plane and it was about half full so we had room to spread out and they gave us a wonderful chocolate chip muffin. We landed after a short 1 hour flight at a one runway airstrip and it was definitely the most remote airport I've ever been to. We met our driver to Inyati and found out there were 2 other Americans in the minibus with us going to the same place and some Brits going to a lodge nearby. The first part of the trip was pretty mundane. It was a 2 lane road that had a huge shoulder. The common courtesy was to flash your hazards to someone that got onto the shoulder and let you pass - then they would say your welcome by flashing their brights back. The second half of the trip was bumpy. I mean really bumpy. I don't even think you are picturing the bumpiness that we experienced. I wanted to raise my hands in the air and say look no hands - that's how bumpy it was. We eventualy made it to the lodge and then all was well. After my spine stopped jiggling around we were told the rules and we signed our lives away with a waiver. We were then shown our room and holy crap it's wonderful. It makes our bed and breakfast room look like a dump and we liked that room. This is how a safari should be done! We got ready for our night drive and made our way to the "high tea" area where some h'or duerves were waiting for us. The food was great and since we got here we haven't had a bad meal.
Our drive was kicked off by meeting our ranger Piet and our tracker Nelson. They are two of the nicest people, although Nelson's English isn't that great. Nelson found some tracks for a leopard about 15 minutes in and went off into the distance and we didn't see him again for probably about 2 hours or so. We made our way around the various paths and saw a ton of Impala, various birds (including a very large bird that ate a giant fish in one gulp,), Kudu, Wildabeast, and finally a pride of lions . The night was highlighted by a few events. The first was our offroad trek. We were going down this path and all of a sudden we took a hard left into the wilderness. We were mowing over bushes and small trees like they were ants. The Land Rover was stopped by nothing. Shortly after we stopped off for a beer and some snacks. I had a Castle and Lora had some red wine. There were chips, nuts, and jerky. The jerky was spicy and very yummy. The next highlight was a kill that had happened the previous day but was still going on. A pride of lions had taken down a buffalo and were still breaking through the tough skin. It was an amazing sight! The lion had his entire head inside of the buffalo throughout the feeding and was showing signs of tire. Piet told us that they would feed on this kill for a few days since it was winter - in summer the meat would spoil much faster. There weren't a lot of sightings this night and as I'm typing this after our second night drive - the night drives do not have as many sightings it seems. I got some great pictures, but the sun set very quickly and the night pictures suffered. Nelson had a spotlight but the lighting was very harsh and not ideal for picture taking.
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We got back and were greeted with an amazing meal. I grabbed a Castle and then Lora decided she wanted some wine. There are a few items that are cheap in South Africa and alcohol is on that list. We orderd a nice bottle for 160R which is about $22 USD. The same bottle in an American restaurant would have cost at least $40 I'd guess. The meal tonight was amazing - the main course was Kudu. We saw Kudu earlier that night and they are very similar to deer. The local deer was extremely yummy and that's all I could think about when I saw them the next day. The dessert was equally as impressive - I'm not sure of the name but it was a cake with some pudding-like substance. We didn't leave a drop in the bowl. After dessert we made our way to the lounge area where they had a decent sized TV with satellite and we watch the Brazil / Chile game. Brazil pretty easily dominated them and it ended 3-0. Lora left at halftime to take a shower and I followed about half-way through the second half. We were going to retire for the night because the next day began at 5:30 with a knock on the door to wake us up for our morning drive.
I got ready for bed and as we crawled into bed - holy crap was there a surprise that I would begin to enjoy and surely we'll figure out how to bring this home. Near the foot of the bed they placed a soft plastic water containter under the fitted sheet. It was boiling hot almost and felt just perfect on my skin. This is how life should be lived. If I can figure out how to take one of these water bottles home with me I will.
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