Safari Day 2 - LIONS spotted!

Kudu

Lion posing for me

Elephant saying hello

Sunday Oct 9

Animals spotted today: Elephants, giraffes, jackal, caracal, lions, kudus, steenbok, egyptian geese, eagle, rock lizard, hippos, turtles on the hippo, crocodile, impalas, zebras, waterbuck

Up at 5:30 to dress for the morning game drive. I kept waking up throughout the night thinking it was time to get up so didn't get much sleep. I looked out my glass door and there's a monkey running by my room, OK, I'm definitely in africa now! Got dressed and walked outside, I looked toward the water hole and there were a couple of giraffes drinking water, great start to the day!

It was a slow start without much activities, impalas and giraffes were scattered throughout but we were looking for the big 5. Stopped by a waterhole for our morning cup of coffee and tea and there's a hippo mostly submerged in the water. His eyes and nose was out of the water and he's absolutely still. The funniest part was that he had about7 or 8 baby turtles hanging around on his enormous back. Funnier still was a crocodile swimming around him.

Moshe got a heads up from other rangers of a lion sighting so we headed out that way. It was so cool, a group of 6 female lions and cubs. They were just hanging out in the tall grass and didn't have a care in the world. I got a great picture of a jeep literally a few feet from them. We're relatively safe as long as we remain in the jeep, the animals will see our vehicle as one big animal so they normally do not attack if you keep your distance. They tell you to never stand up while in the jeep so as to single yourself out.

Came back to a huge breakfast on the veranda and then it's time for a walk with Moshe. The big group of 8 was checking out so it's just me and the german couple that went for the walk. Before we started Moshe gave us safety rules. He loaded up the rifle and told us sternly that under no circumstances do we run if we see an animal. We must follow his directions without question. We could run into anything in the bush. We also had to walk in a single file to avoid running into a snake as it is running away from the person upfront. It was a sobering lecture and make me think twice about going but I went. It was interesting, Moshe taught us about the trees and bushes in the area, he's one knowledgeable ranger!

Another nice lunch (felt like I just ate!) and then it's time for a nap. What a life. THe place is alive with sounds and smells. So many birds in the area, and I don't recognize any of them!

Our afternoon drive was nice, we chased after an eagle for awhile and stumbled upon a 2 feet+ lizard, yuck! When we stopped for our sunset drink we can hear the sounds of a leopard in the distance. As we headed home Moshe explained that we werent pursuing the leopard because he's in an area that was on private property. Then he must have had second thoughts because he radioed the owner and got permission to go on his land. SO, we turned around and went into the direction of the leopard. By this time it was dark but the full moonlight had cast a beautiful light on the bush. At one point Moshe stopped and turned off the engine to listen for the sounds of the leopard (which sounds like a low growl). We sat in silence for at least 10 minutes but didn't hear anything. It was still nice to listen to the sounds of the night which was quite loud out here, crickets frogs, birds etc. Moshe drove further on and we stopped one more time but to no avail. Oh well, the whole process was fun anyway.

It's a smaller group for dinner tonight. I learnt that part of the job of the ranger (they have 2 on staff for the game drive) is to entertain the guests. THis means that they sit with us at mealtimes. Richard the other ranger is much more sociable. Moshe is much more quiet and shy. I think they assign a ranger to a group of guest during their time at the lodge because Moshe has been on all our drives. That's fine, I think he's great. He lives in a village an hour from here and that's where his kids live. We were surprised that he had a 15 year old daughter and 12 year old son. I swear he looked no older than 30. He seems so knowledgeable of well, everything.

Every evening I download my pics and edit them and the group really enjoys looking through them. I have to edit everyday otherwise it's an impossible task at home. I took 170 pictures on this morning's game drive (got a little excited with the lions!) but ended up with 30 good ones. WIth exception of lions, leopards and buffalos all the animals are plentiful but I take the picture anyway because sometimes I see a special pose or the lighting might be good. Anyway, cant seem to contain my excitement each time I see them.

The german couple are leaving early tomorrow so I will be the only guest for the day. They are full again the following day but it will be nice to have the rangers to myself, like a private tour!

Hope to get a good sleep tonight, I want to get up for the sunrise. So strange to take a shower by oil lamp, the lighting is not so good so what if I missed a deadly spider crawling in the shower?! But then I learnt how to turn up the oil lamp so it's nice and bright while I take a shower, duh. I leave on oil lamp burning low in the bathroom in case I need to get up for the bathroom in the middle of the night, it's not like I can flip on a switch, not sure if I can manage to light the oil lamp while half asleep!

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings......

OMG, I'm finally on safari!

Need to post pics when wifi is stronger.....

Saturday, Oct 8

Took a flight from Joburg to Hoedspruit (1 hr flight) to the northwestern part of the greater kruger national park. If you go to south africa kruger is the place to go to see the big 5 (elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, rhino).

Got picked up at Hoedspruit for my transfer to my first lodge (Kambaku Lodge). RIght out of the gate we see a giraffe! My excitement ofcourse picks up, and this happens to be one of my favorite animals. Its a 45 minute drive to the lodge, first on paved road then along dirt roads. Along the way we see lots of impalas, kudus and cutest of all a zebra who happens to be crossing the road! I am definitely NOT in kansas anymore! Saw some monkeys but they were too fast for me to take pics. Kruger is a huge nature area that's about 200km long. There are also private nature reserves that borders kruger but without fences so the animals roam freely in between. My 2 lodges during my week safari are in two different areas but both part of private nature preserves. The difference between this and the national park is that you have significantly less traffic than in the national park. You pay for it too! It's well worth it though!

My driver described Kambaku lodge as rustic because the room do not have electricity and operate by oil lamps. I am quick to find out that you can still manage a 5 star accommodation with rustic. Wish I could post pics right now to show it. I was greeted by Moshe who took my bags and directed me to the main area where I was given a welcome drink and crystal who have me a small orientation to the place. Already I was enthralled by the place. It's an open airy place of multiple huts complete with straw roofs. There are big rooms and decks to relax. My room was gorgeous, four poster bed with white mosquito netting, high ceiling fans, poured concrete floors. There is electricity to charge my batteries but yes, lighting is by oil lamps. No phones, no tv which is fine by me!

The lodge has 6 private chalets with thatched roofs facing a big watering hole (a pond) that invites all the animals to come for a drink and ofcourse a photo op! Our meals is gourmet quality and we know its time to gather when Bennet our bartender beats the drum (literally). So happy to find the weather perfect, warm up to high 70's, sunny, not humid and best of all, hardly any mosquitoes! I did start my malaria pills before I flew here and will keep it up since I don't feel any side effects. The nights are perfectly cool! Apparently I got here right after winter but right before the rainy season. The only drawback is that the foliage is still dry and the trees dont have leaves yet. That's ok - you can see the animals a lot further, and no mosquitoes, and it's not hot and humid!!

Lunch was on the veranda and the view was so beautiful overlooking the grounds. I met the other guest. A group of 8 came together and worked for an american company and here on business. One couple was from brazil but has lived in Joburg for last 6 yrs. There was a german couple who got here same day as me. The lodge can have max 12 people so it will never feel crowed. I quickly learn that you will eat a LOT of food here. A typical day will be wake-up call (by the form of Moshe coming around to knock on your door), meet at 6am for a 3 hour game drive, then breakfast at 9am, optional ranger walk at 11, then lunch at 1, then an afternoon game drive 4-7pm, then cocktails and dinner at 7:30. Dinner is outside under the stars.

Last night we had multicourse dinner starting with apple soup, then stuffed baked potato, green beans, curry lentils, beef filet, then a wonderful flan for dessert. OMG it was so good, all this while the stars came out!

On our afternoon game drive we split into 2 groups and went separate ways so that you literally do not see anyone the whole time you are out. THe jeep seats 6 guests, the driver and then a seat in front of the vehicle for the tracker. It's tiered so that even if you sit in the last row your view is not obstructed, kinda like a move theatre. It's open air so it's very invigorating driving in the nice weather. I felt like a kid as we stopped for elephants, rhino, crocodiles, kudus and lots and lots of impalas. It got exciting when Eric (our tracker up front) spotted some rhinos (very shy animals) and we proceeded to chase after it. The jeep got off the dirt road and we literally bushed wacked through the brush. It was incredible, I kept thinking there's no way he's going to make it through those bushes and he did. It was so cool. We finally got to a spot with a nice view of the rhinos. Around 6pm we stopped to enjoy the sunset in the bush. Ofcourse that calls for Eric and Moshe to break out the wine glasses and some great local white wines with chips and beef jerky. Moshe said it was hippo jerky but for some reason I think he was pulling our legs. We rode through the last hour in the dark, the cool air was so invigorating. Eric was upfront with a spot light shining it back and forth to try to catch some wild life. It's a bumpy ride but so exciting.

When we got back from our game drive I go to my room to find that they have turned down the bed and but a candy wrapped with fresh flowers on my bed. The mosquito net was let down, and the oil lamps are lit and placed in my room and in the bathroom. It's enough light to get around but perhaps not to read. It's so quaint!

There was a pit fire right next to our dinner table to enjoy. Once dark one of the guys would escort us to our room even though we were given a little lamp to walk around with. They tell the guests to stay in our room at night and not wander around unsupervised after dark. There is an electric fence around the property but it does not guarantee to keep the animals out! This is not a zoo where they keep the animals locked up and safe. You are in the wild, that's for sure.

It's only the 1st day but all the staff know me by name, even Bennett our bartender! I haven't figured out how many they have on staff but I know there are 2 rangers that drive the jeep and 2 trackers. There's crystal who runs the office. They live on site in a small house near the chalets. They work 26 days and then off 7 days. OH! and there's a whistle attached to the door in our chalet! This is in case of emergency, in case a big animal comes to your door and doesnt want to go away. You blow on your whistle and one of the guys will come to your rescue. I didn't like the sound of it when crystal explained this to me!

At dinner I met the owners and their 2 daughters. John is actually an american, from Oklahoma! THe kicker was they are planning to emigrate to Scottsdale this December! What a small world! THe girls are about 16 and 18 and are excited to live in the US for awhile. I asked Tanja where they are going to live and she asked me if I knew an area called DC Ranch! It's only a few miles from my work. So weird!

I love this place, it's so magical. So sad that I cant post my pics while at this lodge but here is the link to the lodge if any is interested in seeing their pics. It's AMAZING. I really really really really wish Gary was here to share with me

http://www.kambaku.co.za/

Finally done!

Friday, Oct 7
Hooray! Final discussion went well today and we were all happy it was done. Had our last lunch in the cafeteria and I have to say I won't miss it much. Most of the time it's something fried, greasy or full of fat. Yes, there's a pattern there. If it's a pork chop half of it is fat. However, the food in the restaurants we've been to is very good though. The seafood is really fresh here. The guys love meat and I found myself eating more than I want to.

Today the general manager Manie told us this was one of the best audit that he has experienced and he was really happy at the way we helped his team get better. How nice!
Just enough time to finalize our report and send it to germany. Rene & Federico dropped me off at the guesthouse before heading to the airport. It's so quiet without them! We got along very well and had a lot of fun. I got to brush up on my spanish a little bit with them.
Tomorrow I go on my week of safari, to say I cannot wait is an understatement!

TIA describes perfectly the attitude here....

Our general obersavation here is that our SA colleagues are very relaxed about time schedules. Before each audit we establish an interview schedule with different topics and individual for 9am to 5pm for the first 2 weeks. Based on experience we know generally how much time is needed for each topics. Ofcourse some topics might need additional follow up depending on what we discover. Anyway, we soon discovered that 9am could be anytime between 9 or 9:30 or 10. It's crazy! Especially for someone as anal as me! Soon Federico and I started to get relaxed about the time as well! We would clarify with each other if we mean german time or south african time, lol!

Anyway, Rene was telling me a story about their wknd in kruger. Their game drive was supposed to start at a certain time but ofcourse it was delayed. One of the tourist started to complain and the guide told them "hey it's TIA" which means This Is Africa! That's so perfect! This morning the guys were driving to an external warehouse while I work at the hotel. They were supposed to meet everyone there at 10. I find the guys still eating breakfast and talking to me at 9:30. I asked Federico shouldnt they be leaving now if they are meeting everyone at 10? And he's already telling me TIA! Talk about assimilating to the local culture! Both Rene and Federico are more latin than german so I think this relaxed attitude fits them fine! Me on the other hand, I think I might have been german in one of my previous lives because I'm a stickler about time, especially when it comes to work.

Local lunch at Lesedi village

October 1

Wonderful food for lunch. Typical south african dishes include stewed meats with some kinds of greens, the traditional maiz mash called pap, butternut mash and grilled meats. I tried them all including ostrich, crocodile, lamb. The grilled beef sausage and roast beef was also good. Had to admit that it was a little too much meat for me but what the heck. We made sure to save room for dessert. I loved the mulva dessert which was basically a warm type of cake baked in a casserole dish. You scoop a portion into a bowl and then pour hot vanilla pudding onto the cake. Dorothy promises to send me her recipe so I can't wait to make some at home.

Lesedi Cultural Village

Zulu man

Man from South Sotho tribe

Highlander tribe

A young tribal dancer

Oct 1

Lesedi village is a cultural center depicting all the traditional tribes of south africa. On the tour they take you through actual examples of tribe living including the types of home (mostly huts) and how they live and hunt. At one village they just finished taking off the hide of a buffalo and the hide was hanging on their wooden fence. It was the most foul smell, like fresh cow dung but worse! Even our guide couldn't stand it and had to give her tour of that village standing on the outside!

At one village there was an offering of the Mopani worms to the group and some people took a sample. No thanks! It was so interesting but I couldn't keep up with all the tribal names. THere are 11 national languages in south africa. 1 is english, 2nd is afrikan which has some dutch origins. The remaining 9 are tribal languages including zulu. Our tour ended with a wonderful song and dance from different tribes. It was wonderful, so energetic. I took so many pictures. At the end they invited us to get up to dance with them. I'm usually the last person to do something like that but it was fun.

One common custom among the tribes was the way a dowry was paid. If a man wants to marry a girl he must pay the father of the girl at least 11 cows. Some tribes are more expensive and it could go as high as 26 cows for a chief's daughter. Nowadays they still practice this in a way. So if a cow is worth 5,000 rand then the man must pay 55,000 rands. Each village usually has its own place that holds it cattle. This is usually placed in front of the hut of the chief - supposedly the first thing the chief wants to see when he wakes up is not his wife or his children, but his cattle because this is a sign of his wealth!

Some of the huts are built out of dry and hardened cow dung, yuck!

With each different village the guide tried to teach us how to greet the village chief in the local language. Some we could repeat but some it was impossible especially if it involves some weird noises in the back of the throat. One spear they named it after the sound it makes when it goes into the enemy's midsection and breaking his ribs!

It was a really interesting day, everything is so colorful! I wanted to get some culture in while I can. My week of holiday after this audit will all be safari, cant wait!

Joburg and Nelson Mandela's house

Nelson Mandela's house in JoBurg

Johannesburg, Sandton in the distance

Oct 1

Today Rene and Federico went for an overnight to kruger park to see the big 5. Thorsten and I did a day tour to a cultural village northwest of the city. On the way Dorothy our tour guide took us through Joburg and it wasn't what I pictured. It was more green and woodsy than I thought. Dorothy drove through some neighborhoods and showed us Nelson Mandela's house. He's 93 now and still very much beloved by the people of south africa. It was his birthday earlier this week and you could see some pebbles that the children had put in front of his house as well wishes.

Dorothy told us the interesting history of south africa as we drove to Lesedi village. The white settlers came to south africa in the 14th century. First it was the dutch, then the english, then other europeans. This country is know for its great wine and supposedly it was a combo of cultures that brought it together. The dutch came and planted grapes, the germans came and taught how to make barrels and the french came and made the wine. The language of the Afrikans is a mixture of dutch, french and other europeans languages.

Gold was discovered in the 19th century and Joburg became a huge city overnight. Because of a hugh meteor that hit this area many years ago the gold is buried pretty deep in the ground and not very easy to mine.

It's not a huge country but it has so many different climates and geographical differences. Where we are is savanah, then you have the desert in the northwest, the tropical forest in the east and southeast, and coastal in the south. I really regret not having enough time to explore more.