Safari

First, the story of the epic drive to the Safari:

Our Safari started off with a potentially disastrous situation. First of all, half of the 6 hour drive to the Limpopo National Park was spent on roads packed with massive potholes. It was actually comical, we would weave back and forth through lanes trying to avoid popping a tire. Then, when we got to the gate of the park, we were to drive anouther 50km on unpaved road. Keep in mind we are rocking a Honda Civic (affectionately referred to as Didier Dusty). We should have known when the Rangers started laughing at us that we were attempting to drive the roads in such a car. However they eventually told us it would be ok, we just needed to "drive slowly." Two hours of rocky, sandy, bumpy roads later we made it to our meeting point. Only no one was there to meet us. With no cell phone service, and dusk approaching we assessed our options and decided to drive back to the main gate. At this point we didnt know if we'd be missing the first night, missing the safari all together, or what. Tensions were high amongst the Afrikaan Americans, as we all were picturing getting stranded in the middle of big 5 country. Just when it thought all hope was lost (right about after the second time we literally had to part a sea of cattle on the road while driving through sand) we got cell service and called the Safari Organizers. There was a miscommunication about the meeting point. They ended up sending someone to pick us up in a 4x4 truck at the main gate, and let us stay in the "Luxery Campground" the first night. It meant Didier would live to see another day, and we would have a proper toilet for one more night. Disaster avoided.

The Safari
The first night we went to bed to the sounds of crocodiles clamping their jaws in the river right next to our tents. I thought I heard a lion, but it turned out to be Fuge's snoring. We took off the next morning for the safari. We were guided by our fearless leaders: Greg - an American who has lived all over Africa, and Julius, a native Mozambican, and the man with the rifle. We had been informed that lions were in the vicinity, so we set off to find them. We did not find them, but did see poop from some of the scariest jungle animals you can imagine. Day two was my favorite. The highlight of the safari came when we spotted an elephant in a river valley. It was amazing seeing an elephant in the wild. Later that day we saw a group of zebras, and the next morning a crocodile, about 20 meters from where we slept that first night. On the safari we also saw impalas, water buck, several varieties of birds, scary looking insects, and tracks from giraffe, water buffalo and lions.

We were so happy we decided to do a walking safari, it made us really feel like part of the jungle. We walked about 40km total. What started as a potential disaster ended up being an unforgettable experience.