Yesterday was unbelievable. Liz and I got to Johannesburg on Friday afternoon. We stayed at a nice hotel that literally had everything you could ever imagine: casino, theater, movie theater, 10 restaurants, bars; you name it they had it. Of course for our eating pleasure we chose Hooters.....I haven't had chicken wings in too long....
The following morning we left for safari. When we stepped off of the plane it was really hot and humid. This is weather that we are now completely unaccustomed to. I haven't stopped sweating for about 24 hours. It makes me not miss the weather in DC at all. That being said, we had a fantastic lunch and hung out by the pool and lounged around in the sun for a couple of hours before going out on our first ride.
When we did leave the lodge the weather was much more beautiful. The sun started to set about an hour into our ride. It was warm but the breeze in the jeep was great. We saw some small animals like Impala, that were ok, but nothing spectacular. Then out of nowhere CRUNCH!! Liz spotted a baby elephant tearing apart a big bush. We cruised over right next to it. It was a young male and as soon as we pulled up it faced us and flared it's ears. Thank you for the photo op young elephant. We ended up seeing a mother, a one month old baby and two young males with her. As we continued to drive we came upon a pack of about 25-30 elephants....a tide if you will.....all walking together through the woods. It was unreal. There were babies, huge males and females and young ones too. It was a sight:
Next we stopped to enjoy the sunset, which was surreal. We planned this trip a while ago and it was so nice to finally be here. It was so much better sharing this experience with Liz. We had a drink as the sun went down. The colors were magnificent. I don't drink gin and tonics but I had one then; it seemed appropriate.
With an hour left in our first safari ride we happened upon a pride of 20 lions. There was one full grown male with a beautiful mane and one young male. All the rest were females. It was now dusk and the pride was walking in single file beginning their hunt. The sky got dark very quickly.
For about the last 2 hours of our ride you could see lightening everywhere and dark clouds. You couldn't help but notice it all around us but we were pretty preoccupied with the animals. As we followed this pride of lions around the lightening closed in. Soon it was literally encircling us and very close. Our ranger decided to head back. As soon as we started driving the skies just opened up. I honestly can't remember ever seeing a storm like that. The lightening lit up the darkness like daytime. The rain slashed faces as we drove back to the lodge. We were about an hour away. They had ponchos in the jeep so we put them on but Liz and I were already soaked. We are in a group with two older couples. Liz and I kept our hoods down and just got drenched. As we were tearing down these dirt roads Liz and I were cackling and howling in the back of the jeep like a couple of seven year olds. I haven't laughed that hard in months. It was that wonderful childish laughter that you just can't stop. We were crying laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation all the way back to the lodge. Upon our return we showered up and had an amazing dinner with a good group of new friends. We are the only Americans at this particular lodge and it is interesting hearing everyone's backgrounds.
What was your Saturday like......?
Couldn't be happier to be taking a break from work and getting ready to celebrate Elizabeth's birthday on the 14th!!
The following morning we left for safari. When we stepped off of the plane it was really hot and humid. This is weather that we are now completely unaccustomed to. I haven't stopped sweating for about 24 hours. It makes me not miss the weather in DC at all. That being said, we had a fantastic lunch and hung out by the pool and lounged around in the sun for a couple of hours before going out on our first ride.
When we did leave the lodge the weather was much more beautiful. The sun started to set about an hour into our ride. It was warm but the breeze in the jeep was great. We saw some small animals like Impala, that were ok, but nothing spectacular. Then out of nowhere CRUNCH!! Liz spotted a baby elephant tearing apart a big bush. We cruised over right next to it. It was a young male and as soon as we pulled up it faced us and flared it's ears. Thank you for the photo op young elephant. We ended up seeing a mother, a one month old baby and two young males with her. As we continued to drive we came upon a pack of about 25-30 elephants....a tide if you will.....all walking together through the woods. It was unreal. There were babies, huge males and females and young ones too. It was a sight:
Next we stopped to enjoy the sunset, which was surreal. We planned this trip a while ago and it was so nice to finally be here. It was so much better sharing this experience with Liz. We had a drink as the sun went down. The colors were magnificent. I don't drink gin and tonics but I had one then; it seemed appropriate.
With an hour left in our first safari ride we happened upon a pride of 20 lions. There was one full grown male with a beautiful mane and one young male. All the rest were females. It was now dusk and the pride was walking in single file beginning their hunt. The sky got dark very quickly.
For about the last 2 hours of our ride you could see lightening everywhere and dark clouds. You couldn't help but notice it all around us but we were pretty preoccupied with the animals. As we followed this pride of lions around the lightening closed in. Soon it was literally encircling us and very close. Our ranger decided to head back. As soon as we started driving the skies just opened up. I honestly can't remember ever seeing a storm like that. The lightening lit up the darkness like daytime. The rain slashed faces as we drove back to the lodge. We were about an hour away. They had ponchos in the jeep so we put them on but Liz and I were already soaked. We are in a group with two older couples. Liz and I kept our hoods down and just got drenched. As we were tearing down these dirt roads Liz and I were cackling and howling in the back of the jeep like a couple of seven year olds. I haven't laughed that hard in months. It was that wonderful childish laughter that you just can't stop. We were crying laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation all the way back to the lodge. Upon our return we showered up and had an amazing dinner with a good group of new friends. We are the only Americans at this particular lodge and it is interesting hearing everyone's backgrounds.
What was your Saturday like......?
Couldn't be happier to be taking a break from work and getting ready to celebrate Elizabeth's birthday on the 14th!!
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