I couldn’t really get back to sleep at all, but I laid there for a few more hours until it was time to get up. We take fast showers and didn’t have a bunch of stuff to get ready so it was pretty fast. We headed outside to wait for everyone and Jacquie had some coffee so that was nice. Eventually we walked over to the main building for brekky which was a “full English” breakfast which means scrambled eggs, toast, tomato slices and also beans and a hot dog. The beans are the consistency of baked beans but a little different and them on toast is a pretty big thing in England. Clearly, we just had the not hot dog stuff, but it was good and we were basically ready to be on our way. 

One lady, Marta, had a lot of flight problems and ended up 2 days delayed so she was just getting in this morning. Mat went to the airport to get her while we were finishing up brekky and when everyone was done we loaded up on our truck and went to get them and be on our way.

They were already waiting and it was a quick stop and we finally set out on the highway. It was pretty normal, industrial/ city stuff but I was a bit surprised to see a nuclear power plant in the background- and as we went out of town we expected townships (ie shanty towns), but didn’t see any at all for a long while. Instead the city sprawled a bit and we finally passed a few but nothing like the overwhelming number of them in Cape Town. They are definitely around Joberg too but maybe not as much north as other places?

The landscape surprised us a lot as it was a lot of farmland, pretty much for hours. It looked a bit like New Zealand and Idaho- kind of dry, pretty flat for a while but eventually it started to get hilly. It was pretty uneventful and not really “Africa” looking at for a while and I think it was a bit disappointing and underwhelming for Jon and Kristin- and even us. But we had to remember that before, we’ve started in the third world and ended in the first- and this time we’re starting out in the first- but Mozambique for example is the 187^th of 192 in terms of the world’s wealth, so we will be in a different world soon enough.

We traveled for a few hours and pulled into this truck stop which was the weirdest thing ever. It was like a small mall and it was BUSY- almost like it’s a destination for people. There are a lot of motorcyclists here with nice bikes- even Harleys- which Bryan also commented it was weird to see since everywhere else in our travels prior motorcycles are for transportation only and they are pretty beat up. They are usually not nice or new- and usually have 3 or more people on them. Seeing people just riding for fun here was odd and again, countered our expectations a bit. 

But the weirdest thing is this place had a game preserve right attached to it. So before we got off the truck Mat was like be sure to check out the rhinos, ostriches etc in the back. Apparently, the place is quite large and while the animals gather around the watering hole, conveniently located just off the back of this place, the animals have a pretty big area- and it’s not like a zoo either; it’s a real conservation area. 

However, I can say it was definitely a very strange thing for our first sighting of African animals was at a gas station! There were white rhinos (they are not as endangered like the black). Really, they were called “Weiss” meaning wide because their lip is wide and flat (vs the black which comes to a point)- but the translation of Dutch to English became “white” as many terms are converted/ abbreviated and anglicized.

Also, there were ostriches which are always so funny and awkward, and Cape Buffalo- which people often call water buffalo, but really water buffalo are only in India. Also some antelope called Elund, which are beautiful and not totally very common to see in the wild (though we have). Mat said there’s a sable too- but we didn’t see that. Bryan and I walked around talking about how weird it was, but Jon and Kirstin thought it was pretty cool; albeit also a tad strange.

It was a little further down the road that the landscape started changing- but I wanted to mention we passed our 5^th nuclear power plant (and I stopped counting at 7)! I was pretty surprised that it seemed for a while, off in the distance there was always one- so much so Jon questioned how fast we were actually going and whether it was the same one.. I had no idea so much of South African energy came from nuclear.

The landscape started to get hilly, more rocky and more red, eventually giving way to the kind of plateaus, like Table Mountain you see behind Cape Town…much more expected. We also turned off the very paved and excellently maintained highways and onto the side country roads which while potholed, are still a grade A- compared to many we’ve been on in the past. Jon commented how funny it was they don’t fix the potholes, they just have a sign warning you they are there…but this is Africa after all.

We also started to go through towns and villages, which with some modern amenities and conveniences had more of the authentic life of those who don’t have it all- such as street markets, people sitting by the side of the road everywhere- or walking. You can be out in the middle of nowhere and someone will be waiting or walking no matter how long it’s been since you’ve seen villages or people. This started to feel more real to Jon and Kristin I think…

We ended up on these kind of windy roads going through valleys where they are growing fruit trees- which are covered by netting…for acres and acres. It was honestly impressive how the entire field was covered with netting- we’re not sure for shade or to protect against the birds- but it made a weird, white blanket over the landscape…which while not natural, was something I’d not seen before to that extent. They seemed to be growing avocados (big ones!), and oranges- but there also looked to be some mangoes- at least in the fruit stands along the side of the road.

Over the last few hours, Mat gave a lot of historical information about South Africa including its geography. For example, it’s the wealthiest nation in Africa in terms of resources like precious metals, minerals and gems like diamonds. This is partially because when the continents were created this area was first, so the clash and the extra millions of years allowed for the extensive formation of these things, unlike other younger places in the world. As well, he talked a lot about the history and colonialism- and of course Mandella and apartheid. Actually, our truck is called “Madiba” after Mandella. There’s a lot to write about that, which I won’t’ now, but he talked for an hour and a half and I already went through most of my tiny notebook taking notes!

He also started telling us about some of the animals we could see over the next few days including bush babies and some tiny nocturnal monkeys we’ve never heard of but would love to see. An animal called a zorilla, kind of like a skunk, anteaters and a few more. When he was asked about big cats he said “while you will never see a serval, caracal or leopard, it isn’t improbable as they do live here”. So while of course we were all excited at the possibility, he reiterated very clearly it was really unlikely.

I am just looking around and suddenly see a giraffe on the hill. It seemed very light colored but it was a giraffe and I pointed and yelled. Then a few seconds later, we realized it was not moving and it was plastic! There were also some other animals- and I don’t know why just randomly on this hillside- maybe it was the entrance to a preserve or something- but we all had a good laugh that I’d spotted the ever elusive plastic giraffe.

However, not 20 minutes or so later, suddenly Jon (who was sitting in the front seat) spots something and it seems to be a cat. We’re all kind of bewildered and I said a little too loudly it’s a cat, in disbelief- but Mat was like “Oh my gosh, that is a serval”! Thankfully the truck slowed down (our comms between the cab and our area is down) because they know that is pretty uncommon. The cat is about 35-40 lbs and has a beautiful tan with black spots. It was just standing on the side of the road about to go up an embankment- which it did as the truck stopped. The cat actually stopped and paused and looked at us, but sadly none of us got a clear picture of it! The problem is when you use your phone to take pics (because in our instance the camera is way superior to our expensive camera) you gotta turn the phone on and get the cam up- and that can be hard to do- so I think from here on out we will get the old camera out and have it because a clear picture is still better than nothing…although I think Bryan only brought the telephoto lens since that’s really all it’s good for anymore, so that may pose issues too!?

But the look on Mat’s face at how excited he was to see the cat- and that it was our first real sighting of anything- was pretty amazing. We started joking with Mat about “what we definitely will NOT see, even though probable” going forward. This was an extremely lucky find- and good thing Jon had just gotten his glasses, ‘cause now he’s eagle eyes! He was also the only one to spot a dik dik also, which is a tiny, freaking adorable little antelope about the size of my rat terrier mix pup, Satori- all of 12lbs! They are the cutest, and not all that common to see either- and while I couldn’t see it as Jon was pointing, I have seen them before…but I was glad he saw it! 

Someone also saw a blesbok (sp?) which is supposed to be the only “purple” animal in the whole world. It is an extremely endangered antelope that has a silvery brown purple tone to its fur. I don’t think we will have the chance to see another either as they are so endangered they are really only on private reserves where hunters (oddly enough) are breeding them to get their population up. Years ago they realized they’d nearly shot them to extinction, and were the biggest part of their preservation and re-population…but this still doesn’t mean they won’t want to hunt them again at some point…which is another story.

We were still reeling from the serval excitement when we pulled into our “resort” which really is such a thing. It’s one of the nicest- and largest- places we’ve stayed at on our travels in Africa. It’s got cute stone cottages which typically hold 2 suites. Our suite has a kitchenette living room area, very nice bathroom with a tub and a bedroom. We had a little bit of time to get ready before dinner- and before the power went out for 2 hours…which is crazy as the sun goes down at 6ish and the outage was scheduled to be between 7-9pm, which is pretty much prime time for needing power? 

The restaurant was going to be the only place with power for that time but was a bit of a walk. Instead Jon and Kristin came over to hang with us for a bit and brought their headlamps, so when the power went out we were ready. The truck was going to pick us up for dinner because although it wasn’t that far of a walk, we had turned around numerous times trying to find our cottages, so none of us really understood where dinner was (the camping area)- and there was still Carlene who had the cane and wheelchair. So they just told us all to be at the corner at 745pm and we’d be driven down to dinner, which is also where a few of our fellow travelers were tent camping- including Marina, Jillian and Amber (the former bday girl) and Lindsay. I think by the time they all committed to the trip, camping was the only option for the entirety of the trip- but at this place they were given the option to upgrade, which Alma and Jaquie did.

We’d gotten some Savannah cider and some other drinks at our earlier stop at the Highveld mall- which was actually a real, modern mall…again, not typical for our experiences. All the malls we’d been in prior were really dilapidated and had just a couple stores, but this was a huge one- and actually because it was so big, took us some precious time to get through. We only had 25 minutes, but it was near impossible to get everything we all needed- especially water, as we’d not be able to drink tap water moving forward. 

The stop ended up being quite a bit longer than anticipated due to Hondo and Martin needing more time to shop for our food, but then for lunch they bought us individual pizzas from a place at the food court area, which was funny but nice. Normally we’d stop by the side of the road somewhere and they’d make sandwiches etc, but we had lost precious time so they opted for the pizza. It is a lot of food when you’re not used to eating 3 square meals- which neither Krisitn and I do. She was like is it like this all the time? I said, no we’ve never had pizza before and usually you can choose how much food you get of whatever they make…so we each only ate a portion of our pizzas. Neither Jon nor Bryan wanted more but I didn’t throw mine out as I have a tendency to “squirrel away” supplies as Bryan calls it- but it’s because I know I may not be hungry on the scheduled meal times, but I also don’t want to be wasteful. I did end up eating a slice when we got to the cottages because I was pretty hungry and dinner was much later than usual- so it came in handy, although I will have to toss the rest now as 1. I won’t need it anymore and 2. Lack of reliable and consistent refrigeration will render it no good soon.

So we’re drinking our ciders and had our headlamps ready when the power went out. We would find out later this outage is called “loadsharing” and happens everyday throughout South Africa as a way to address their power inadequacies. In Madagascar, they didn’t run the generators during the midday hours which made sense because you didn’t need light or power- and often people took naps due to the heat- but after sunset when you’re trying to cook and do whatever (including I imagine watch TV if you’re staying at this resort), it’d be weird and inconvenient. We are pretty used to the random power outages- like at Tiger’s Milk back in Joberg. While we were sitting there eating dinner in the full restaurant, the power went out to the entire mall and our restaurant- minus the big screen tv’s. Not sure how that one worked, but it’s pretty normal to be doing whatever in Africa and the power goes off. 

Of course during this time, Jon noticed a bug on our wall- which was of course a roach- about 1 inch perhaps. So while this place was nicer and fancier, you never know and of course this didn’t bother us much- we just now know to leave our bags outside for a while before bringing them in when we get home. Actually, right before leaving on this trip we saw a roach in our kitchen which was really trippy as we’d never seen one before- and certainly do not want them around! I think it came in with some t-shirts I ordered for Motley Zoo- because we have never seen one prior and it seemed the only thing we could really explain. As well, unlike other packages, the shirts had not been unfolded or unboxed yet- and could be the likely hideout for a refugee stowaway. We did buy traps to put out before we left just in case this is for some reason not a unique experience. It grossed me out quite a bit at home, but certainly doesn’t here. Although we’ve never seen one in Africa, we did see a very huge one in Borneo at our very nice hotel- so it happens. But this did not give Kristin faith in the night walk- and shattered her ideal about the much nicer accommodations, albeit only a tad. Jon did catch it surprisingly (which made me think maybe it wasn’t a roach, especially as it was dark, almost black) and we shooed it outside. I was impressed as he used a cider bottle which has a TINY opening, so good on him!

Soon it was time for dinner and we went to the spot at the end of our street to get picked up. By now we were all starving! So we rode down to the campsite/ truck and all the little camping chairs had been set up around the “campfire” minus the fire. Martin has made spaghetti bolognese with fake meat for us which was hearty and spicy and very good. I remember now that Martin is good, but not quite as amazing as our last chef (can’t remember his name) who made a special soup every night and was pretty creative and authentic with the veg fare. But Martin was our chef in 2017, and we knew that was good, especially for our first experience being veg in Africa- he got us through with flying colors, so we know we are in good hands.

We all chatted a little and ate our food and did a short briefing about tomorrow’s activities, including exploring this beautiful area called Blyde Canyon- the 3^rd largest in the world. It’s cool we have seen the Grand Canyon, and the one in Namibia called Fish River Canyon, which is the second largest- now we’re seeing the third! 

There’s a place called Potholes we will walk down to, but I don’t know what to expect- and there’s something called God’s Window, which as I didn’t research beforehand, I know nothing about. Actually for half the day we had no idea where we were going or what we were going to do- not because Mat didn’t provide the itinerary but because none of the 4 of us really paid much attention to it. I did say at one point, “For those of us who failed to read the itinerary, where are we going to”? Mat laughed. Marina offered her page protected, printed version to us, but I said it was ok, we knew whatever it was it’d be good- I was more wondering what kind of animals/ safaris were going to occur and in which game parks since we are definitely headed to Kruger National Park- which is amazingly, the size of Delaware.

After dinner we went on a night walk but this one was pretty uneventful unlike our past experiences. We just saw a couple of normal spiders (NOT what Kristin wanted to see) and certainly was not a bush baby or tiny nocturnal monkey! We did see a dueker- a slightly bigger antelope than a dik dik- not quote the size of a med dog. But even though we’re “out there” this is still pretty civilized- as at one point I could hear someone’s dog barking in the distance where you could see some lights on the hillside indicating people living nearby- as well as a car or house alarm going off…but it wasn’t like this was constant or exceptionally annoying- just we weren’t out in the bush and totally isolated. The stars were amazing though- and you can see the Milky Way streaking through the sky which is cool. Another thing I like is that being in the southern hemisphere, the constellations you see are entirely different, so it’s an unexpected small change that is impressive nonetheless. As well, the moon was very large and bright orange, which was gorgeous, but of course we are not able to capture this in a photo at all. 

One thing that was cool is Bryan spotted a large caterpillar, probably about 6 inches long with crazy hairs- and Mat was unfamiliar with the species. We joked that Bryan found a new species and we named it the pilo erectur thomasium- pileo erectus for the crazy hairdo and Thomas our last name. We also saw a bat whiz by but too quick to identify- and definitely not a fruit bat, which are like a little cat with wings they are so cute.

But the walk was pretty much to get us back to our room and by this time we were all exhausted anyway. The power was back on so we could get ready for bed with lights- but Bryan and I basically just brushed our teeth and climbed into bed.

Of course, I woke up at 3am again- exactly 310am to be exact, just like yesterday!? I’d taken an Olly gummy and Sudafed (since my ears are so plugged, I keep coughing and I have congestion- which is also probably part of why I keep waking up) so it is a bit annoying that I am up now typing when I should be sleeping- but honestly, not sure when else I could write, since my normal downtime is limited and or spent with my friends. It’s not a big deal, I don’t stress about writing this travel blog (or journal as I was once corrected, since it’s WAY detailed), it’s fun but no pressure or it wouldn’t be the vacation I needed.

So I guess I am going to go back to bed- but of course I’d woken Bryan up and we discovered there’s no power now either- so he gave me the headlamp to get me back to bed eventually, but I’m still not super tired, so maybe I will have to read…but at least I got some stuff down for you to read and hopefully I can fall asleep now!