We woke up to an amazing view of Blyde Canyon with the sun shining on the red rocks. It was impressive and it was just the very edge of it from our patio.

We had to have all our stuff ready and the truck was going to come pick us up again and bring us down to eat brekky- which was an absolute necessity for Carlene and Gordon. When we got to the campsite, we saw Martin cooking in the open kitchen and a few people were sitting around on the camp stools. We heard from a couple people there were monkeys, and I tried to find Bryan but I think maybe he’d gone to the bathroom- but I went off looking for them. I did find one who was being kind of shy and on his way out so I couldn’t get a good view or pic- but I knew Bryan would be disappointed he missed it entirely.

We had a relatively short drive to the canyon’s rim where we parked near some vendor booths- which we’d look at later. We started going down a path but someone whistled to us and pointed the other way. I was a bit surprised because no one usually tells you no, or even gives you much guidance, but we heeded the warning.

The canyon was really amazing and beautiful and was pretty steep and deep. Unfortunately in the morning we were looking/ shooting into the sun and it was still a bit foggy so the colors and heavy shadows would not make for as beautiful a view as if the sun had been going down, but clearly that’s just the artist in me taking notice…but no matter, we were impressed. There were 3 rock formations called the rondavels, which are shaped like the traditional homes here, either made of mud or thatching all around- both with thatched roofs. Supposedly they are the homes of the 3 wives of the king who had a different rock formation, which wasn’t super impressive.

Amber had climbed over some rocks and out onto a ledge which looked especially fun- and she got some pretty cool pics of her with her feet hanging off and it looks like there’s a huge drop below her…which there is but first a rock ledge. Either way it was dangerous to be there- and of course I wanted to go there too and get a pic…but I went very carefully and intentionally and sat down when I got close to the edge. Bryan was taking pics of me, but he missed the point of the angle where it should have been rocks and me and then sky basically, so instead it’s a picture of a rock face and you can’t see me. Not quite what I was going for…but I love him anyway!

We found a really cool lizard, though I’ve forgotten what it’s called but there were a few of them- and a few striped skinks. There were probably hyrax (a rock dwelling guinea pig like animal) too, but I didn’t see any. We explored a bit more around the different viewpoints and then went to check out the vendors. I got sucked in and ended up getting this teeny tiny elephant (which Ii love) but paid way too much for. I took a pic with the guy (as I like to take pics of the people I buy things from) and I am sure he thought he really worked me over, but I don’t care. Hopefully that made his day, week or month…

Then it was back on the truck and in for a bit more driving to Potholes which is pretty cool. It’s a bit like Zion with the sweeping, curved walls, creating a canyon- and aptly, a bunch of holes that fill with water. The reason is because two rivers come together and for whatever reason, the swirling makes the water carve the rock into curved features. There’s a couple of bridges and a path to walk around and it was really pretty cool. Jon went a bit off the beaten path which worried Kristin a little but it was all fine in the end. Jon in case you didn’t know is a bit of a goofball and loves joking around and thinks most things are pretty funny, so this isn’t surprising. 

We saw some really cool fluorescent lizards, which Mat said he’d never seen before, so that’s cool. It’s always a good day when your guide who’s been doing this for 17 years says it’s a first for him!

Afterward we drove to God’s Window which is basically this overlook with a 3000 ft drop to the valley. It’s not really straight down, like a shear drop, but more of a ledge of sorts, overlooking the valley below. It reminded me a lot of Ngorongoro Crater, but the view wasn’t as far into the distance. We heard some kind of crazy monkey or bird going nuts, but we couldn’t see where it was, only heard it- and otherwise there were just a variety of birds for wildlife.

There were some steps that could take you up into the “rainforest” area, which I started up, but with the congestion, I’d already felt winded- and this was at 6k ft elevation so that wasn’t doing me any favors either. I made it part way up but had to stop, while Bryan, Kristin and Jon kept going. They said it was nice and cool in the forest (as it was pretty hot otherwise) but I found a spot in the shade to wait. They said it was pretty but that I really didn’t miss much either.

Driving through this area on the way out was a bit boring as there were planned forests of either pines or eucalyptus- mostly for utility poles and fencing- not really building. Most buildings and houses use bricks or masonry and concrete- rarely is wood a part. But there’s a lot of acres of these forests so we spent a lot of time driving through them before getting anywhere with[people or buildings again.

We pulled into a town called Hazyview- maybe because it’s often foggy but right now, there’s a lot of smoke in the air (much like it is at home now), so maybe that’s common too. They had a mall there where we stopped again for supplies- mostly I just wanted a cold drink. My congestion was pretty bad and I tried to get a health shot (like something you’d find at Whole Foods) with turmeric, ginger and a bunch of stuff. It looked so good, but I took one sip and just about puked. It was so bitter, much too much ginger (which I’m not a fan of after one bout with the flu ages ago) and it was spicy. Thankfully I’d also gotten some kind of pineapple fruit drink with chia seeds, which was good and felt good in my throat, which was pretty sore still. I also got some oranges as I was craving fresh fruit (but wanted to pick something I didn’t have to wash) and they were pretty good, especially as I was having trouble tasting anything. I wasn’t really hungry either and chips and the other snacks we’d gotten before did not sound good. Jon and Kristin got some Babybel cheese so I had one of those too- but that’s all I’d have for the rest of the day besides water.

After Hazyview we drove for maybe an hour to a town called Phabeni, which was where we’d be staying near a gate to Kruger National Park (Numbi Gate). As we drove through this town we noticed an oddly significant number of funeral homes. Some were painted very brightly like a party place, others more subdued- but I stopped counting after I’d seen about 7 of them…and I wasn’t the only one to notice either. It was very strange considering I don’t recall seeing any funeral homes ever, in all our trips to Africa. Maybe it’s because this is still South Africa, which even in the small towns, they are still pretty developed/ first world so maybe that’s why. I imagine in the small, less developed places they just DIY and perhaps have their own graveyards etc in their yards…as this was also the first time I really recall seeing a cemetery too.

We pulled into a place called “Sleepover” which had statues of zebras and elephants out front on either side of the gate- and the buildings were really cute: converted shipping containers (painted dark green with a raspberry and yellow accenting) and each container made 2 suites. It was pretty obvious they were very new too, so it was exciting as it seemed like it held a lot of promise. However, after we drove in and talked to the manager at the gate, it was determined we were at the wrong location- as they had another one further down the road and we’d not gone far enough. So we pulled out again and continued on another 10 minutes or so down the road.

As we were pulling up to the other “Sleepover” we noticed a lot of smoke as an active fire was occurring just a few hundred feet down the road. There was a fire truck pulled over with its lights on but it was clearly a situation. Despite this issue, we pulled in and were told to get our bags and we’d have lunch there and then head to Kruger for our night safari at 430. 

Everyone kind of looked at each other and I was actually laughing at how absurd it was that there was an active fire “next door” and either people seemed completely dismissive of the danger or like us, were thinking, “wtf do you mean we’re eating, never mind staying here”?

Everyone got off the truck and Martin started setting up the lunch table and supplies, while the group kind of stood around confused, talking under their breath and just unsure of what was happening. I decided to walk (just a few hundred feet) to the last container and stand on the porch to see if we could see the fire.

Sure enough we could definitely hear it- and see flames, and I was just like NOPE. Just nope. We are not staying here. Others came over to watch with me and it was obvious the fire was quickly approaching. Mat had gone to the front desk to talk to them about the situation- but we actually didn’t know what he was going to say. I didn’t think he thought this was ok, but if so I would have thought even getting off the truck and eating so near the fire also would have been considered a no go…but at this point I was pretty concerned that he was going to have us stay there and I walked over to the office to tell him no way.

I walked in and told Mat that no one was comfortable staying there and I was just trying to make sure he knew that’s what people were thinking/ talking about (because again, he hadn’t given us any idea as to what he was going to do). The guy at the desk was trying to tell him that everything was fine; it was a controlled burn and we were good. Then he started talking to me and trying to convince me and I just said to him that “there was nothing you could say to convince us this was ok and we will not stay there”. This is of crouse, while he was telling us that people were carrying buckets of water around to douse the brush and the spinklers were on…but sure, it was all fine. 

Even if it wasn’t going to burn down, the smoke was quickly becoming overwhelming- and by the time we left, ash was falling from the sky and the fire was pretty dang close. I get that this is Africa and things are different here; their experiences and the things they are forced to endure are “ok” for them (which really, they just have no choice), but there is no way 18 of us paid to come and stay next to a forest fire and believe it was all under control.

What’s really dumb is that we were at their other location and it seemed empty and the smart thing to do would have been to let us stay there and tell us there was a freaking fire raging next to the other…but that’s what made it even more absurd. Mat finally just said, “you’re putting us up at the other place and that’s that- and as we can start to see flames from the truck”. 

We all piled back on the truck and the engine started and we were ready to go…only then the truck wouldn’t move. Hondo kept trying and it’d lurch and then fall back again. This happened a few times- maybe for a minute or two and I was like great, now we can’t even escape the fire either?! But thankfully, one of the attempts worked and we put the flaming Sleepover behind us just in time. The smoke had already started affecting people and a few were coughing. This definitely dried my throat out much more and now instead of coughing and gagging on phlegm, I was barely able to talk without coughing because my throat was so dry. Every time I breathed in it’d tickle my throat and make me cough, but thankfully Jillian had cough drops which helped a lot.

The other aspect of stress was the timing we were under. We’d been trying to get to our camp so we had time to unload and maybe chilla bit before we had to be at Kruger’s gate at 430 for the night drive- which we were all worried we were going to miss at that point. So it was decided that rather than stopping back at Sleepover sans flame, we’d go straight to the gate and jump into our vehicles…but we also needed our sweatshirts and clothes for cooler weather because after the sun went down at 6 it would get cold quickly- especially with the wind chill in an open vehicle. 

I was also concerned because getting 18 people to hurry seemed like a pipe dream, especially with someone that uses a cane and wheelchair so I was a little stressed about this- and turns out I was the only one that really needed supplies from under the truck…but then I couldn’t find what I wanted and turned out they were in my other bag (I had with me on the truck) and I had to go to the bathroom…so I started out here a bit flustered, but shockingly everyone really got it together and we made it into the trucks and onto the road by about 5pm. Part of my concern was thinking we’d not be able to be out in the park after dark- as is the rule in some other parks we’ve been to like Chobe, so I thought from 430-6 was all the time we’d have…

Finally we took off in our trucks and sadly, we had the slow guy and were last- which is annoying because then you’re literally eating everyone’s dust. We’ve almost always had pretty good luck with our drivers, being speedy and getting us to the sightings, so this didn’t bode well at all. Also if you’re to the animals last, a lot of time you will miss them because they get annoyed and start to retreat…so in short, being last is not usually good at all.

The first animals we saw were giraffes. They weren’t super close but it was a good sighting. There’s always the many impala and an assorted variety of some of the more limited types of antelope, like Kudu- and we even saw a waterbuck, which isn’t too common. It wasn’t long though before the sun was going down and we drove to a lake/ pond where there were hippos and we were on a burm that was a kind of dam across one side of the water. And suddenly we saw the people from the second truck in our group getting out and standing around, which really confused us. 

Hippos are the animal that have killed more people in Africa than any other and here we were not even 100 ft from the nearest hippo, who was also displaying “go away” behaviors like opening his mouth and making noise…but the guides were not concerned and I figured they must know these ones pretty well and that it is pretty safe in general. Kristin was a bit freaked out and didn’t want to get out of the truck- and I didn’t care and Gordon was in the middle (and being 87, climbing up and down into the vehicle seemed a chore) so we thought this was just a quick stop and we’d be on…but apparently it’s a “thing”.

They call it the sundowner experience and they open the back tailgate and get out shot glasses and Amarula or brandy- and I am not going to turn down my very fav African treat of Amarula, so we figured it was fine and could relax- although Kristin was still a bit freaked out and concerned…but by that point I figured if we were going to be charged by a hippo we would have been and didn’t feel unsafe- just surprised by the experience as you usually NEVER get out of the trucks.

We hung around for a while watching the hippos and some were making noise- which sounds kind of like a sea lion honking but a bit more robust and they’d just float up and breathe and then bob back down until just their eyes were showing. At this point it was getting dark and we couldn’t see or take pictures anymore, so we got back in the trucks and started off. I thought we were headed back and it was over but thankfully no! 

Instead, the driver got out a spotlight (and Mat got his flashlight) and they started shining it on the sides of the road and into the trees looking for the reflection of eyes. We saw some movement and think it was a bush baby jumping from branch to branch but we couldn’t really see it- and this is when we saw the waterbuck running off along the side of the road. There were also a few scrub hares (rabbits) but nothing super exciting or interesting- until the giraffes came out of the bush and wanted to cross the road in front of us. 

We were all quiet and mesmerized as they assessed the situation, decided it was safe and two of them strolled across the road. We got some cool pics and vids and everyone was pretty happy with this…then Jeremiah (driver) got a call on the cb. The guides are never speaking English to each other- whether it’s Afrikaans, Shone or some of the many 11 official languages of South Africa, you cannot usually tell what they are talking about- but Jeremiah hung up and said we had to get to the next site to hopefully see lions!

So we hustled and driving fast over the washboard dirt roads are pretty loud; it sounded like the truck was going to bust apart…but within a few minutes we’d arrived to find a male and female lion laying in the grass. The male was more hidden behind a scrubby tree and the female was still relatively concealed with the grass, but you could see her. And of course how annoying to have all these people shining lights at them, but they don’t seem that annoyed considering- and if they are bothered they just get up and walk away. The male stood up and turned to leave pretty quickly into it but the female stayed there until we had to pull away to let another truck enjoy the experience too…but it was promising and exciting to find lions on our first try!

We left that area and were surprised to quickly come across a clan of hyenas really close to the road. This was pretty exciting as on all the safaris we’ve been on we’ve never been close enough to hyenas to get a picture that was worth anything because they are typically pretty shy animals- and here they were like 10 feet away. There were 5 of them and while a couple of them took off away from the road, 3 of them stayed and we got some good pics and a great view of them. One guy just kind of sat in his little hole and laid down like a dog with head on paws and seemed to be ready to take a nap…and thankfully he looked at us a couple times so we could get some good footage.

That was definitely the highlight and again, not bad for the first safari drive- but we headed back to the gate and didn’t see anything else along the way, but it wasn’t disappointing after all of that! It was about a 20-30 minute driver back to Sleepover- and thankfully they didn’t give Mat a hard time or charge him extra for switching locations…you’d think of course they would be accommodating and happy to let us stay at their other location without any additional charge, but this is Africa and that’s not how things work here. You just have to go with the flow most of the time…and thankfully, Mat said (nicely) the two girls running the place were not too bright and therefore really didn’t even mention what had happened earlier, so it was pretty seamless in the end…they just tried to kill us first.

The container rooms are REALLY nice- modern, clean and new. Nice deck and big glass fronts and modern amenities inside, including a heat pump (AC) which is something we have never had on our trips that I can recall. Most places just don’t have air conditioning, none of the vehicles do and it’s just the way things are. So having a heat pump was pretty cool- but we didn’t need it. It had gotten cool and we opened the door to air out the room until the bugs started to come out but it was still cool enough we wanted a blanket to sleep. 

At this point however, I was crashing big time. I was so tired after 2 nights of not sleeping through the night and I wasn’t hungry because of the coughing and congestion either which Bryan didn’t like. He was worried if I didn’t eat I’d start to decline but I was just way too tired and knew sleeping would be better. I’d asked Kristin for Sudafed PM as I could not afford another 3am wake up so I just got into bed and ignored everything. Bryan went to dinner but apparently many others were also tired and just went to bed, though not because they felt sick.

Mat was definitely worried about me too…