Four Out of the Big Five

The last two days on Safari at the Elephant Plains Game Lodge in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park have to be two of the greatest days I've ever experienced. I cannot rave enough.

And I have some great photos to post -- and somewhere I'll find a place that will allow me to hook my laptop up to the internet. I'm currently in the Lufthansa Lounge at the Johannesberg Airport and after trying to hook up my laptop for 30 minutes -- have settled for using their public computer.

People on safari always talk about "The Big Five." It's a term that goes back to the days of the Great White Hunter and refers to the five animals most dangerous for a hunter to bag: 1) Lions, 2) Elephants, 3) Water Buffalo, 4) Leopards and 5) Rhinos.

During 4 different game drives in the last two days we saw all but Lions. It's summer here and the lions have moved north where water is more plentiful. But it hardly matters. The others were amazing.

Plus the obssession with "The Big Five" ignores hippos, giraffes, kudus, antelopes and all kinds of birds that we saw in great numbers.

My time at the Elephant Plains Lodge was very structured (and I loved):

5:00 a.m. -- Wake up knock on the door
5:30 a.m. -- Depart for a 3 hour Morning Game Drive
7:30 a.m. -- Stop in the bush to stretch our legs and have coffee
9:00 a.m. -- Breakfast in the Dining Room of the Lodge
10:00 a.m. -- Nature Walk (We stood less than a football field away from a pack of elephants bathing)
11:30 a.m. -- Free time
2:00 p.m. -- Lunch
4:30 p.m. -- Depart for a 3 hour Evening Game Drive
6:30 p.m. -- Stop in the bush for a Sundowner Cocktail
8:30 p.m. -- Dinner in the "Boma" outdoors around a fire
10:00 p.m. -- Time for bed because there'll be a knock at 5:00 a.m.

The lodge was very cool and I was blown away at how nice my accomodations were. The staff was very friendly and it wasn't crowded. The meals were excellent and the food didn't scare me.

We went out for the drives in open-top Land Rovers fitted with three rows of passenger seats. Most of the time we didn't see other tourists out on game drives.

The first night we tracked behind a leopard as it went down a path and through a field marking it's territory (very pungent -- the guide said it smelled to him like popcorn, which has probably put me off the stuff for a while.)

We got very close to elephants and giraffes, water buffaloes and wildebeasts. We saw the rhino from more of a distance.

I could go on and on. The pictures will tell the story better soon enough.

So now it's an overnight flight to Frankfurt for me.