We got up super early for the first stop on the second half of our trip - Hoedspruit for SAFARI!
I wasn't one bit excited about being on this little plane for the next 3 hours.
So this was really weird. Even though it was spinning really fast, when I looked through my phone, it looked like the propeller wasn't moving!
Landing in Hoedspruit was quite the experience! Almost immediately after touching down the pilot slammed on the breaks and everyone was kind of looking around a bit shocked. A moment later I looked out of the window to see warthogs on the edge of the runway. The pilot came on to apologize about the sudden break and said it was because the warthogs were crossing the runway and she had to stop quickly or she would have hit them! We definitely knew it was safari time after that!
The airport is so small that the crew brings the luggage to the exit in trucks and you grab your bags before getting in your car!
We stayed at a lodge in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve which forms part of the Greater Kruger National Park.
The speed limit is strictly enforced once you go through the gates of the reserve. If you were to hit an animal with your car the fines are hefty...almost $4,000 for some animals!
Once we got off the tar road, it was evident we were in the African bush!
#1 of the Big 5 before we even got to camp!
We stayed at the Simbavati River Lodge in the northern part of the reserve.
Our chalet was awesome!
We had a great view of the watering hole where lots of animals came to drink during our stay.
We had lunch right after arriving at the lodge and a herd of elephants came for water! It was so neat to watch them right next to us as we ate.
They were still there when we went back to our chalet so we watched them for a bit longer from there.
We sat on our balcony and watched them until they left!
It was time for our first game drive!
Giraffes hang out all around the camp so we almost always saw them right as we left for the drive.
We saw TONS of birds and our guide was extremely knowledgeable about them all. This is a lilac-breasted roller.
One of probably 1,000 impala that we saw.
We saw just as many waterbuck!
Crocodile!
Even though it was winter and the bush was pretty dry it was still beautiful!
First and only time we saw hippos.
A yellow billed hornbill...aka Zazu from the Lion King!
We also saw lots of these steenbok. These animals mate for life and unfortunately we never saw a pair. That means either they hadn't found a mate yet or their mate had been killed.
Hyenas!
Our guide wanted to find a pack of wild dogs that he knew was in the area so they followed the tracks that all led to one spot. Before he took the truck into the dense brush, the guide and tracker got out on foot to follow the tracks and make sure the dogs were there. I thought they were a little crazy, but what do I know lol! It didn't take long for them to hear the dogs and they made their way back to the truck and we went off roadin'!
This was fun! Humphrey is our tracker sitting on the front of the truck. You can see him directing our guide on where to go as he followed the dog tracks.
We found them!
The pack included 9 puppies!
There is a guideline on the reserve that there can only be two vehicles at any sighting. When we found the dogs, our guide Kyle called it in on the radio and the other trucks that wanted to see them starting creating a line up so there is some organization and everyone knows when it's there turn to move to the animals. After we hung out with the dogs for a while we tried to leave to make room for another truck, but the puppies followed us down the road! Everyone got a kick out of it!
Our first beautiful safari sunset!
We got word that a leopard had been spotted in a tree with his impala kill so we made our way to the sighting before heading back to camp.
#2 of the Big 5!
Well hello, Tshwukuyana!
We had an awesome boma dinner when we got back to camp.
Waterbuck bullseye first thing the next morning!
Nyala
Good morning!
#3 of the Big 5 - Rhino!
Time for a little morning snack!
Jameson loved when we got out of the truck because he got to run around and had all the sticks and rocks he could ever hope for!
The boys decided to move to the roller coaster seat for the ride back to camp :)
Crazy kids!
The elephants came back while we were having breakfast!
A friendly little game of connect four!
You will never go hungry while on safari! The lodge feeds you...a lot! We got up super early, around 5:30, for the morning game drives and had coffee, hot chocolate, muffins, and fruit before going out. While on the drive we had coffee, hot chocolate, and shortbread biscuits. We would get back to camp after the morning game drive around 9:00 and had a full breakfast. Lunch was at 1:30 and was always really good! Around 3:15 we had high tea before leaving for the afternoon drive. We always had a sundowner while on the drive and then around 7:30 dinner was served.
We loved Simbavati!
Our guide got a call that a huge herd of buffalo was in the area so we headed off to see them. We were trucking along when all of a sudden Harry got all flustered and said, "Leopard! Leopard on the ground!" We backed up and there was Xaviti!
Awesome :)
We got really close to the animals! In this video you can see how the leopard isn't the least bit interested in us. I was a little nervous for a few seconds, but felt very safe the whole time.
#4 of the Big 5 - Cape Buffalo!
We were right in the middle of a huge herd!
Sundowner time! Kyle was our guide and Humphrey was our tracker. They were awesome!
Our future safari tracker!
Jameson helped Humphrey with his rock art!
We watched the sun dip below the horizon :)
Looking for big cats on our way back to camp!
This is what happens when you've been up since 5 am!
Another early morning game drive!
Another day, another Zazu!
We heard there was a kill in a tree so we went check it out just in case the predator was still around. You can see how Humphrey follows the tracks right to the bumba in the tree!
We came across a large herd of elephants!
This little guy was stomping the ground, trying to show off!
Kyle picked a beautiful spot for us to have our morning drink and biscuits!
Elephant dung as an incense and mosquito repellant...who knew!
Be still my heart...
Back at camp and time for a massage in a tent! Yes, thank you!
Thy boys made pizzas while I had my massage.
They had a surprise visitor when they got back to the chalet!
And he left Connor a little present on his bed!
A boy and his stick :)
Tic-tac-toe during our down time.
Our group :)
We got to see two leopards together! Apparently they are very solitary animals and it is very uncommon to see two together. The female, Nkanya was trying desperately to court the male, Ntima but he was not at all interested. Ntima is the brother of Tshwukuyana, the leopard we saw on the first night.
You can hear how intense it was! She really wanted to be his girlfriend lol! We heard that she did eventually give up and left.
While we were on our wine tour in Cape Town we found out that our guide that day used to be a safari guide. He told us that if we wanted to make our field guide work hard then we needed to tell him that we wanted to see a pangolin. I had never even heard of this animal until then! So of course when we met Kyle and he asked what we wanted to see, Connor immediately said a pangolin. Kyle told us that he had been a guide for over three years and had never even seen one! It was a running joke that we had to see a pangolin...none of us really expected that it would happen. Well just as we were leaving Ntima and Nkanya, Humphrey got word that a pangolin had been sighted! At first Kyle thought he was trying to prank us, but he was for real! We took off, hoping it would still be there by the time we got to the spot! I don't know who was more excited...us or Kyle haha!
It had burrowed itself under a bush so it was hard to see it, but it was there! Pangolins are such a rare sighting because they are the most trafficked animal in the world. Poachers sell their scales, meat, and blood and make thousands! We couldn't believe that we actually got to see one. Everyone talked about the pangolin for the rest of our trip!
The next morning we got up for our final game drive, and our last chance to find a lion!
We found a muddy rhino that had a gash on his head from a fight that he had been in the night before.
A huge nest made by a tiny bird!
We found the wild dog pack and their puppies again!
Kyle got a call that there was a group of lions laying in the middle of the tar road. Finally! We were quite a ways away, but it was probably our only chance to see them so we rushed there in hopes that they wouldn't move far. By the time we got there, they had wandered off into the bush and we could only see one, and he was pretty far away. Of course they had gone onto land that we weren't allowed to go on so we had to made do with the visual we had. It was awesome to see, even if it was from a distance...and better a far away ngala than no ngala at all!
#5 of the Big 5!
Jameson was so excited to finally see Kion!
Back at our chalet to pack up and the elephants showed up again!
We were so sad to leave Simbavati, but our time there had come to an end. We got picked up and went to the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (or the animal healthcare place as Connor calls it lol) on our way to the next stop.
I'm not quite sure why there is a need for this notice at the entrance!
They started the tour by showing why Moholoholo exists - to rehab abandoned, injured, and poisoned wildlife as well as help out with the problem animal control on local farms and tribal areas. They also house a few animals that weren't able to be released back into the wild and are now ambassadors for their species.
A southern ground hornbill and those lashes! Whoa!
Our guide explained the different snares they've come across when rescuing animals.
Connor putting an elephant bone into perspective.
It definitely wasn't the same as seeing them in the wild, but we did get very close to the lions they have there.
Cheetah!
And Connor's favorite...the honey badger!
Breakfast before another fun day out!
Our first stop was Elephant Whispers, an elephant sanctuary near our hotel.
Learning a bit before the interaction started.
The elephants!
Our guide telling us about the history of the sanctuary and how the elephants came to be residents.
He introduced us to their elephants and gave some information on each of them.
They brought over Tembo and gave us lots of information about these amazing and brillant animals!
We got the chance to feed and interact with him!
What a great experience!
Harry and Connor even got an elephant back ride!
Next we went on our tour of the Panorama Route! We started at God's Window, but unfortunately it was so hazy that we couldn't see anything. The guide said the curtain on the window was closed :(
Connor and Jameson had a blast hiking up to Pinnacle Point.
But it was still so hazy and we couldn't see anything!
By the time we got back down to God's Window the haze had rolled out and we got to see the amazing views down to the Lowveld!
Lunch at Harrie's Pancakes...oh so good!!
We continued on the Panorama Route to the Bourkes Luck Potholes.
And then to the Three Rondawels.
Beautiful!
Harry may have had a death grip on all of us lol!
Lisbon Falls!
Stunning!
Harry was super paranoid about the hippos at the hotel we stayed at. We never did see any hippos, but we did find this peacock several times!
On our way to our final adventure of the trip :(
The Sudwala caves!
It was sooo neat! We had a great time exploring!
Crawling through a tight space!
We didn't plan on going to the dinosaur park, but we had several hours to kill before our flight and it was right next to the caves. I wouldn't recommend going unless you really need something to do.
Jameson is obsessed with dinosaurs so he had a good time. He kept saying, "Oooo look at that big guy!"
We enjoyed a surprisingly good lunch at the park.
And it had a great view!
Finally it was time for our flight to Johannesburg! We flew out of the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport - the smallest. international. airport. ever.
We made it to Johannesburg and finally had a Wimpy burger and milkshake for our last dinner!
I can't even tell you how sad we were to leave South Africa. It is one of the very few places we would return to if we had the chance! We had an absolute blast! It was the perfect last expat vacation!
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