Safari Adventures, Part II

Our travel agent suggested that we should experience safari in a lodge as well as a tented camp, and I'm glad we did. After two nights at Ngala, we were driven down to the Ivory Lodge at the Lion Sands Game Reserve in Sabi Sands, just off of Kruger.  It is the nicest place I have ever stayed at in my life.

There are only six suites at the Ivory Lodge, and they were effectively tiny houses without kitchens. On one side, there was a room with couches and a mini bar. Then in the middle, there was a deck with our own private infinity plunge pool. On the other side was our massive bedroom suite. And did I mention that we had a spectacular view of the river?  I saw a hippo plunge right into the water from our bedroom. Can't say I've ever seen that happen before.

Our pool.

A panorama of our bedroom.

We also had our own butler (what?!) who helped us with everything. His name was Wilfred. He is part of the Zulu Tribe and he tried to teach me some words, but I couldn't get the hang of it. We also had amazing meals and just about everything we could want at our finger tips. It would be very hard to outdo this place.

The boma where we ate one night.

On our first day there, we befriended an Australian couple who was also there on their honeymoon. We spent the evening swapping stories and just having a good time.  They were also in our Jeep for the game drives, which meant that we hung out a lot. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again: I absolutely love meeting people while we travel.

Our game drives were spectacular. The bush was much greener and much more dense than where we were at Ngala. There were also many more wide open areas, which allowed for us to see cheetahs!  Fun fact: only 8% percent of people who visit Kruger see cheetahs. And we saw them twice - once on the way in and once on a game drive.

This is from our drive in.

We also managed to see a honey badger, which our guide, Landon, told us is incredibly rare because they are scared of humans.  Some other animals we saw on this series of game drives included rhinos, water buffalo, hyenas, and hippos, just to name a few. It's safe to say that we saw the Big Five, and then some.

Safari is exhausting. We were asleep most nights before 10. And you have to be careful about not getting dehydrated, like I did. Upon our arrival at the lodge, I was dizzy and my body temperature kept fluctuating between hot and cold. After I downed some water, I slept while Mike went on the afternoon game drive. By the next day, I was doing much better, but I learned the hard way that the African sun is nothing to fool around with.

Since we were so tired, we decided that some rest and relaxation was in order.  And because we had been so fortunate to see so many things on our game drives, the magic was starting to wane some.  So away we went to a forested retreat. That's what's coming up next so stay tuned.