Africa 2015 - Day #3

 

A look inside our cabin

Afternoon safari = rhinos

 

Afternoon safari = close-up rhinos

Entrance to Game Reserve

Great looking lodge

View from the main lodge

Entrance to Ravineside - our lodge for 5 nights

Thursday, June 18th

Today our 5-night marathon/safari adventure began.  We awoke about 7am at the Genesis Hotel in Johannesburg.  We met our driver at 8am for our 30-minute departure back to the airport.  I picked up a couple electrical adaptors at the hotel (as the ones I brought unfortunately needed an additional piece).  We had an awesome breakfast at the local restaurant with a full spread of fruits, eggs, croissants, etc.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare  We grabbed a hot tea and waited at the international arrival gate. (10am was our departure time)  It wasn't too long and we saw the Big 5 Marathon Tour sign.  Albatross Adventures puts on the marathon.  The 2 US tour companies that coordinate the US contingent are Marathon Tours (Boston) and Let's Travel Vacations (California).  We went through Let's Travel.  There were many folks that went direct through Albatross Adventures as well.

We loaded up a big bus and set out on a 4-hr trip to Entabeni Game Reserve - location of our marathon/safari.  Pretty smooth ride on the big bus (much smoother than what we had on our return - as I'm writing this on our departure trip to the airport).  We arrived around 2pm at the Ravineside Lodge - our final destination spot.  Ravineside is 1 of about 5 resort/lodge options at Entabeni  We were transferred by safari jeeps to our rooms.  One of the unique things about Ravineside - the rooms were about 1/2-mile from the main lodge  Due to the impending danger of elephants, rhinos, etc. - we were not allowed to walk back and forth.  I thought this may be an issue upon arrival, but, the punctuality and availability of the safari jeep transfers was amazing  We threw our gear into our rooms and then sat down to a nice lunch.  We immediately started meeting the other 30 folks participating in the tour at Ravineside.

Right after lunch, we went out for an afternoon game drive.  About 15 minutes into the drive, we came around the corner to 4 rhinos, giraffe, zebra, and deer (blessed bucks)  - all about 20 meters away.  The Big 5 - what are they and why?  The Big 5 are elephant, rhino, lion, cape buffalo, and leopard.  These were selected because they are considered the most dangerous animals when hunted on foot.  So - back to the rhino.  We sat in the safari jeep and had this huge male rhino come up and eat grass right by the front tire of the jeep.  I could have basically reached out and touched the horn  A little adrenaline rush early in the trip.  Unbelievable!!

After the drive, we had dinner at the lodge with the group.  More introductions - people from everywhere.  We had couples from New Zealand, Australia and Canada, a girl from China, 2 ladies from Sweden, and several representing the US (Texas, Chicago, Virginia, North Carolina, etc).  Our Albatross tour guide, Veronika, was originally from Sweden.  We would later learn over the next 5 days that this was a solid group of people - always an added bonus for any extended tour.

The night ended early around 10am - some catching up on sleep was in order.