Last Shamwari Drive

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It was certainly adventurous eating the meat at the braai last night.  However, my tummy seems to be paying the price for it this morning.  I was concerned about this mornings drive but I held my own. We were up and out by around 6am.  Today's objective was the cheetah and/or leopard and if not either of those a lion would have to do.  After driving south for quite a ways, We did come upon a lioness hunkered down and out totally exhausted.  One could only guess what her morning consisted of.  Along the way, we saw some of the usual fair - giraffes, red hartebeest, wart hogs - you know the usual stuff you see every day.  We had a coffee break at the top of the ridge and engaged in some political banter with John and Rachel -- we all seem to be on the same side of the British and US situations - fortunately.  It was time to head back to the lodge.

Made some arrangements for our departure tomorrow morning and went then to breakfast.  We are now lounging on our balcony.  The skies are a bit cloudy.  Hope it stays clear for our 4 o'clock drive. This will be our last one in this region. 

Decided it was time for a massage.  Off I went to the spa - aahhhhh.  Walked out feeling like jello.  Geoff was just about to have lunch when I got out of the spa and I recommended he really should get a massage.  He immediately put lunch on hold and I haven't seen him since!  Just getting ready to join the gang for our last tour of Shamwari.

Two women from Kentucky joined us this evening.  Lots to talk about one of them is into community theater - even started one in New Jersey somewhere.  It was much cooler tonight than last night. We head out in search of Cape Buffalo and found a whole herd.  They were wonderful to watch as they grazed past the jeep.  There was a cute baby and the a big bull with them. Spotted some gnu on the hillside. Next big thing was part of the northern pride of lions.  These guys belonged to the lion brothers we saw a few days ago.  We caught them grooming and just playing around having fun.  I could not control the camera for these guys -- everything they did was adorable.

The skies were getting dark again and we could see the rain across the ridge.  Patrick spotted a big bull elephant all alone.  We watched him as he strolled out from the bushes.  It looked like he was coming straight for the jeep - Yup he was.  He walked right in front then turned and looked me right in the eye and stuck his trunk inside the jeep.  Meanwhile, I casually slid over as close to Geoff as possible.  This is a wild animal.  I was a bit frightened. Patrick, however, must have seen this trick before.  All he had to say was NO! and the big guy pulled his trunk out and turned around.  Must be the Chamber of Commerce elephant -- getting a kick out of the screwing with the tourists.

It poured as we returned back to the lodge.  It was odd watching the sunset as we were getting drenched. The jeep is equipped with lots of ponchos and blankets just for these events.  Somehow I knew it had to rain.  The gal at the reception wanted to know if we wanted them to wash the car for us when the brought it up from the other lodge.  "Sure!"  -- always the kiss of death - rain is sure to follow.

Got back, cleaned up and met everyone for dinner.  It was pretty classy set up tonight. This will probably be the last of classy for us in a while.  We go back to roughing it tomorrow.  Everyone was in a real chatty mood. There was talk of P-Town, from the boys from D.C. The Kentucky gals brought up Trump and then the Brits brought up Brexit and it was off to the races.  Fortunately everyone was on the same side.  After we solved all the world's problems, we all exchanged info.  Hope we see them all again someday.  It was a great last night and a good time was had by all.

Another early call tomorrow morning. Driving to the Port Elizabeth airport and flying to Johannesburg, picking up another car and driving to Pretoria for one night.  We've had a great time here at Shamwari and appreciate all the hard work that everyone took to make sure we were all taken care of properly. Thank you.  Eyes are closing now.....

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Next time... The Adventure Continues