We were now in South Africa in the area known as Kruger National Park. This is a vast conservation area for animals. The lodge was called Simbabili. We were very surprised that we were assigned the newest suite called the "Water Hole Suite." This was the grandest lodge yet. We had a large bedroom with king size bed, a huge bathroom with gigantic tub and shower. A large wooden deck with lounge chairs was in back with a private "Splash Pool" and a large separate living room with two couches overlooking the water hole where animals would come. Richard called it the "Mother-In-Law" room. This was so luxurious that it was hard to believe we were out in the bush....
We were off for our first late afternoon game drive around 4 pm. We saw lots of birds, zebra, impala, warthogs, and best of all, 3 lions sleeping, two males and one female. They were so relaxed and didn't seem to mind everyone watching them and taking pictures. We were back for a late dinner around 8:30 pm. To give you an idea of the fine dining, we had spinach apple soup, chicken breast with bacon and sundried tomatoes, spicy rice and steamed vegies. Very, very good! Dessert was apple streudel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. When we went back to our suite, we found a visitor on our doorstep...a GIANT SNAIL!
And I mean GIANT! It was as big as a queen conch is in the Bahamas....
The next day on game drives we were able to complete our Big Five list by seeing two White Rhinos. Other animals we saw were buffalo, waterbucks, giraffes, wildebeests, deekers, and two leopards.
The next morning we were awakened at 5 am to get up and to our surprise, we had another visitor in our bathtub....A SCORPION! That was a surprise! I grabbed a small glass and was able to cover it so it wouldn't move, and as we left we told the manager about it so they could get it out before we got back. It was good to see it gone when we returned from our game drive.
Our last game drive in Simbabili was memorable since we found a female leopard up a tree with her night kill, eating her breakfast. She had it draped over a large limb and we could hear her crunching on the bones and licking and chewing. We got some great photos of her protecting her meal from anyone interested....
Our last evening meal was held in what they call the "BOMA." It is a semi circle of tables around a outdoor bonfire. The ground is sandy and the meal is cooked over the open flame of a BBQ grill. It is lit by lanterns and candles on the tables (very dark outside). On nights like this you can see more stars than ever before. The night sky was cloudless and full of sparkling stars. The tables are dressed formally with white table cloths and fancy dinnerware. This was a real treat, and we totally enjoyed our meal of Kudu Brochettes and Ostrich Stew.
The next day we were on our way to our last lodge called Kapama.
More to come later.....
Ellen
We were off for our first late afternoon game drive around 4 pm. We saw lots of birds, zebra, impala, warthogs, and best of all, 3 lions sleeping, two males and one female. They were so relaxed and didn't seem to mind everyone watching them and taking pictures. We were back for a late dinner around 8:30 pm. To give you an idea of the fine dining, we had spinach apple soup, chicken breast with bacon and sundried tomatoes, spicy rice and steamed vegies. Very, very good! Dessert was apple streudel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. When we went back to our suite, we found a visitor on our doorstep...a GIANT SNAIL!
And I mean GIANT! It was as big as a queen conch is in the Bahamas....
The next day on game drives we were able to complete our Big Five list by seeing two White Rhinos. Other animals we saw were buffalo, waterbucks, giraffes, wildebeests, deekers, and two leopards.
The next morning we were awakened at 5 am to get up and to our surprise, we had another visitor in our bathtub....A SCORPION! That was a surprise! I grabbed a small glass and was able to cover it so it wouldn't move, and as we left we told the manager about it so they could get it out before we got back. It was good to see it gone when we returned from our game drive.
Our last game drive in Simbabili was memorable since we found a female leopard up a tree with her night kill, eating her breakfast. She had it draped over a large limb and we could hear her crunching on the bones and licking and chewing. We got some great photos of her protecting her meal from anyone interested....
Our last evening meal was held in what they call the "BOMA." It is a semi circle of tables around a outdoor bonfire. The ground is sandy and the meal is cooked over the open flame of a BBQ grill. It is lit by lanterns and candles on the tables (very dark outside). On nights like this you can see more stars than ever before. The night sky was cloudless and full of sparkling stars. The tables are dressed formally with white table cloths and fancy dinnerware. This was a real treat, and we totally enjoyed our meal of Kudu Brochettes and Ostrich Stew.
The next day we were on our way to our last lodge called Kapama.
More to come later.....
Ellen
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