Amazing African Adventure Day 12

WARNING! GRAPHIC CONTENT!!! Avert your eyes if bloody things make you queasy! 

This is what a typical view on our safari drives looks like. We either have animals in front of the vehicle or they are to the side of the vehicle. I take my cues from Carine ... if she's not concerned, then I don't need to be concerned. I asked her if she's ever had to speed away from a charging/angry animal and she said it's only been a few times and is very rare,

Relaxin' and enjoyin' the day! The highlight of this morning's drive was when we came upon a huge herd of cape buffalo, zebra, and wildebeest. Carine stopped the vehicle and we all sat quietly. Pretty soon, they were in front of us and to the sides of us, and behind us. We were in the middle of the herd! 

A few of the cape buffalo tried to stare us down, but we won and they moved on. It was wild to be so close to them. They really are UGLY animals. Their horns kind of look like a bad wig. I sure wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those horns!

Carine stopped at this cool dead tree for our morning break. We took advantage of having Mark with us for the last time (he leaves this afternoon to go to China), and had him snap this pic for us.

We love coming back from the morning drives, b/c we know that Lawra will be waiting for us with a delicious breakfast spread. We all love her, but she's especially fond of the kids.

After breakfast we went back to our rooms to rest for a minute, but then the kids kept begging us to take them swimming. The grounds here are beautiful, and I was so happy to find a pink plumeria tree. I knew there was a white one on the grounds, but I didn't know there was a pink one!!!

The water is really cold at first, so we had Lexie teach us some water aerobics to help us warm up.

After swimming for at least an hour, we told the kids we were worn out and it was time to get out. They love to dry off in these "cocoons" between the plumeria trees.

Autumn & I got showered once we got back to the room b/c we were so gross and stinky, plus we wanted to wash off the chlorine from the pool. We went into Mimi's room (she spent most her time in her room b/c she had the A/C cranked in there) and she brushed our hair. 

She said she brought her grandbabies all the way to Africa to spend time w/ them. I went to go edit pics, so she spent alone time w/ them just talking and hearing what's going on in their lives.

This is an example of some of the delicious foods we got to eat at 3:30 before we went out on our 4:00 safari drives. They have spoiled us rotten and it's going to be hard to go back to normal life!

 For our evening drive we went back by the tree where we had seen the leopard yesterday. It wasn't there, but in the nearby tree where she had left her kill we saw this different leopard for about 15 seconds. I'm glad I had my camera out and ready, b/c I took this pic and then he was gone! Carine said they call him the "ghost leopard" b/c he is very shy and doesn't stick around for long.

We had fun moving around to the different seats in the vehicle. I liked riding in the back the best b/c it's the bumpiest and most fun. Mom didn't like riding in the back b/c it was too bumpy and made her feel sick. We love Carine, our fearless leader.

 We also went back by where we had seen the lion cubs eating the wildebeest. The lionesses had moved it over to some trees so the cubs could rest in the shade. It was crazy to see how much they had eaten off the wildebeest in just one day! We stayed there watching the lion cubs eat for a while, but I kept looking around us in the bushes to see if the Mama lionesses were going to be coming back. Luckily, one of the other safari guides called Carine and told her they were resting under a tree near the road. We drove over there and watched them nap for a little bit. I'm kind of glad that it's so hot, b/c that means the animals are less active and tend to just lay in the shade to rest.

It's hard to believe that this is our LAST evening safari drive! We're not ready to leave and go back to real life. We tried doing a fun silhouette shot w/ the sun setting behind us.

For dinner tonight we got to have a South African Braai (BBQ). It was in the Boma (an enclosure that used to be a corral), and we got to see the stars and also the watering hole as we ate.

Stefan was the master griller and we got to eat lamp chops, sausage, and chicken skewers. We also tried pap for the first time, which is basically really thick grits. Mom said it's the main staple food for most of the poorer South Africans.

We had to get a picture w/ the INCREDIBLE staff here. Gregg was being a stinker and didn't want his picture taken so he hid his face behind the pole. He's sooooooo funny! We also got to meet Bertha (the cook) for the first time tonight. 

She & Autumn hit it off and became besties, b/c Bertha couldn't believe that Autumn was only 9 years old and is taller than her! We kept saying how we're sad we didn't meet Bertha sooner b/c she is so happy and funny and sweet. 

We will miss all of these great people so much when we leave tomorrow. But, we didn't focus on that and instead just enjoyed the evening and the delicious food. At the end of the meal all of the South African staff members came out and sang several songs to us. It was cool to hear their native language. It was a memorable way to end a wonderful day.