Camping, South African Style

Hi all,

In mid November (yes, I'm still behind, but catching up), we headed north-west to a campground outside  the gates of Pilanesburg, our closest big game reserve.  We went with our friend, Peter Vranken (also works at CDC with Ad) and his daughter, Amie, who is the same age as Lucy.  We'd been there once before, but stayed in "safari tents" (free-standing structures with tent flaps but also a mini fridge, electric tea kettle and cups & saucers for tea. I loved it.).

 Eek... I forgot my ball gown!

The campground is very popular and they pack the tents in.  We'd prefer a bit more space, but you can't beat the experience of having a zebra wander into your camp site, which happened the last time we were there. (See my earlier post.)

Breakfast of champions

Girl time
(Lucy and Amie)

 On Saturday afternoon, we packed into Peter's big car to go on a short game drive.

It was a beautiful day and we soon spotted a giraffe. They never cease to amaze me.

 Who you lookin' at?!

 A weaver bird nest

The male weaver bird produces the nest -- total DIY, not from Lowe's -- only to have his potential female partner inspect and possibly reject it, forcing him to start all over again.  Sometimes you'll see a tree littered with nests and you think, "Damn, is she picky!" (To be fair, he might be incompetent.)  See "Ultimate Animal Dad's: Weaver Birds" on YouTube.

 Lunch back at camp. 
(Note my Peachtree Road Race 2011 t-shirt, which I got [yes, for running it] last summer
when we were home, thanks to my friend Brandon.)

South Africans are serious campers.  Serious in a way that calls for an on-site pool
and restaurant with bar.  (Is it so bad to ask for a G&T after a night sleeping on the ground?)

"I love camping!" -Noah

"I'm getting cold but I refuse to get out."

 

The campground even had private bathtubs. (I love this country.)

 Chef Adam was on dinner duty that night.

 Dinner in the bush (price fixed with wine pairing)

 Of course we had to show Peter and Amie how to roast marshmallows. 

(Peter's originally from Belgium and was dubious.  Amie was a quick convert.)

 The next morning we were up at 5:45 for an early morning game drive.  Lucy dreamed of elephants.

Lo and behold, we spotted one pretty early on (making his way to the pancake breakfast at the lake)

 Once at the water (a good place to go on a hot summer morning -- it was mid November),
we spotted a group of impala

Hi guys!

We were rewarded for waking up so early with two young lion cubs. The mom apparently had walked by earlier, but we missed her.  (We still haven't seen any big cats.  I know... tough life.)

 We also encountered a rare group of four male kudu, with their awesome twisted horns.

 But the best thing of all was coming upon a herd of elephants playing in the water.

We often only spot a few elephants (if any), so this was awesome.  I'm a terrible film maker, but I caught some of it on video. You can hear Noah humming at the beginning and then Adam talking about something or other. (Click to watch directly in YouTube.)
 

 Elephants, eleshmints. Noah caught up on his Spanish with Dora the Explorer.

To think the guy got bored!  (He doesn't know that one day this will all be over and we'll have to go to the zoo.  Well, for the record, the Pretoria Zoo is very good, but still.)

Lucy enforces the no shoes in the tent rule with Noah.  Future Girl Scout! (Do we like the Girl Scouts these days?  Mmm.. makes me want some Thin Mints. Please post, STAT.)

A few turns of the swing set and the Safari broke down camp, packed up a dusty car, and headed home.

xo,

Glenn