Day 10--1/5/09

The alarm woke us up at 4:06am since we were scheduled to leave the farm and head to the game reserve at 4:30am. This being Africa, we left a little after 5am. So now I can say I saw the African sunrise. We packed the comby and the bucky (van and pick-up truck). Rich, Kim, Emily, and I were squashed in the back seat where there was a lot of overlap.

We were told the trip would take 3 1/2 hours but we didn't get to the game reserve until around noon--you do the math. As we got closer to the game reserve, we started to see impala and springbok. Most of the roads were dirt or loose sand. Dick was driving and as a Mercedes Benz tried to pass us, it lost control and flipped over and rolled into a fence. Both the driver and passenger walked away from it, but all parties were a bit shaken. The Benz does well in a roll. The windshield was cracked and the hood dented, but overall it looked good.

The game reserve we went to was owned by Mariana's father and they have buffalo, kudu, zebra, giraffe, warthog, hippos, impala, blesbok, and several other animals I don't remember the name of. We stayed in chalets with beds made of bricks but with comfortable mattresses. It only costs about $20 per person per night and the house we stayed in sleeps 6. Hunters usually come in September-March to hunt the game on the reserve. The decor in the chalet reflects that.

We headed out in the reserve in two buckys and almost immediately saw giraffe, zebras, and warthogs. We drove around for about 3 hours stopping when we saw wildlife. Even if we didn't see anything, I would have thoroughly enjoyed just being out in the reserve. It looked like what I always pictured an African game reserve would look like. Mariana did most of the driving for our bucky and at one point, Rich, Emily, and myself suddenly found ourselves on the floor. She had driven straight into a ditch. No one was hurt, but we realized it was a pretty deep hole when we didn't have to take a step down out of the back of the bucky. The boys pushed us out and we were on our way again. Lauren, age 13, also took some time to drive as well. She did quite nicely.

At sunset, we drove to the "erosion" which was sand and dirt carved away by rainwater. The photograhic opportunities there were quite good.

The rest of the evening included Jim setting up a projector and checking out people's photos while Kim, Emily, and I fell asleep on chairs and sofas. When we woke up around 9pm, we thought we slept through dinner, but we didn't. I love Africa time.