Day 6 was fairly short — though we got to sleep in (yay!). We headed out in misty-to-rainy weather for a bush walk. We drove out to the main grassland at the foot of the big butte and spent the morning learning the kind of safari facts that make you feel like you’re suddenly in […]
Entabeni
Day 5 p.m.: Sad Truths, A Crash of Rhino (Almost), and a Happy Braai
This afternoon we drove to the Rhino Orphanage, where we learned a great deal about South Africa’s long and heartbreaking history with poaching. Through the 1960s, the numbers were going down, down, down — to roughly 370 rhinos killed in a year. But then, decades later, the crisis surged again after a very specific spark: […]
Day 5: Downward Cheetah, Dirt Baths, and a Wee One Testing Mom’s Forebearance
Up again at 5:00 a.m. For some reason my alarm didn’t go off — but thank goodness this lodge operates on the very practical system of knocking firmly on your door until you rejoin the living. I was especially tired today. I haven’t been sleeping particularly well, and I’ve been battling a growing frustration with […]
Day 4: Breakfast, Buffalo, and a Smartwatch With No Sense of Timing
Morning We are eating too much and moving too little — though today, due to the colossal amount of jostling in the jeep, Mary’s smartwatch went off – with fireworks – telling her: GREAT JOB! You have completed your workout by 9:00 a.m. My smartwatch, on the other hand, chose the exact moment we were […]
Day 3 (Part 2): Teeth-Loosening Glory
We headed out this afternoon for our first official game drive — in what I can only describe as a safari vehicle engineered by someone who thought, “What if we made a jeep… but also a small apartment building?” It’s a very (very) tall open-sided truck with three rows of covered seats. Getting in requires […]
Day 3: Bags Outside the Door by 7:30, Safari Begins
Well. Bags outside the door by 7:30, breakfast at 6:30 (“…at the buffet-a…”), wheels up (well…van wheels up) at 8:00. Safari logistics have officially entered the chat. We left Pretoria this morning and began the drive north toward Entabeni, which Abe (pronounced “A.B.”) cheerfully informed us would be about three to three-and-a-half hours…with a snack […]