Hi, I am creating this blog site to record our trip to South Africa for a Safari. Matt and I are looking forward to this trip; September 17-25, 2012. I will be blogging our trip for family and friends to follow us.

We will be staying at the Singita Boulders Lodge in the Singita Game Reserves. Singita Boulders Lodge is located in the Sabi Sand on 45,000 acres of private land in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve on the western border of the Kruger National Park, in the Mpumalanga province, South Africa. (See tag #1 on map above). Please join us on this journey.

We haven't left yet, but I want to talk about where we will be staying. Once we arrive in Johannesburg, we will take a light aircraft to the resort's private airstrip where we will be met by our ranger and tracker and taken to Singita Boulders Lodge by open air Land Rover. Our destination is surrounded by the occasional impala herd, giraffe in the distance and perhaps hippos snorting around in the Sand River.

There are wrap-around views from most parts of the natural stone lodge. Breakfast and lunch are served outside on the patio deck offering a view from which to observe nearby wildlife.

The open air main reception area is where guests meet for drinks and a snack before departure on the morning and evening game drives.

There are twelve suites on the resort. Each has floor to ceiling windows providing views to the wildlife.

Each guest room has a patio a private pool and outdoor shower.

PARIS

On our way to South Africa, we have a 15 hour layover in Paris. Our flight arrived Paris at 8:20am local time. We decided to make the most it and hired a driver to pick us up at the airport and take us into the city. We have a day room at the Hotel Daniel Paris, near Avenue des Champs-Élysées.

Matt has this crazy notion that we should 'follow the sun' and stay awake during local daylight hours (what are we, astronauts?) and therefore we plan to be up and about touring 'The City of Light'. We walked to the Eiffel Tower and along the Seine River. We had dinner at an outdoor restaurant on the Avenue des Champs de Élysées with a view of the Arc de Triomphe.

Our driver picks us back up at 7:30pm and takes us back to the airport for a red-eye flight to Johannesburg.

We are back at the airport, sitting in the flight lounge waiting for our Air France flight to Johannesburg. Today was a great day to burn off jet lag by walking around Paris. We won't be changing time zones again on this trip. We took some pictures, but unfortunately I don't have my cable connectors with me (in the checked luggage) to get them onto this blog. I thought we would be picking up our luggage in Paris, since we had to go through customs, but apparently our luggage was checked straight through to our final destination. Let's hope so!

Now, good and tired, I hope to sleep well on the plane tonight. Looking forward to our first game drive tomorrow.

Johannesburg, South Africa

Matt's theory worked, after staying up all day in Paris, I did sleep 8 hours on a lie-flat bed during the 10 hour flight to Johannesburg. When we arrived at 9:50am, I was refreshed and ready for the day. Glad to see our luggage arrived, too. We were met at the airport and transferred to the Federal Air Lounge until our next flight departed.

I was so concerned about our total weight allotment, 44lbs each, because I was carrying 24 lbs of camera equipment. However, they only weighed our checked luggage. I could have packed extra clothes!

Our next plane seats 8 passengers and I was seated right behind the pilot. One lucky guy got to sit in the co-pilot seat. I bet Matt was jealous.

Once our plane landed, we were met by our tracker and taken to Singita Boulders Lodge in an open air Land Rover. It is approx. 2pm local time on Wed. It took us nearly 2 days to get here.

Game Drive

By 4pm we were on our first game drive. Dylan is our guide and Ruel is our tracker during our stay. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was only the four of us and we went off in search of some lions believed to be around because of a recent kill. We crossed the Sands River in our Land Rover. Saw some hippos lazing in the river, making funny snorting sounds. When we saw vultures, we knew we were nearby the kill site. Sure enough there was a pride of lions. Best of all, there was a 7-8 week old lion cub.

The cub was cute and playful, trying to engage Mom in play. But she was so full after gorging, she couldn't move.

**Here, mom actually has the cub's head in her mouth.**

After a couple of hours in the Land Rover, we stopped to watch the sunset and had a beverage and snacks. After the sunset, we tracked back to Singita and cleaned up for dinner. I don't know if that was a typical game drive, being my first, but it sure was extraordinary.

Morning Game Drive

Wake up call was at 5:30am. When we left our guest suite at 6am for the short walk to the main lodge, we were greeted by a large Kudu right outside our door. Apparently we were supposed to call for an escort because you never really know what you might come upon. We were gently reminded of that protocol.

After a brief cup of coffee and some biscuits, we headed toward our vehicle. Weather was once again very nice, but cooler in the morning so we took our light weight Patagonia jackets. Once again it was just Matt, me and our guide plus tracker. The Land Rover seats six guests and apparently more guests are arriving this afternoon. So, this was perhaps our last private game drive.

Soon into the drive, our tracker heard the sounds of a leopard. We turned the vehicle around and sped in the direction of the sound. At first I wasn't sure if we were speeding away from or into the action. Once we arrived, I noticed that word got out and other vehicles were also approaching. There was a pair of leopards; apparently that is rare to see them together.

We followed the male around as he hunted in the African bush.

He didn't seem to mind us tracking him at all. At times he was right next to the vehicle.

After a couple hours of game drive, they always pull over somewhere for a beverage and snack. Today we stopped at the Sand River and were taught to identify animal tracks.

After the morning game drive, they serve breakfast 'al fresco' on the deck. It is served buffet style at your leisure.

After lunch, we went on a hike with our guide, Dylan. Animals respond to humans differently when encountered on foot. He brought along his rifle, just in case. Weather warmed up, we are in shorts and tee-shirt. Practiced our animal tracking skills.

The food here is very good, and all inclusive. We had lunch outside on the patio. WiFi is available everywhere, so I've been processing photos and blogging in our room, and outside on our deck by the pool.

Afternoon Game Drive

This afternoon we were joined by two more couples, from New York. We encountered a 7 ton bull Elephant that got a little aggressive. We were watching him eat and suddenly he turned around to face us, shook his head then waved his ears at us, while starting to walk forward. I was scared, this guy was within 10 feet of us and he was huge. Our guide told us to not move, but keep taking pictures (huh?). He was so close I couldn't fit him in my camera frame. Suddenly, he just stopped and turned around...back to eating again. Whew.

We moved on in search of leopards - which in my opinion are less scary than bull Elephants. The new guests wanted to see some cats. We found a different female from this morning. This one lost one of her cubs a few days ago to a young male trying to establish territory. She had twins and was in search of her other cub. She was vocalizing, trying to call out to her surviving cub. We followed her around for a while. She found some rhino dung and decided to roll around in it to cover her scent as her vocalizing will call attention to hyenas. It was getting dark, so we moved on. I hope she finds her cub.

Day 3

We are getting into the rhythm. Morning wake up call at 5:30am. We met in the lobby at 6am for delicious cup of coffee and then off in to the Land Rover.

The first thing we saw today was a giraffe. I had trouble yesterday capturing the entire giraffe in my lens frame because of my proximity and it's large size. Today, however I got the full giraffe in a photo.

Our tracker, Ruel, heard alert calls from birds indicating predator in the vicinity. Our guide sent Ruel into the bush on foot in search of the predator. He took the rifle, leaving us unarmed in the vehicle. Where would you rather be?

We then saw two male lions running through the bush. Turns out they were fleeing from Ruel. We tried to follow them, but lost them. Now we have to find Ruel...

Next we found a cheetah, who was napping in the shade of a bush. Very similar to a leopard, but a slighter build.

We drove into a herd of buffalo, who were intermixed with some wildebeest. Interesting to see the birds traveling on the backs of the buffalo. They were eating the insects.

Finally, we saw some zebra. I was looking forward to that. The stripes of the zebra weren't the same as I recall in the local zoo. I guess there are different types of zebra.

Food

The food is very good here. The hard part is turning it down, I can't be eating everything they present to me. No one will go hungry on this trip. Last night at dinner, everyone was invited to a traditional South African boma dinner, which included energetic dancing and singing around a fire pit. The area was encircled by a fence made out of tree limbs. Lanterns lit up the dinner. All meals have been served outside, even our gourmet dinners. Thankfully, the weather has been perfect. Matt adventurously has tried warthog and kudu.

Afternoon Game Drive

This afternoon, our first sighting was two baby hyenas tucked into a rocky ledge for safety. Mom was around, but I didn't see her. We saw two young male impalas sparing, horns locked. Turns out they were just sporting around in play.

We encounter another bull elephant. This one was on a rocky outcrop, eating leaves off a tree. We got fairly close, but he didn't even seem to notice us. Which was fine with me.

There was a female Rhino with her little baby, who was covered in mud. They must have been wallowing in something. We initially kept our distance, but the mama Rhino allowed us to inch in rather close. She was was seemingly unconcerned with our presence.

World Rhino Day

As I'm sure you already knew, September 22nd is World Rhino Day. We made a small donation to the Rhino conservation fund and received Rhino caps, which we each wore for the day. After our morning game drive, Matt and I went with Dylan, our guide, on a walk. He suggested to celebrate Rhino Day, we should go in search of Rhino on foot. So, instead of walking nearby the lodge, we got in the Land Rover and drove back out into the bush where Rhino where known to be.

Dylan parked the vehicle and we got out on foot. He did bring his rifle and I asked questions about how many bullets (5) and would it stop a Rhino (yes, but you must aim directly for the brain). We were instructed to walk quietly in a single file, trust him completely and follow his instructions. We walked, looking for tracks and fresh dung. Found some hippo water holes.

Suddenly, Dylan stopped and told us to be still. Sure enough there were Rhino up ahead. He knew this because the birds were chattering nearby which alerted the Rhino. The wind was in our favor and Rhino don't have good eyesight. We crept up to a bush and he instructed us to get down. I did as he said, even though it was in a pile of dung. That wasn't of concern to me at the moment.

We could see five Rhino up ahead. They were all lying down in the shade. One Rhino got up and slowly started walking toward us. They were becoming aware of our presence. At that point, Dylan checked his gun and told us to calmly, quietly and slowly walk backwards towards another cover. It was important that we kept facing toward the Rhinos, don't turn your back on them. We made it to a fallen tree, that we used as cover.

Dylan decides to make Rhino calling sounds to lure the Rhino nearer to us for better viewing. He also said he did that to make them think we were just other Rhino and therefore not a threat. My heart was racing. I could feel the adrenaline pumping. I new if I lived to tell, this would be a great story. The Rhino walked just past the bush were we took previous cover.

Once the Rhino passed us and went into thick brush, we were ok to leave our cover. We walked back to our vehicle and saw a giraffe in the open field. I have a new appreciation for the safety of our vehicle.

After the sunset,, we drove around for about 45 minutes in the dark with a spotlight searching for nocturnal animals. Tonight, we spotted the Ravenscourt female leopard and her baby cub. We were extremely relieved because she had been looking for two days for her cub. Remember that her other cub was killed a few days ago and we feared the worst for this other one. I understand how the guide and trackers can get attached to these animals on an individual level. They see these babies being born. They were so happy to see the little cub. I didn't post a picture because the night time viewing wasn't conducive. But rest assured, mama and baby are back together.

Incredible Day

Today was an incredible day. We had a great game drive in the morning. We saw a breeding herd of elephants. Pack of 20 or so female elephants with their young. None of these were intimidating like the 7 ton bull elephant we encountered a few days ago. The females are not even half that size. Down by the river we saw a pack of lions. These were four sisters all believed to be pregnant, soon to give birth to cubs.

We had breakfast with our guide Dylan, who is a professional photographer. He was extremely helpful in guiding me with the picture taking. The two other couples that had been with us for the last three days, were headed back home. So, Matt and I have a private guide for the remainder of today and tomorrow.

We started out at 2pm with a bush walk with our guide. We walked about 3 miles through leopard territory. After yesterday's encounter, I have to admit I was a little shifty eyed. But, we didn't sneak up on anything. We walked until we met up with our tracker, Ruel, who had setup a beautiful picnic lunch out in the bush. Incredible service here.

Then we went on our game drive. I wanted to capture a picture of a hippo in a big yawn. So, we went down to the watering hole where there was a big old hippo alone in the water. He seemed a little cranky and wasn't cooperative. We waited quite a while. This isn't something we could do with other guests who probably wouldn't be so interested in getting "the shot". That is what's so nice about a private drive.  Ruel finally got out of the vehicle which set him off and we got our yawn. We decided to leave the old guy alone and headed down to the river in search of more hippos, while there still was some daylight.

At the river, we parked the Land Rover right in the middle of the river. There was a herd of 5 hippo a bit downstream. They expressed interest by snorting and swimming over toward us. These guys were very cooperative and seemingly friendly. They were taking turns yawning at us, even the little baby hippo. It was like whackamole. Our tracker kept shouting left one, right one...to help us point our cameras in the right direction. I have so many open mouth hippo photos to choose from.

After the sunset, we were driven to the Singita airstrip which they turned into our own private dining oasis. Lanterns and candles light the area. They setup a firepit, open bar and we had our own private chef and waitstaff who served up a gourmet five course meal. This was over the top.

Last night we mentioned we were planning to eat our dinner in the room. When we arrived, they had lit up the suite with votive candles and flower petals. Over the top service.

Tomorrow is our last day. We have a private morning game drive, followed by a leisurely lunch then head to the Singita airstrip, which I am sure will be transformed back to its original function.

Back Home

We arrived back in the US today. Travel went smoothly. Good to be back home, but we will miss South Africa, our guide and tracker who we got to know so well, and of course the wild animals. Back to reality.

Thanks everyone for viewing the blog and joining us on this journey.