Day 4: Safari Time! (June 25, 2010)

What better to do when in Africa than hit up a safari. While initial plans fell through to get to Kruger National Park, where the most epic nature battle ever captured by an amateur was filmed, our hosts here in Nigel suggested we head to Pilanesberg to a game reserve on which you can drive yourself. Kruger would have required a six hour drive, and unfortunately we just didn't have the time. So. we loaded up the car with snacks and sandwiches, got an early night's rest and headed out at about 4:15am.


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Now, I've already mentioned in an earlier post one of the pitfalls of relying on GPS navigation. Here we hit a much more serious one. I read in my South Africa travel Guidebook that carjackings are such a problem in that there are standardized roadsigns indicating stretches of road that are at high risk for carjackings. Well, I got my chance to see one when our GPS led us off the highway.

"Over the river and through the woods, to grandmothers carjacking spot we go!"

As much as I wanted to get out of the car to take a picture of one, you can see where that would have given my mom a chance to have said, "I told you so," so I resisted the temptation (I hate it when Mom's are right). So, I found this picture online. The one we saw at 4:40am looked much more reflective and menacing. It was probably a hotspot because the road was secluded, windy (try fitting a semi truck and a minivan going opposite directions on one lane bridge. My dad was sure it was possible. And it was...barely), and narrow. We were all sleepy, but when we saw this sign, you could say we all kind of perked up. To make matters worse, we were running low on gas. Had we sputtered to a stop in the hijacking hotspot, this post would be a lot more interesting.

Once we safely reached a gas station, we gassed up and continued our journey along the highways. Along the way we were graced with a beautiful--and welcomed--sunrise. Alli's already posted some great pictures from the safari, but here are some more. The highlights were the elephants just as we headed towards the exit of the preserve, disappointed that we hadn't seen Babar yet.

Laughing zebra. Mr. Ed's cousin. Zebras were our first safari sighting!

Baby Chacma Baboon. A whole troop crossed the road as we drove by.
This cute little guy paused to eat a stick. He won't be the alpha male.

Giraffes! We got pretty close and the baby was nursing while we watched!

We asked a guy at one of the hides about elephants,
and he said he saw them on his way into the park.

Then we headed to Sun City, the "Vegas of South Africa," where we watched the Brazil vs. Portugal game on a HUGE screen inside what the casino called the Super Bowl. We headed to the Lost City which is apparently a touristy recreation of a traditional African village with shows and stuff, but it was closed. So we ate some food and headed back satisfied, and tired. We kept to the main roads on the way back, but still couldn't avoid adventure. When we exited the freeway about 15 minutes from our place in Nigel, we saw an enormous brush fire that blazed literally up to the shoulder of the highway. I've mentioned this in earlier posts but it seems that no matter where we've been, there have always been at least three billowing plumes of smoke visible.

The next morning the entire field was charred and the flames were
working their way up the mountains almost a mile in the distance