Day 25: Four out of five ain’t bad

It’s our last full day in Cape Town and we had another beautiful morning greet us. We took care of all the usual morning stuff: showers, breakfast, etc. And then just before 8am we headed down to meet our driver who would take us for the last event of the week: SAFARI! Now let’s be clear that this is really just a drive through a private game reserve rather than a fancy multi-day event in the jungle. But we’re happy to take what we can get!

We picked up our only other participant downtown – unfortunately, one other couple cancelled at the last minute as one of them got something dodgy to eat the night before. So with our new friend Deborah (marathon runner from the Yakima Valley in Washington) and our driver Kobus (who was originally from Namibia) we set out across the mountains to the Aquila Game Reserve. It took just over 3 hours with a stops for photos and comfort breaks. We arrived around 11:30 and had some time to kill before lunch at noon.

So while Deborah and I chatted about environmental compliance activities – her field – Frank was being adopted by an apparently lonely woman from Tampa Bay who seemed desperate to talk to people even though she was travelling with a group. So Divinia latched on to us for lunch and told us all about her life and how much connecting with other people was important and how the group she was travelling with was boring and how glad she was that she found us. And there were tears! It was a tad surreal – but gives me something interesting to write about because lunch certainly wasn’t interesting enough! Sadly Divinia was not on our safari tour so we had to say good bye after the meal – with the obligatory hugs – and we headed to the safari transport.

Kobus had recommended that we grab the front row just behind the driver to help block dust and make sure we could hear everything. It turned out to be a great tip given the amount of excess noise from our fellow passengers. I could forgive the Chinese guy who was obviously translating for two companions who apparently didn’t speak English. But the woman who answered her phone everytime it rang and even took a Facetime call while the guide was trying to tell us about hippos was just too much. Grrrrrr.

But regardless, we rumbled over newly created creeks that have sprung up since flooding rains hit a few weeks ago and then thumped across eroded ground and rocks and other interesting aspects of the terrain in search of “the Big Five.” I didn’t know this until doing some Googling but in Africa, the Big Five refers to the 5 animals that have traditionally been difficult for big game hunters to bag: African buffalo, rhino, elephant, lion, and leopard. We were lucky enough to spot 4 of them. (We knew the leopard was a no go since the reserve didn’t have any on site.)

In addition, we saw hippos, zebra, giraffes, baboons, springbok, and ostritches. The day was unbelievably beautiful and the sky impossibly blue while we went in search of Instagram moments. We learned a LOT from the guide about the mating habits of giraffes (which we were apparently interrupting!), the protective stomach enzymes of zebra, and the eyesight problems of rhinos. The only really disappointing aspect of the day was the lions who were kept in a separate enclosed part of the reserve ostentsibly to preven them from snacking on the horseback and quad bike tourists. Regardless, it was a fairly small enclosure with few places for the lions to be (or hide) so it did have a bit of a zoo feeling to it. We also got to take a bathroom break at a small cafe where we could grab a drink – including MCC bubbles in a stainless steel wine glass. Very fun but not very wilderness-y. (All was forgiven when Nigel the safari guide filled a water bottle up with additioinal bubbles for me!)

That zoo-ness feeling vanished when it came time to spy the elephants. They had free reign of the entire reserve and were so RUDE that they didn’t come anywhere close to where we were. Luckily Frank had the right lens on his camera so we did sneak a photo in where others weren’t so fortunate. After 2 1/2 hours of organ-rattling driving, it was time to depart. Which meant it was time for more driving but this time on highways in our air conditioned mini-van. We took the Hugenot Tunnel on the way back which made the return journey slightly shorter but then we hit Cape Town at rush hour so it was a wash. Still it was just over 2 hours telling stories and listening to South African tall tales and dad jokes. A most enjoyable way to spend the day.

But as it is our last night here, we had laundry and packing to do. Then some dinner at an upscale diner along the road (GF pizza!!!) and it’s time to tidy up and prepare for the work part of this trip that starts tomorrow. But not before enjoying our bottle of blanc du blanc from yesterday while chilling to a documentary about Nigel Mansell.

Here’s a very small sample of the shots from today: