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Monkeys on our runway!
July 4, 2008; Part II We had managed to stop in Zambia to pick up a few souvenirs but after a brief stop at the airport the day before, we saw how egregious African artifacts were in places with tourists. There were still a few items we wanted to grab so we hitched a ride with a hotel car service and Francis took us to a flea market around 15 minutes away at 9 sharp. We only had around 15 minutes to shop as we needed to be back at our hotel and airport no later than a 10:30AM check-in. It turned out that our plane was delayed several hours so we could have actually spent much more time on the ground. After a very fast and successful shopping spree (we were of course the shops first customers so we got a “good deal”), we made our way back to the airport and were told by Anisha, our hotel concierge that there was a problem shipping our artifacts because we did not have any receipts - the flea market doesn’t exactly cater to international shipping. We asked Anisha to hold our items
until our return on the 7th when we would lug our artifacts through Dubai, India, and Chicago, and all the way back to Los Angeles. We checked in for our flight, waited for a few minutes chopping on our complimentary hotel Biltong (beef jerky), and were bused to our terminal for our flight to Singita Game Reserve in Sabi Sands. Our flight was scheduled to leave around 11AM but we ended up waiting until around 12:30PM until we were ushered on the small 16 passenger airplane. Surprisingly, Federal Air weighed our bags at our arrival for departure to ensure we were under 20 kilos each - we learned later than if this amount is exceeded, passengers are required to purchase additional tickets.
Yes - the plane was twin propeller, two engine - and full. The flight to Singita required a brief stop for passenger to transfer to another plane headed for a different reserve. The ride was bumpy but not too bad, but Tabitha was a bit frightened; turns out that it didn’t help she could see out the windshield as there was no cockpit door. On our first landing *attempt*, the pilot aborted the landing at the last
minute because monkeys were on our runway. He felt that they might do considerable damage to our plane if he landed on them - of course this didn’t help soothe Tabitha either. We managed a landing on our second attempt, dropped off almost everyone, and continued on our way to Singita.
After a successful first landing at Singita, we deplaned and were greeted by our Safari guide, Nick Hindson and his tracker, Gianyi. Nick was a slender Durban man with dark hair and eyes and was around 24 years old. He greeted us warmly with a large smile and with the roar of the engine from another plane nearby dying down, Nick grinned and said, “Welcome to Singita!” He spoke deliberately with sense of experience and caution, clearly a result of his many years in the bush despite his young age. Tabitha and I hopped in a 12 passenger Range Rover feeling like Disneyland’s Indiana Jones ride, and made our way from the landing strip to Ebony, our lodge, over a few different dirt roads. With camera in hand, we didn’t manage to see any animals on this drive, but when we arrived at the lodge only 5 minutes
from the airfield, we were greeted by two of our hosts, Miranda and Mark, who seemed very excited to see us. We met our butler, Patricia, the manager, Yvonne, and a few other staffers who all made us feel very comfortable. We immediately were seated for lunch on a deck that overlooked the river and saw a several naughty monkeys that were scheming on how to pilfer some apples. Lunch was fantastic and Miranda took a few moments to go over the basics - 1) lock your room as the monkeys love to get in and raid the minibar and 2) call for a porter for any movement around the lodge at night as the animals could be anywhere. Since we arrived at 2:00 and game drives commenced at 6:30AM and 3:30PM, we only had a short while to have lunch, check-in, and get ready. Just before we left lunch, the naughty monkeys began screaming. Apparently this was a sign of danger nearby. A couple minutes later, Tabitha spotted a Leopard and her cub only 30 or so meters away going down river just below the sundeck. I managed to snap a few photos and our first encounter was incredible,
and from what we were told, fairly rare.
We checked into our room, got our scarf’s, gloves, hats, jackets, ponchos and cameras, and made our way to tea. Just before the drive, the staff serves tea and other goodies, and then bids guests farewell - typically not for good! We hopped in our Range Rover; Nick got behind the helm, and Gianyi positioned himself, without seat belt, on the front bumper. Fellow adventurers that would be with us for the next 3 days also included an English couple - Liz and Nigil Moore. On their 39th year of marriage, Nigil and Liz had 3 children and entertained us with stories of each and their vast experience all over the globe. Nigil was a retired E&Y partner (what a coincidence) that now moonlights as an audit committee chair and board member, and Liz had recently retired from practicing physical therapy. We enjoyed their company immensely through the course of our journey as we tried to absorb as much of their culture as possible - Liz probably said it best when she said that Nigil was about as English as you can get! They were a ton of fun -
And we were off! With the crank of the engine and a sputter of black smoke, the range rover revved into action and down one of hundreds of dirt roads we went. We sat in the middle seat and our first game drive encounter left us with a view of the Bush Buck. I desperately began snapping photos until Nick let me know that by the time I had finished Safari I would have had enough Bush Buck to last a lifetime. A tan medium sized animal that looks more like a deer than anything else, they were very skittish and could be frightened easily. Pressing on we found some Impala - an animal that I continually confuse with the Bush Buck. More stately than the Bush Buck, these creatures are as skittish, but seem to be stronger given their large antlers. We cruised past a couple Wart Hogs and a part of me expected them to start singing the Lion King and as we made our way across a river in the rover, with no bridge, we saw our first and only lizard. The main event of our evening game drive came when Gianyi saw some lion tracks. We
were within sight of our lodge on the opposite side of the river and Nick and Gianyi got out of the rover and left the four of us for what seemed like more than a couple minutes likely because we were literally in the bush and Nick had taken his rifle. Reappearing after a few minutes, Nick told us of his success and we began our hunt. Soon after, we came upon two majestic Lioness followed by a mature Lion. The three together came within meters of our jeep and slowly followed the river until they crossed it. The power of a Lion sighting within only a breath away was breathtaking. These animals gracefully weaved through reeds and trees, silently treading through the bush. Although extremely cute, this pack wouldn’t have liked us to reach out to pet them!
Ending our first day at Singita, we ran across a Hyena. Another demoralized animal because of the Lion King, South Africa has been trying to restore their reputation from the evil plotting henchman to animals of beauty. We had no idea that a few days down the road, we’d be able to see the Hyena clearly along with its pup.
Returning to the lodge we found our room beautifully decorated with candles and our Butler, Patricia, had set a table in our living area for dinner. We had a superb meal by a fire and retired for the evening.
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