We had a lovely final dinner with all of the guides last night. We have to say the the good at Senalala was great the whole time. After what was for me a restless sleep, we got up at 5:30 and our ride picked us up for the 3 hour drive to Nelspruit airport. On the way out of the reserve we were treated to more game sightings including a big bull elephant, and old Cape buffalo who couldn’t keep up with the herd anymore, and a giraffe in the distance. And more impala. We also were fortunate to see 3 female lions stalking a herd of zebras and a wildebeest. Fortunately we didn’t see an attack or kill - but it was fascinating to see the herd behave in a protective way. The drive through ... read more

Our guide was determined to show us a big cat so at 2:00 am he heard two of them roaring. He dashed out in the Jeep with the camp manager and they tracked one down not too far from camp. They woke us up and we, along with the other couple here, jumped in the other Jeep and raced out of camp. It was quite exciting to race down the dark, dirt road in pursuit of a lion in the middle of the night. We got there and it was a young male who wasn’t too fussed by our being there. He was busy trying to find the other male that he’d been calling. He got curious about us and came right up to our Jeep - maybe 5 meters away. Then he got startled and ... read more

After a pretty uneventful red eye (Note: the food on South African Airlines was outstanding), we landed in Johannesburg, changed planes and found ourselves at the Heodspruit airport which was very homey for an airport. More like a log cabin than what you’d traditionally think of. But the staff was very efficient and helpful and we were on our way with our driver within 10 minutes of landing. On our drive to the camp, our drivers kept an eye out for wild life and we were fortunate to see on the 45 minute drive to our camp giraffes, elephants, zebra, mongoose, eagles and impala (referred to by our driver as “McDonalds” because they’re everywhere and everyone eats them. Arrived at the camp in a bit of a daze. Camp is a simplified term for it as ... read more

We're in the final days of preparation before we head out and I think we're overthinking the whole thing. And we keep flip-flopping on what to pack....and what bags to bring....and shoes? Is 3 pairs too many? Don is thinking 4 so I'm feeling a bit virtuous with 3. And I think I can get down to 4 pairs of glasses..... We leave on Thursday so our next post will be en route - just wanted to kick of this new series before we go!... read more

The overnight traing from Chaing Mai to Bangkok last night was reallky quite luxurious - we didn't have to provide our own toilet paper or anything! We did drink all of the Thai wine that we had purchased, several beers, a liter of vodka and some rum.....And all of that before the night club (Yes - the train had a night club car!) opened at 9:00 p.m. We then went and danced - and Athena made new French friends. :-) We all slept relatively well - it was a much nicer train really. :-) Although squat toilets on a moving train make life very interesting. We got to Bangkok about 7:00 a.m. this morning to find our rooms weren't ready yet. No surprise there. So several of us went out to the weekend market and to ... read more