WanderlustandWhimSea

The final stop on my African adventure was the Motswari Game Lodge.  It was a great place to round out the trip of a lifetime. The lodge has a location close to an airport but even closer to Kruger National Park.  We arrived a bit hot and disheveled but a welcome drink and a view of the facilities had us excited for the first game drive.  Although this was our third stop we had yet to see a Lion and a Rhino to bag the requisite “Big 5”.  That was all solved on our very first game drive as we saw a Rhino family within minutes and an early evening viewing of a pride of 9 lions. Whew – and we had 3 more days of safaris!

First a bit about the lodge.  My initial impressions of this lodge were, “Genuine”. From the people to the huts everything just fit into the landscape and seemed real. One of the special experiences was the lunch where the folks lined up carrying all the lunch fare to the table and sang a rhythmic African song as they delivered the delicious meal.  The music was enthralling and inspiring.  The huts were spacious with lovely bathrooms, huge showers but my absolute favorite – AIR CONDITIONNG! Oh my gosh, how amazing to get back from an early morning game drive, take a shower and then a nap in the cool air.  Here’s a few pictures from the lodge:

But we didn’t come all this way to Africa to lay in the A/C so the big event was the game drives.  We were fortunate to have a driver (Andre) and a tracker (Petre) to find and show us the animals. When we indicated our desire to find lions and rhino’s they were determined to make that happen. First the Lions:

The game drives are quite civilized affairs with tea, coffee, snacks and cocktails depending on the time of day. Andre and Petre were very gracious hosts making sure all of our refreshment needs were met.  We also looked like a bunch of bandits as we dipped our scarves in cool water to protect us from the fierce sun and keep cool. Fortunately, there were no fashion police in the bush.

We were also fortunate to see Rhino’s, Hyena’s and a Leopard and many antelope.

But the big find was a pack of Painted Dogs.  The dogs are on the endangered species list and we found a pack of about 30 dogs.  They were tough to follow as they were always on the move to keep that entire pack fed.  The dogs are pretty successful hunters with an 80% chance of getting the animals they pursue compared with lions who have a 30% hunting record.  Of course the lions sleep 18-20 hours a day so every kill must count.  Notice the feet of one of the dogs still bloody from an Impala kill and one lucky fellow still carrying his hunting treasure.

Thanks to Gate 1 Tours, our team leader Roger, my travel companions Saul and Phyliss and the amazing photographers Cynthia and Patrick  (most of the pictures from this post) for a trip I will not soon forget. And as for Africa – I shall return there is just too much to see in one short trip.

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