Getaway Weekend Near Kruger Game Reserve

We went away to a private game reserve near Kruger National Park called Thornybush.  It was 3 stars overall (at least what the lodge said).  This was pretty nice though.   We booked it Thursday and traveled at the beginning of the weekend.
I booked travel for a few people (I love USAA bank, they did all the security checks quickly and it went through).
The lodge was simple, small and beautiful  I stayed in a glorified tent bunked with Martin and IBM co-worker.  Glorified tent included running water, dresser,real bed, shower.
My tent mate Martin Broke his glasses.  I though was int he shower and obviously not wearing the glasses put the shampoo and other bottle in my hair. After I put it in, I read the label next to my eyes and saw it was repellent.  I did not get a bite, but it was so dry I did not need repellent.

The first night I intentionally did not sleep the night before and that helped me sleep through the noises.  Still there were noises all night long.


The next night with the rainfall, there was a white noise effect from the rain and I was fine.
We went on four drives, some at sun down and sun up.  We had an easy going day, while waiting.
It was oppressively hot.  Note Martin seeing a Nyla up close who wanted to drink from the pool.  I was asleep during this.  in the background you will see a triable that is the ONLY protection from the outside.  We were 14 KM from the nearrest paved road.  The whole camp was solar powered.

no bars on these cars to stop the animals from maiming us...

Overall the dives were in Toyota Range Rovers, they were peaceful.  The land was so dry.
I decided I wanted a range rover when I get a new car.  They drove in the brush and we saw wildlife everywhere.  The guides tracked tracks and looked for cats first, then we looked at herding animals later as they were easier to find.  The dive loved to take paths at caz angles.
We saw a pride of lions almost each trip, herd of elephants a few times... one was about to give birth with a head popping out while walking, hippos, Cape Buffalo, leopard which was a rare thing, Zebras, Impala, Nyala, alligator,  I could not believe how lucky were were.

Elephants:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp83BRNlbng
Bad sound



We saw giraffes on the way in and the way out, but the guides really did not focus on them as they are less rare.

The focus was on the cats.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3teIBS7XgI

a leopard, really hard to see and get close to

 The guides would drive anywhere on or off the road to get closer to the cats.
The cars were open, we could have been attacked, but the guides trained us well...to many animals we looked like one massive animal, and the fact that the game drives happen often, they were not surprised to see the cars.


The drives were just beautiful.

I feel I have now seen game drives, I am maxed out.


High tea was served at three, I had hot chocolate
Then  in the evening we did another drive
a little snack  out int he park, the guide made sure we were away from animals, then there was a dinner.


One time the guides both left us in our vehicle and walked off to find the lion trail, we were in a remote spot, but still to be alone...yikes.

It was great, I felt bad that I was enjoying everything with out my family

On our way back, We then took a tour of the rim and saw the diverse beaut of the area.  Our driver was great, he showed us the best parts and we made our flight back to Johannesburg.

Like all things in South Africa, the flight was delayed but it worked out just fine.

I am frankly all wilderness trekked out, it was fund but after 4 times I have had my fill of tea...hot chocolate.



#CSCSA16
Jamon