The Ranch Life of Savannah J.E.: Day 4 / South Africa

May 5, 2018

We have arrived (landed) at Johannesburg, South Africa! 7:00 AM local time.

[After we went through customs and security (which went very smoothly) we meandered through the South African airport in search of our driver. He was to be standing somewhere, holding a sign with our name. It took some time, but we did finally make it to the correct area and, within a few minutes, found him. We joined him and made our way to the van, after trying an elevator or two before at long last getting in one that moved.

It sure was a new experience and what trusting people we were! Believe me, we did our research and talked to other families and people who had used these outfitters before. But still, here we were, getting into a van with a complete stranger, and literally trusting him to get us where we needed in a completely new country to us. First thing he did when we climbed into the van was call one of the people in charge of the lodge to tell them we were heading that way. On which phone call, he spoke in Afrikaans.

We arrived about four hours later (that is how far from Johannesburg the lodge was), safe and sound and as new friends.

The Afrikaans language is so beautiful. I'll tell you right now that if you were to ask me what I miss most from South Africa, I'd say the people and the way they talk, either in English with their accent or in Afrikaans. Especially the men.

And, yes, they drive on the other side of the vehicle compared to us here in America. Some one from my family may or may not have gone to the incorrect side to be a passenger while traveling. They even drive on the left side of the road. Personally, however, I didn't find that very odd feeling. Mom said that could be because of the British movies and TV shows I've watched.]

While driving from the airport to the lodge I wrote...

Just saw our first kudus. They were in the pasture beside this highway.

We went thought Modimolle [town]. The people were strolling the streets and sidewalks, selling their fruits and vegetables. I have seen multiple people riding or sitting in the beds of pickups. KFC [yes, the chicken franchise] made an appearance and apparently it and McDonalds are in every town.

We saw ostriches! They're so big!

Also saw

Impala
Blue Wildebeest
Sable
Baboon
Springbuck
Blesbuck

Do you know Africa's highest human killing animal?

It's actually the hippo. They bite. No, we didn't see any hippos. But we sure heard stories!

And did you know that, along with rhinos, hippos like to put out fires?

We arrived at the Kuvhima lodge. The kind people here met us at the doors of our van and took our bags for us.

At a table, they had juice and a welcoming gift bag.

We were shown to our rooms and got to relax.

The lodge is comfortable and nice. A swimming pool bubbles outside of my bedroom window. There are lot of mounts [taxidermy] in here [the lodge in general].

[After a couple of hours to rest up a bit] we went to shoot the guns and drive around. [There was talk of taking our own guns to hunt with, but we found out that getting firearms through London was extremely difficult, thus, we used the guns the outfitters provided.] We got to look at stars [which are different since they're on the Southern Hemisphere. And we learned how to tell directions by the ways stars are in their sky.]

South Africa, in spots around here, reminds us of how Kenton, OK, looks. It's really brushy, with a few large rock mountains [mesas]. It's still really green [they were going into their winter while we were visiting]. Chilly at night and early mornings, but afternoons are nice, shorts and t-shirts kind of days.

Believe it or not, during the whole time in South Africa, we did not see a single snake. But during supper on the very first night, we did see this big spider. : )