Catching Up with a Long Post

Hi Everyone It's been a while - technical difficulties and all - but I will try to catch you up as best I can:) Safari 1 - Kings Pool - Botswana Absolutely beautiful venue with amazing amenities and service There were not many animals(except impala by the zillions) so we had to look for them! That proved to be very exciting as we set out at 6 am in a 4x4 jeep/tank that went crashing through the bush! Mowing over trees, wading thru water - it was an event! Our guide would look out over the side and check out the tracks - he could hear lions"calling" each other, so off we roared to look for the roarers:) Finally, we discovered 2 male lions - when I tell you that they were not 10 feet from us, I am not kidding! We were (a bit) scared, but our Odi assured us that if we kept still, they wouldn't charge, as they are used to the sight of jeeps and realize that we are not predators. On the other hand, if we stood up or heaven forbid, got out of the jeep - well, I guess I wouldn't be writing this! On another game drive, we tracked a leopard and finally found her - very exciting indeed. The biggest shockeroo was when we rounded a corner and came face to face with a 4-storey building ! - i.e. a huge elephant! I don't know who was more surprised - the guide, us, or Dumbo! It was fantastic - same deal, by the way - don't move too fast or you will twig the animal onto doing something you don't want it to do! Safari 2 - Little Mombo - Botswana This camp, which was also spectacular- had a lot more animals visible. We did have to go find the elephants, but when we did - we found a herd of them! We also saw a quite large pride of lions - about 6 females and 12 cubs - and the really amazing thing was that the moms and kids had a huge family reunion, which the guide had never seen before! They ran to each other and basically started what we would call hugging ! I hope the video came out - should be fantastic! In this camp, we also saw zillions of zebras, hippos in their pool, and beautiful birds ( in both camps). The food and accommodations in both places was fabulous, and we made fast friends with the staff in both camps! Then to Jo-burg overnight for a next day tour of the Apartheid Museum which was really informative and fabulous. A quick tour of Soweto followed - you should only see how the other half lives.... - followed by a place ride to George, whence we have started our drive down the Garden Route. Let me add that we have been on every kind of flying machine - from the 747 that got us here, to helicopters, 12-seaters - and 6-seaters - to get us to the camps! Totally exciting! So - on the Garden Tour, yesterday we did a hike that we were stupid enough/lucky enough to have survived! Actually the concierge did not tell us that we would be climbing up a rocky mountain overlooking the Indian Ocean where we had to actually crawl up the rocks - to say nothing of the experience coming down.... Well, I'm writing you , aren't I??? It was totally beautiful scenery if you weren't too terrified to look down from heaven any time the terrain flattened out.... We changed tns from Plettenberg to Knysna - we watched the world's highest bunge jum p site! Today we are the Pezula Resort. Our suite is large and opulent, overlooking the championship golf course on one side ( tho we are not playing) and the Indain Ocean on the other.We went for a 1-hour gruelling hike this a.m. - but it was thru a forest with no cliffs -then we were taken to a castle on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Dipped my feet in the beautiful, not too cold, but very clean ocean, and then went canoeing down the Noetze river for 1 hour which was totally delightful! Relaxed and had a massage ( what a treat- my legs were crying!) and now getting ready for dinner at this resort. What a gorgeous place! Tomorrow we start a 5-hour drive down the Garden Route to Franchooek - which is the wine country - we will be stopping at a few places along the way ( not sure what they are) So sorry I can't include some photos in this blog, but don't a) have the camera cable with me and b) wouldn't have a clue how to do it! Hope you are all well and that you're all caught up now Having a wonderful time! Anne