23/01/19 This morning it is time to say goodbye
to our tour leader, our driver and our yellow truck.
Timan, the Kenyan driver will get in touch about my Kenya itinerary, as he
knows I don’t have any plans yet, so he said he will send me some
recommendations. How sweet of him!
Sean picked us up at 8am. On the way, we saw many people hanging at the back of
utes. Not very safe but that is how they do it here.
Pretoria has 2.2 million inhabitants, and is bigger than I expected.
We went to the Elephants park for 1h where we walked next to them and took many
pictures with them. We were allowed to touch them behind the ear and on the
shoulder. These elephants can be seen in a movie that just came out apparently.
Our next stop is the Lions park where we drove a little in safari mode to see
some lions, cheetahs, rhinos, wild dogs, ostriches and bushcows.
Lions can live up to 25 years in captivity, which is higher than in the wild,
and can run up to 70km/h.
Then we had a chance to get close to lions cubs for about 10 minutes. They were
asleep when we got to their enclosure so we had to wake them up. Their fur is
dry and hard and their paws and teeth are already really strong and powerful
but they still act as kittens. Jane who is an animal lover too was in heaven!
Then we entered the cheetah enclosure when one cheetah was lying in the shade.
We took photos for a minute then he got a bit upset and moved to the opposite
side of the enclosure. We could see on his face that he didn’t want to be
disturbed but his feeder kept saying it was ok. He had a few warning reactions
and we decided to let him rest to avoid any trouble. We know that visitors keep
queuing all day to have that one minute with the animals but I would also be
upset if people were trying to pet me all day long.
Next we had a chance to feed a giraffe, the only one who stayed close to the
fence. The other ones seemed to be overfed for the day and were laying under
the sun out of reach. This one was funny as you could only feed her on one
side. She would turn her head in a particular angle and open her mouth so you
can drop the pellets.
I wanted to check the meerkats but as we reached their enclosure it suddenly
started to rain heavily for 15 min so we ran to a covered area.
On the way out, you have to go through the souvenirs shop, which is made of 5
different buildings full of merchandising, clothes and all sorts of crafts ?.
On the road again we arrived at Manyane resort in Pilanesberg where luxury
tents were built up for us. Light, power and a real bed was waiting for us
inside. What a nice surprise after 10 days of camping?.
Well I took an upgrade or two when I had a chance, but it was nothing compared
to this tent!
The team cooked us bbq dinner after an evening game drive and we had a nice
warm shower before early bed time, as we will wake up early for a sunrise game
drive, better to spot the wildlife.
24/01/19 We left at 5.15am after a cup of coffee and went for a game drive. We
came back to camp for a shower and have proper breakkie and met 2 belgians
(Shirin and her husband (she is originally from Germany and him from Morocco).
We went for another game drive with them before we stopped for lunch at a
café/restaurant in the middle of the park.
We had a quick last drive before Sean dropped us at the airport where it was
time to say goodbye to Jane and Andrew who had their flight and where I met
with Muzi, a driver from Johannesburg’s hostel where I am staying for 1 night.
The hostel was not located in a great area but the dorm was clean and comfy,
and I had a chance to do some laundry, after 10 days of camping and before
joining the tour in Egypt it was perfect timing.
