South Africa 2010

06:00 is just as early in SA as in the rest of the world
. No over-sleeping this time. Getting up early gives a better chance of seeing more animals along the way. Early morning and afternoons are good, seeing that most of the wildlife hides from the heat when the sun scorches at its worst. The trip went to Olifant, a camp in the north of Kruger. On the 3 hour drive there we stopped at a lot of attractions and saw packs of elephants, zebras, antelopes and impalas. We were lucky enough to get a somewhat close encounter with some black rhinos as well.

At Olifant we had breakfast at a camp called something Tree, which had a great view out on the steppes. Heading back we encountered more wildlife, took a million pictures, and finally got a glimpse of some lions resting under a tree. We could only get a good look through binoculars, but we made it count on our “big five” to watch list. We now had Rhino, Elephant, Bull and lion, only missing the Cheeta (Damn you cheeta with your superior camoflague and covert stealth skills!).

Back at the camp we had some time to relax. A short trip to the gift-shop was prolonged by meeting a overly-excited trainee that was overly-fascinated by our group (norwegianvietnameese-dutch-russian travelers) and discussed the soap opera “The bold and the beautiful” with Thinh. After some russian language 101, we finally managed to sneak away. The following hour got spent evenly split up between guys relaxing in the sun  with beer, and the girls enjoying a swim at the pool.

The second part of the day was spent  traveling east in the park, visiting some other well know lookout-points, along with more  animal-sightseeing. The Temperatures never were too hot, and the humidity was a lot lower than what we expected
. We saw a lot of the same animals that we did before, but in alternative settings and quantities. We finally gave up on observing a baboon holding up a lion baby on a cliff
. The trip was much shorter than the first, and we arrived back at campsite around 18. The original plan was to eat at the buffet again, but we convinced the guide to show us a traditional Braai instead. The shop inside the camp had everything we need, including but far from limited to, Kudu-sausage and Wildebeest steak. Black wildebeest & bacon shish kebab? sure! They even had their own take on the disposable grill, called a Braai-box (though you need your own grill). The concept is easy; coal wrapped in newspaper, contained in a wooden box. Place on grill, light on fire, and wait 30 minutes for the coal to reach optimal temperature.

Taking everything back to the bungalows, we prepared everything and waited patiently to test our Braai-skills. Thinh apparently has meat-flipping in his genes, because he was working that meat as a pro

. Meat, vegetables, bread and sauce. Add good company, and you’re all set. Everything tasted great, and we got a little progress on the whole “Eat one of every animal in the world” project. Braai equals social cuisine, so we enjoyed our feast for some hours before going to bed. We were again aiming for a 6 am departure, so the lion should sleep. tonight

. (You are now singing “a wimmawe a wimmawe” in your head).