Day 9

Miss Rhead writes...

This morning we checked out of the Best Western Cape Suites, and had a three hour coach trip to our Safari location. On arrival we tucked into a hot and cold buffet for lunch before having an hour to ourselves; swimming, sunbathing, reading and relaxing by the pool. Then, more food in the form of a snack and hot drink before heading out for our evening safari. We were split across three jeeps - so we had slightly different experiences. I was with nine Clayesmore boys and our first stop was the lion enclosure. The reserve currently has three lions, two female and one male, who were all rescued about 12 years ago. They are approximately twenty years old. Lions are incredibly lazy animals - resting / sleeping for about 22 hours a day and are most active at night. The fact that the lions were rescued as cubs and didn't learn to live properly in the wild means they have to be kept separately.

We then headed through another set of electric gates into the main reserve, where conditions are as naturally occurring as possible and the different breeds co-exist. Due to the current drought conditions here, some food and water is provided to ensure the animals' needs are met, but there are also natural food sources that the animals can choose if they prefer. Our next sighting was a lone female giraffe, identified as female by the blacks pom-poms on the top of her horns. This was followed by some oryx and springboks sharing the same area. Then we headed towards the zebra that we had spotted from afar, it was interesting to learn that the Wildebeast rely on the zebra to protect them because of their acute senses. In the wild, they would sound a warning alarm and all the animals would scatter.

Our guide was incredibly patient, and knowledgeable, taking the time to answer all of our questions - however random. She was also keeping an eye on the time, so we saw the rhinos briefly from afar but we hope to get closer to them tomorrow. We needed to get to the daily cheetah run, where they are rehabilitating several animals, by encouraging them to chase a white cloth, after which they are rewarded with their chicken dinner. The cheetahs seemed a bit lack lustre on their first attempt, strolling past us at a leisurely pace. The cloth was reset, so that we could witness their amazing athleticism first hand.

Our final viewing tonight, on the way back to the accommodation, was to the man made lake in the hope that we might catch sight of the hippos. Luck wasn't on our side, although one of the other two groups did persevere and was successful. We hope to see them in the morning, when we also hope to see elephants.

Dinner was a feast! Spicy butternut soup to thaw us out after the drive, mussel salad, then a choice of either lamb chops or kingklip (a type of fish) and rounded off with lemon meringue pie. All three courses were delicious!

Our final evening gathering was around the Fire Pit where the players all voted for their players' player and Theo distributed the "secret Santa" gifts that were mainly purchased in the township craft market.