Safari in Sibuya

Justin and I headed out fairly early in order to get to our Safari in time. Be arrived at the Sibuya Game Reserve reception area around 11:40am and checked in. It turned out that we were the ONLY guests for the night! Our guide, Tyron, met us at the reception house, took our bags and lead us down to the river where we boarded a small boat and headed up a beautiful blue river to the game lodge. We had a beautiful sunny day and as it turned out, our second day was just as glorious!

It took about 20 minute to get to our lodge. We were shown to our "tent" and given a time to meet our

guide in the main lodge area for lunch. Our tent was on a low platform, with wood floors, tented side and roof, with a massive

bathroom area. There was an actual roof built above the tent. We had a small deck out front as well.

After lunch we had a few minutes to change before it was time to head out on our first game drive.

We changed into some warmer clothes and took a

peak at the riverbank that was next to our tent. Across the river we actually saw a Rhino! Then a

few minutes later an Elephant! It was very cool. Our guide was very surprised we were able to see them, but then it made his life easier because he knew where to start our safari.

We went on two game drives while we were there, one that first afternoon that went until a bit after dark and one the following morning before breakfast. We saw so many things like rhino, elephant, giraffe, monkeys, kingfishers, gray herons, cape buffalo, antelope of a million different flavors (nyala, kudu, impala, bush backs and more), as well as wildebeests,

lions, cheetah and such. The terrain was so cool, sometimes open plains with a few low shrubs,

sometimes medium height shrubs very close together and sometimes a mix of grass and shrubs with small muddy watering holes. It was actually much greener than I imagined it would be. Our truck took a beating and was an animal when climbing all sorts of terrain, the ride was half the fun! It was really neat seeing the animals in their own habitat, the different types of antelope together in one plain, or wildebeest who thinks himself to be a cape buffalo.

The only thing we didn't get to do was get Justin fishing

in the river for a little while, the guide, who turned out to be an avid fisherman himself, was not informed that Justin wanted to get some time fishing and was therefor not prepared. Add it to our... for next time... list!

We are back in PE now with Bec and her friends. We had some dinner and mojitos a little bit ago and are now deciding what to do. We may lay low tonight and watch a movie. Tomorrow we may hit the beach! We have surprisingly gotten very little sun since we have been here, even though we have had glorious weather. I think because it is only hot for a few hours in the middle of the day now, SA is heading into its winter months.

Our trip is winding down but we are still having a blast. We love it here and definitely definitely want to return. It is so fun to see where Bec has been living. Her friends all seem really fun and come from all over. The dialects and backgrounds are so diverse, its so fun!

Tootles from PE.