What a Week!!

Hi!
We're now two weeks in, and if anything the 2nd week was better than the 1st! The two big highlights were having the herd of elephants walking right round our garden fence when it was dark - we followed them with torch light! and at last finding the lion cubs!! Hdre are the details with some photos - enjoy!

Day 8 – Saturday 10th April
Saturdays are ‘town days’ and today we went to Port Alfred and used the internet and went to the big supermarket. We also stopped for lunch at a local fish restaurant where the quality of food was really good, and the sticky toffee pudding seemed like such a luxury (it’s the first proper desert I’ve had since we got here!). The setting was great, sitting out on the bank of the Kariega River.
The afternoon was spent in the house as we don’t go out into the reserve on Saturdays, but we were still able to sit and watch a heard of impala and some kudo from the lounge!

Day 9 – Sunday 11th April
Today was a lovely relaxing day – sunbathing in the morning, a braai (or BBQ) at lunch time, which was accompanied by plenty of beer and wine which took ‘till the sun went down to finish off. And then the perfect end to the day - the elephants walked round the whole garden fence. By now it was dark and we followed them, no more than 20 meters away, with torch light. It was a truly memorable experience 

10 – Monday 12th April
This morning was a hard graft morning which started with cleaning the game drive vehicle and then 2 hours of pulling up non endemic plants. We also had a quick look for the lions before lunch but with no success! After lunch we again searched for the lions but saw the elephants first. As we headed off to the elephants the two lionesses and sub adult male lions appeared in front of us on the road. We all got some great photos of lion in the foreground and elephants in the back ground.
We then met the two new volunteers before heading back to decide what we would have for dinner!


Day 11 – Tuesday 13th April
Today was by far the hottest day so far – 37C! We spent the morning exploring the new side of the reserve, Harvestvale, for the first time. It was different vegetation and we saw the old farm buildings and hunting lodges. We also crossed the Kariega River on the most rickety bridge you have seen – it was basically made of chicken wire! We also had an excellent sighting of two giraffe who walked by right next to the car.
It was too hot to do anything like looking for animals after lunch so we spent the afternoon swimming in the Kariega River, but only after we had to jump from a 12 foot platform!
We had a special treat in the evening as we went to the lodge for dinner, which was outside in ‘The Boma’ – basically a meal cooked on the braai :D On the way we saw a cape cobra just a few meters from the house. Apparently it is the 2nd most deadly snake on the reserve!


Day 12 – Wednesday 14th April
This morning was our first visit to the local school. We split into two groups of four and taught two classes – I was with the younger children, while Anita was with the older class. It was a very rewarding experience, but I think we still have more to learn on how to teach them more effectively!
The afternoon was spent searching again for the lion cubs but without success before heading to Homewoods for pizza and beer!


Day 13 – Thursday 15th April
The hot snap is over! Today is overcast and much cooler (which is not a bad thing!). Jacques arrives as normal at 8am and tells us we are off to cut down pine trees, however, Jacques hears that there has been fresh lion track sightings and he has a ‘gut feel’ as to where they might be, so we drive in that direction. Jacques was right – there in front of us is the entire pride: two males, two lionesses, the sub adult male AND the four cubs. We spent until 10am following them.

After lunch we again found the lions and cubs and then headed off to find the elephants. We spent about half an hour watching them play and have fun. It seemed just about the perfect day – until we went to pull away, only to discover our front left tyre was completely flat!
As the elephants were only a few meters away from us we had to stay in the vehicle, which meant Jacques had to change the tyre alone! He managed it and we were soon on our way back to the house, on the way back we saw a really big female leopard tortoise who had just laid some eggs and was busy covering the nest.
We arrive just before it started to rain! It was however a perfect day!

Day 14 – Friday 16th April
It was another wet day today! Which seemed twice as bad as we were all up at 4:30am ready for a 5:15am game drive followed by a river safari – it was too wet for either so we stayed in the house watching various documentaries on African wildlife and playing a South African board game called 30 seconds.
We went to Homewoods for some lunch (my first South African steak and chips!) and tried for a game drive in the afternoon – we were out for about 45 minutes but it was far too slippy. The late afternoon and evening was spent playing pool and more 30 Seconds, which as with most board game and alcohol combinations ended in some ‘heated debates’ on the rules.