Safari and its a wrap

We got our safari in. The day dawned rain free in Pretoria. I checked the website for Pilanesberg Game Reserve and it said that it wasn't raining so we headed out for a day safari. Our friend Jason drove us there, almost 2 hours.

To paraphrase Garrison Keillor, it was a quiet day here in Pilanesberg. Wherever the lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants and rhinos were, they weren't out in the public sphere. We did see kudu, bush bucks, impalas, dik diks, giraffes, warthogs, hippos (at least the eyes and nostrils, they stayed in the water), dung beetles and a variety of birds. Loved the dung beetles, wherever there was a pile of elephant dung there on the road there were sure to be several beetles making balls out of the pile and rolling it off to their holes in the ground. I got a short video of one, it was great! They use their back legs to move it down the road. We tried not to run over them or the dung. Hey, these little guys are doing their part to clean up the road!

Then it rained. Ah yes, the forecast did call for rain later. We managed to make it to the main building where the gift shop, rest rooms and restaurant are located before it began in earnest. It was a serious lightning and thunder storm with gales a rain sweeping across the savana. We had a lunch there before heading back to Pretoria.

We outran the rain but it caught up with us when we arrived in Pretoria. Another thunder and lightning storm. Wanda and I wanted to take our friends out for supper, a small token of our appreciation for all they did for us but getting all nice and going out on the town seemed like too much work. They suggested ordering a pizza which we did. A quick stop at a local supermarket got us ice cream and chocolate sauce and pop and it was like old times (pizza, pop, ice cream). Good but not good for us. Ah well, I am promising myself a more Lenten-like diet when I get back to Addis . . .

Finally we started our packing for our Wednesday flight. All those beautiful bottles of wine we bought at the two wineries, Nederburg and Drostdy Hof? Time to pack in bubble wrap to try to get to Addis without breaking. We did lose one bottle on the way up and basically had to wash all the clothes in Wanda's suitcase. So let's try again . . .

It is Wednesday, travel day. One last trip to the supermarket to get some cheese and the like. Time to pack for Addis. By the end of the day, Lord willing, we'll get to see our lovely little ladies, Amani, Abby and Sophia.