The Amazing Parts of Africa..............

What an amazing weekend! We traveled one hour east of Port Elizabeth to The Lalibela Lodge. Once you arrive you are directed to the welcoming lodge, were you are greeted by two workers who escort you out of your car and take your luggage. We assumed that we were at our lodge, but realized that we had to go on a 25 min. open jeep ride to get to our lodge in the bush! The bush is what the wilderness is called in Africa! After driving past hippos and giraffe we arrived - Amazing, something out of a magazine! http://www.lalibela.co.za/

Upon arrival at our lodge we are greeted once again and given a tour of our surroundings. You enter into a bar, and then go downstairs into the public areas. There is an outdoor eating area with a fire pit, and an indoor eating area with a lounge and fireplace. There are two pools, one is close to the lodge and the other is surrounded by decking that is next to the watering hole for any wild animals, mostly the elephants.

Our room was an individual lodge with a king size bed, three small beds, and a bathroom. No TVs or cell reception in the bush! Our deck overlooked the bush.

Now for the best part, after arriving and settling in we had high tea at 3:30, and our first game drive started at 4 and lasted until 8pm. We drove in an open jeep like vehicle that had three rows of open seating in the back and we were driven by our game ranger, Geoff. He was extremely knowledgeable about all of the animals. This reserve has all of the "Big Five" and all animals roam freely and are not separated from their predators. The first animals we saw were the elephants and their babies. We were so close you could see the wrinkles in their skin. We saw so many different animals on this game drive: rhinos, giraffe (they stayed closest to the entrance of the lodge), hippos, impala, spring buck, zebra, meerkats,buffalo,warthogs, and many more. I will say the zebras are my favorite, they are so amazing-we even saw one of their babies! Half way through the game drive, we stopped and had drinks and snacks, wine and beer provided. The rhinos were pretty cool and came so close we could have touched them.There was a 1 year old rhino named JJ that the boys liked! After the game drive is over you are taken back to the lodge were a full course meal is served. The next day started with a wake up call at 5am, and a light breakfast was served and we were off for our second four hour game drive. This time we saw the cheetah and her three cubs that were 1 yr old. We saw more of the same, we kept trying to find the lion, but they were hiding from us. After that game drive, we again were welcomed back for a full course brunch, the food was amazing. This was by far one of my most favorite things that I have ever done, and I can say my boys were in shock. This is the part of my new life that I am enjoying, being able to experience things that you only read about or see on TV, and to be able to give this gift to my children, Amazing! This alone is why you should come visit us!

Some funnys...... We went to a Braii the other night with GM people, and we were talking cars(imagine) and the Cadillac Srx got brought up. Well, this is the car I drove before we moved and has become my alltime favorite. Some ladies were currently driving one and I said Oh, I wish I still had mine, and they said "Take It!"-ofcourse I wondered why one could not like that kind of luxury, well they look JUST like the hurses do here! They say that people give them the worst looks!!!!!!
A common saying amoung south africans is "shame" meaning "thats too bad" or "Im sorry". Well, we laugh because every conversation I have with someone here that phrase is brought up-is this good?
On the way home from a wonderful safari, we wandered into a local town nearby and ended up in a not so great place(shame!), well we looked on the side of the road and there were two cows just hanging out. There is always something to keep you on your toes!