Game Drive. Lion Chow!

The game drive was great. We departed just before dusk. Our driver was a man named Andres. He would also be our driver as we went into Kruger as well. The drive began at the entrance to the fenced area to the lodge. Going outside this lodge without a guide being present was completely at your own risk. I was like you truly do not have to tell me this twice. We are inside and electric fenced compound for a reason. My mom didn't raise a fool.

As the drive began I wondered what type of creatures we would see. I was hoping for a couple of lions, a few giraffes and an elephant or rhino or two. Well lo and behold I was lucky that evening and I was able to get two out of the four. The first animal that we saw was a giraffe. The giraffe was just moseying along the path and looking for food. I was so close to it that I wanted to touch it to see if was real. As we continued on our drive it began to get darker and colder. We didn't see any animals for a few minutes when our driver gets a call on the radio that there had been a kill be prepared. I was thinking sweet this would make the impending darkness and cold worthwhile to be in. As we get closer to the kill we were cautioned as to not get out of the vehicle, make any sudden movements, talk, or use the flash on our cameras excessively as to not be eaten by the wildlife. With that said we rolled up in time to see two female lions and their cubs munching on a rather tasty looking zebra. The tiny little cubs looked so precious lounging and eating the zebra with their moms. I so wanted to hop out and cuddle them. However, let's just say I valued not being mauled to much to indulge in cuddling with them. We couldn't have been more that ten feet from the scene. You could hear the flesh being torn away and the bones being broken as they ate their fresh kill. It was fantastic to see. Mother nature at her best. We stayed there taking pictures as long as we could before the cubs began to get curious and come our way. Quickly getting out of there we headed back to the lodge to have dinner.

Dinner at the lodge each night was a three course meal. It consisted of a soup, an entree, and desert. I enjoyed the outside atmosphere in which we ate. There was a fire pit in the center. This served as a source of heat while we ate, a way to keep the soups warm and a braai for meat. The food was good especially the braai meat. I enjoyed the freshly made bread and muffins that we were served at breakfast and dinner everyday. I could get used to that. At breakfast we were told that we had to guard our food. This was to keep the little monkeys that lurked around the lodge from taking our food. Sling sots were at the table ready to be used to scare the little thieves away. Fortunately for us no one had their food taken.