Wow! An elephant!
After 5 hours of driving from Johannesburg, past places marked as “hi-jacking hotspots” and a lot of sights we didn’t know (Bourke’s Luck, The Three Rondavels and lots more) we arrived at the gates of the Balule Nature Reserve, where the Drifters Game Lodge, our accomodation for the next two days, is located.
After the gate, we continued for 20 minutes on a dirt track, and there we were picked up by a Land Cruiser (not a Land Rover, unfortunately) to drive another 20 minutes. Finally, we arrived at the Lodge, a beautiful camp of tents/huts set on the banks of a seasonal river. After a glass of delicious juice, a few minutes to relax and a little snack, we set off on our first Game Drive. This first day, we saw a young elephant, impalas, lots of birds and bugs, and a giraffe.
At sunset, we stopped to have “sundowners”–drinks at sunset. A very nice tradition, and a dangerous one if practiced in summertime Norway where sunsets can last four hours. In South Africa, sunset is practically lights-out in the course of 10 minutes…