Safari to Final Stop, Cape Town, South Africa

It seems like we have been on the road for weeks or longer, but it has only been two weeks today. A lot has happened and we will never know the impact on students lives across the globe. According to the blog, there is no shortage of enthusiasm and excitement for what the students have experienced so far.
The SAFARI was very relaxing and refreshing, even if we had to get up before dawn for the sunrise trip. The BIG FIVE is always the goal on the safari's, and we did get to see them all. They split us into three trucks of about 8 persons each...and we seemed to have the most sightings of any of the Big Five. The Big Five for those who may not know are; Elephant, Lion, Cape Buffalo, Rhinocerous & Leopard. The leopard & lion being the hardest apparently. We also saw many of the other favorites as well, mine the Hyenna. We saw plenty of monkeys, baboons, deer/antelope, crocodiles, giraffe's and others. The rules of the safari are clear. We drive mostly on dirt roads looking for sightings. You can NEVER get out of the vehicle or even have your arms dangling out of the vehicle. Some of the animals have gotten use to vehicles and see them as an inanimate object and do not regard them as anything. However, when they see a person, it is a different story. They become very agitated and aggressive for the most part.

To view what it really like, animals that do not care about vehicles and how they hunt and walk right by the vehicles: Go to You Tube and watch this Video that a tourist made that National Gepgraphic has made into a show: Type in "Kruger Battle" and be amazed!

We saw that in two experiences. We were parked at a clearing with a small stream in front of us and a female lioness across the way and there was a foreign couple of guys next door outside their vehicle changing a tire. The female lion became very agitated as she intently watched them. Our guid said she was becoming very agitated and could be across the stream in a couple seconds.
The second time was at the lone spot where we could get out of the vehicle where there were hugr rocks and a plaque where the park, Kruger National Park, was dedicated. We were taking some photos and had been there about 10 minutes when as we were taking pictures a young female elephant approached and came right for us. The guides got us into the vehicles quickly and the elephant moved right to the spot we were and stood there like she was saying get out of here, this is my place.
Anyway, we saw a severl lions that had made a kill the day before and was tearing the skin from a huge buffalo. The lioness had two cubs and we finally saw the huge male laying down in the background sleeping. He was huge. We saw plenty of elephants, all up close and personal. The rhinos were seen late at night after sunset and right in the road in front of us. The leopards were the toughest and most exciting to see. Our truck got to see them twice up close and personal due to good eyes in the truck. We called the other trucks, but it seemed like they always arrived a little late. As you can tell it was very exciting and relaxing to be able to unwind a little bit to get ready for the last event in Cape Town.
It has been a thrilling ride thus far and knowing that God is working in His own way and time is rewarding enough. Well, we have arrived in Cape Town and have a couple days here to get ready for last event and then 1 day afterwards to recover before I head home via Amsterdam to Houston.