Day 10: Singata Sweni (Kruger National Park)

Day 10:  Singata Sweni (Kruger National Park)

I actually woke up a couple of minutes before our wake up call at 5:30 AM.  I got dressed in my safari clothes and we waited for the hotel escort to walk us over to the main area for a light snack of OJ, tea and muffins.  While we were eating he heard a bunch of strange noises.  It ended up being a  bunch of Hippos hanging out in the water.  We loaded up the jeep around 6:15 AM.  They had the nice hot water bottles and blankets to keep us warm in the morning.  It was not long before we saw some Elephants, Zebras, Wildebeasts, Mongooses a Crocodile floating down a river and a bunch of Turtles hanging on the river bank.  We then started tracking a Rhino.  Exon (Our Tracker) got off the jeep with his machete and started tracking the Rhino on foot.  30 minutes later we saw Exon running across the bush and we picked him up.  We then headed north and saw the Rhino and 3 other Rhinos in one place (They are very skiddish and you can't get very close to them).  Around 10 AM we stopped for a 15 minute snack consisting of dried fruit, granola, muffins and drinks.  One of the unique drinks we tried was Amarula (a cream liqueur from South Africa).  I mixed it with Hot Chocolate and it was very tasty.  Solomon (The Driver) offered me the opportunity to sit in the tracker seat upfront.  It was a cool experience trying to spot for animals and point them out to everybody.  We got back to camp around 11 AM and they greeted us with cool, wet towels to clean our hands/faces from the bush along with a cold drink.  We went back to the room to change out of our safari clothes and put on shorts and a t-shirt before heading over to the main area to grab a snack.  I had some nice cured meats and a sparkling water.  We then walked over to a separate area where they had some shops where they sold mostly African wares/crafts.  There was also a spa/fitness area near the shops.  After we checked out the shops, we walked back to the main area of our Lodge and relaxed on the lounge chairs by the pool with Zack swam some laps.  It was a beautiful setting right along the river with Hippos hanging out in the water.  We were all comfortable so we decided to eat lunch by the pool.  I had some soft shell crabs and Omphsumpa??? (South African dish with beans, corn and spices that was very good).  We relaxed by the pool for awhile and then decided to go back to our room around 1:30 PM.  I laid down and took an hour nap before our afternoon adventure.  Woke up around 2:30 PM and suited back up in my safari clothes before heading over to the main area for High Tea.  I had some Biltong, Coke and a red velvet cupcake.  While Zack and I were waiting there before the afternoon safari, a bird flew over and pooped on me.  Zack watched the whole thing happen and laughed at me.  At 3:30 PM we loaded up the jeep for our afternoon safari. We saw Elephants, Rhinos, Impalas, Zebras, Wildebeests, Water Bucks, African Rabbit, Honey Badge, Civet and all sorts of Birds.  We stopped for our afternoon snack and had nuts, Biltong, potato chips and an alcoholic Apple Cider.  Solomon had a cool carrying case that he broke out with many little bottles of alcohol (like hotel frig sized ones).  We got back on the road and saw a Leopard laying in the bush within a few feet of us that had just eaten an Impala.  We watched the beautiful sunset and then it got dark out.  Exon was tracking using a flash light and somehow spotted a Chameleon up in a tree in the dark!  The stars in the sky were incredible and we could see the Southern Cross, Scorpion, Venus, Jupiter and the Milky way.  We got back to camp around 6:15 PM.  Since it was too early for dinner we went to the TV room and watched an animal show about the South Pacific while I enjoyed a nice cold beer.  For dinner, I had ordered a special meal so the Chef came out to discuss what I wanted in more detail.  I ended up ordering a Mussel, Calamari and Prawn seafood stew for dinner.  Since we still had time before dinner was ready, I ended up having another beer while we watched TV.  Once dinner was ready, we went inside and sat down to a great meal the Chef had prepared for me.  For dessert, I had three different scoops of sorbet (Berry, Mixed Fruit and Apple).  After dinner we were escorted back to the room around 9 PM.  When we got back, we showered up, got organized and laid down for bed around 10 PM and actually fell asleep around 10:30 PM.