First Game Drive

Today we went on two game drives. The first one we went on went out at 7:10am. You may not believe this, but I may have gotten frostbite in Africa while on Safari. Okay, maybe not, but it was around 32-40 degrees when we left. To battle this, I wore a long sleeve shirt, a long sleeve layering shirt, my Notre Dame fleece, and my raincoat. Apparently I should’ve packed my down coat. Luckily, the Land Rovers we were in came with blankets and hand warmers. I felt just like Brett Favre… on a safari… and maybe not as wishy-washy on my future, but I digress.

Anyway, we hit the road at 7:10 am, and for a while, animal sightings were slim pickings. We finally saw our first animal, an antelope of some kind (name is escaping me), around 7:40am. Soon after this, we realize that the early morning drive was worth it.

Around 8am, we found two cheetahs. They are two brothers who work together and maintain a large territory. We got a lot of pictures of them, as they kept walking near the Land Rover. We mostly watched them walk around and mark their territory, although our tour guide told us that they were hungry as they kept looking around, sniffing the air. He told us that the wind was making it hard for them to find a scent, hence their constant surveillance. We stayed with the cheetahs for almost thirty minutes, just watching them be cheetahs.

After we left the cheetahs, we drove around for a bit and saw a menagerie of other animals. We saw warthogs, some different birds, some zebras, and giraffes. I really enjoyed seeing the zebras. I’ve never really noticed how much the resemble donkeys or asses more so than horses, but all the same, they are beautiful animals. I was also thrilled to see more giraffes, as my camera was dead when we saw them the night before. This time, I got plenty of pictures of them, even practicing some different photography effects on them (see the sepia shot, that I might frame when I get home). Later on, we saw some ostriches, more warthogs, and some black wildebeest.

After our game drive was over, we made our way back to the Melton Manor to eat and pack up. Due to a scheduling conflict, we had to stay one night in the Manor, instead of two consecutive nights in Ecca Lodge. I have to say they are both the most extravagant hotels/lodgings I have ever been to. I hope my pictures do justice to the awesome-ness that is this place. So everyone, this is the update for my first game drive of the day, haha. Now go read my second update!