And then there were two. . . .

Ryan arrived in South Africa early Saturday morning and I soon joined him for our flight to Nelspruit! The flight was nice and short followed by a 2 hour drives to the resort. A few bumpy roads along the way, but a lot of beautiful scenery to keep us entertained. Upon arrival the lodge receptionist was more than welcoming. Fresh tea (AMAZING) and cold wet towels to “cool” us off were promptly offered. We then made our way to our room- wow! Probably the nicest and most beautiful place we have, or ever will stay, in our lives. We even had monkeys greeting us along the path to our suite!

We went on a safari drive last evening. Ryan was quite a trooper despite his long trip! Elephants, giraffe, rhinos, lions, antelopes, monkeys, buffalos, a leopard, and a serval- all within 4 hours of our stay! Luckily, nothing charged toward us. It is actually kind of amazing how at ease the animals are with the jeeps. I think there is some kind of system of respect in place. If we only look and leave them alone, they will do the same.

Of note- while we were looking at the elephants, we got a call that someone had spotted a leopard. As seeing a leopard was apparently crucial to our experience here, the driver then zoomed through the jungle to reach the leopard before he disappeared. A road block along the way- a giraffe- was not going to stop us! Ryan and I were in the back of the jeep, so the bumps were less than ideal. The fact that this stomach bug I have been fighting was still in action, didn’t help

Luckily we stopped about 2/3 of the way through for cocktails and snacks. Nothing like a gin and tonic in the middle of the jungle. By then I wasn’t feeling so well anymore so I laid in the jeep and gazed up at the stars as the driver gave everyone some astronomy lessons. Unlike in Houston, we were able to see Venus, Mars, and even Saturn! Pretty phenomenal. I look forward to the experience tonight as I am feeling better today.

We skipped the morning drive to sleep in. I think it did us both some good. Then we enjoyed some breakfast on the patio followed by a drive to see the hippos. However, we were unable to see them since a herd of elephants was headed that way. Hopefully we will have a chance later this evening.

So great to have my favorite person with me! We can already tell that this is going to be an amazing vacation!

**Having trouble uploading pictures!  There will be plenty more to share when we go home!  Here are 4 of the 270 we have taken so far!