The Thrifty Travelers

Okay, the cold front moved in last night and it is ridiculously cold today! The temperature is in the teens and on the way to Kruger National Park, we have a flat tire. So, we have to stand outside and wait for the tire change in freezing weather. Just to let you know....there are no heaters on this transport, just flaps coming down to block out the wind. We get a late start on the safari, but we are meant to be there from opening till around 5pm, so it will be a long day. About 30 minutes in the park, we get to see lions eating prey, zebras, giraffes, crocodiles....but it is cold! We are wearing multiple layers and the only saving grace is that we are each given blankets that we can wrap around ourselves...without it, I don't know how I would have survived. Juliana sits in front of me and gets the brunt of the wind along with Joseph and Brandi. We stop for lunch in the park and then continue seeing animals till around 5pm. We are then brought back to the lodge and given an ...

Today is the first day of our Safari. We are taken from Waybury House at 5:00am. Let me tell you something, when on vacation, you don't want to wake up early. We end up riding in a large van (a little more leg room would help) with 2 Aussies backpacking through the World Cup. They are pretty cool and we have some good conversations. We make our way up, making several stops, and transfer into a new vehicle with our caretaker, Wayne. He tells us about what to expect and that we will be going on a game drive at a private reserve in the afternoon. The private game reserve has the Big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and water buffalo) and that we would be riding in open vehicles (no roof). We arrive at Thornhill Bush Lodge, given some juice on arriving and shown to our rooms. The rooms were really nice and contemporary....as Juliana stated a "Spa Safari." After an hour break, we head to the game drive at Thornybush Reserve and had a great time! It is very rare to ...