When we got back to the lodge, I took a walk around the property. I had been there for about two days and had not explored the lodge. I then had lunch, again with my computer. My plan was to take pictures of the buffet but for the first time there was no buffet. I ordered the Eland Steak off of a 3 choice menu. I chilled by the viewing area for about a half hour until about 2:30 when I had my massage scheduled. (I ordered the most basic massage they offered: 30 minutes of back neck and shoulders). The massage was actually kind of painful. Apparently I have some knots in my lower neck that I was not aware of. After the massage, I had a fairly involved conversation with my therapist (a women from Cape Town in her mid-20’s) about what I was doing as a volunteer and the state of South Africa, in terms of race and class.
I skipped the afternoon snack and by 4o’clock I was ready to go on the third and final evening game drive. Our goal now was to head over towards the hippo - there is only one residing in Sabi Sabi at the moment - and try and spot some elephants and lions along the way. About 20 minutes into the drive, we came across another lone elephant. He was much smaller than the first one but nearly as entertaining. We spent a good half hour with him, watching him pull down branches and such. He didn’t seem to mind us there but he did get about 20 yards from the car and for an elephant that was pretty close. While he stuck around feeding, we had to find the hippo before we lost sunlight. After searching for him for a while we saw a glimpse of him just as he was walking into the thick bush. We only got to see his back for about 3 seconds from about 50 yards away but we saw him.
Now, with the hippo gone, Ben decided to see if we could find the lionesses that were spotted in the morning not to far from where we were. Jack earned his money on this one. There were a lot of conflicting lion tracks but Jack seemed to be fairly confident as he lead Ben off road (the first time we had been off road) and into some high grass. We waited there for about two or three minutes, sitting in silence all straining to find evidence of the lion. Jack suddenly pointed and said he saw something. We drove over to where he pointed and waited. Moments later, a lioness picked up her head about 10 yards away from us. She was on a hill so we were at the same eye level and it was much more intense then the guys we saw earlier in the day. She was also more active. It appeared that she had just woken up from her nap as she was cleaning herself and yawning. When it yawned, we saw all if its razor-sharp teeth and even I was a little shaken that we were this close after seeing that. She began to make a “calling call” trying to find where the other lions were in her vicinity. She let out a very low and raspy noise that, according to Ben, could travel several kilometers. After doing this a number of times, she got up and walked right passed us and went into very tall grass. As we went to follow her, we noticed that she was not alone. Another lioness was with her behind some vegetation. After about a minute or so, she also got up and followed her into the high grass.
At this point the sun had almost completely disappeared. We brought out the high-powered flashlights and went to the other side of the grass where they would hopefully pop out. Sure enough they walked out of the grass, right passed us, and began walking on roads. We followed them for at least 45 minutes to see if they would meet up with other lions or, better yet, begin hunting. Sadly, they decided to lie down about 30 meters off the road and wait for the other lions to come to them. We did not have time to sit with them as it was already about 8:30 and it would take us 45 minutes to get back.
I took a shower after when we arrived and as I opened the shower door I saw my little friend again. This time he was on the floor by the sink. It was fun watching him hop around but I couldn’t let him stay as I was going to bed soon and I was not about to have him stay the night. I called the front desk and they sent someone to get the frog outside. After the frog was successfully placed in the grass, I walked to dinner. I brought my camera to dinner, hoping to get a shot of the buffet but once again the chef decided on a short menu. The chef also decided that we would eat outside. We had been eating in the dining room until then because of the weather. It was a different experience as we ate under candlelight and a roaring fire. I had pan crusted fish (I don’t remember what kind of fish but it was a steaky, and white.) It was delicious. After the family went to sleep, Ben and I finished our nightly conversation and I went out to the viewing deck. I was there alone and had a peaceful half hour writing and watching.
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