The Krauska Family Blog

Our day started at 5:30am. They came to our door knocked to make sure we were awake. When we woke up, we got ready and then went to the main house for hot tea and biscuits. The biscuits were more like cookies, but it was defiantly nice to eat something before going on our safari! We then got in the truck and began our second game drive. This one was also private because we were still the only ones at the lodge. At first we weren’t seeing anything. We finally saw a few Impala, which they call the McDonald’s of the bush, because they are on every corner!

We then got to see giraffe. These animals are just so cool to see! We then heard over the radio that something had been spotted. They speak Shaangan and Zulu mixed with English so we didn’t know what they were saying. We just knew we were headed to see something! We made our way to a watering hole and got to see a Black Rhino. There are only 2500 of these left in the World and only about 20 in the area we were. So getting to see this guy was spectacular!

We then stopped for hot chocolate and cookie with the people at Billy’s Lodge and met another couple from Nebraska staying with them. After snacks, we saw more giraffe and zebra! We even got to see a baby zebra, it was so cute. We also got to see a big Warthog and then a family of Warthogs. Just before going back to the lodge we spotted a couple more white rhinos. It turned out to be a great morning!

We then came back to River Lodge to eat breakfast. We had some amazing homemade muffins, fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and toast! After breakfast, we walked around the resort and then took a nap. Once we woke up from our nap, I saw monkeys all around. They were skiddish at first but then would stick around for me to get a picture! I then went to one of the viewing areas and saw a elephant not too far off, so I went and woke Brandon up for him to see the elephant and monkeys! The other who would be staying at the lodge arrived shortly after we woke up. They are from St. Louis and brought their 7 and 9 year old daughters! Brandon went over to the bridge and while standing there a male elephant walked right under the bridge and was able to get some amazing shots. I stood by one of the suites after the elephant passed to watch him.

We then had lunch which was a salad and pasta with chicken. At 3:30pm, we left to go on our third safari. Not far into the trip, we saw an elephant and giraffe. We then went to Paradise, which was a lookout over the reserve. It was beautiful! Once we left there, we came up on 14 elephants in and across the road. We sat in our vehicle and watched them for quite some time! There were several babies, which were so cute and fun to see. One of the bigger elephants knocked over a tree and then began to eat the roots of the tree. Seeing the tree pushed over so easily was incredible and impressive on how strong these animals are. We also saw two white rhinos.

It was then time to stop for drinks and snacks. After that, we started our night time game drive and that was unsuccessful. So it was now time for dinner so we went back to the lodge and had ostrich steak, veggies, sweet potato and french fries for dinner. This was our first time to have ostrich and something completely out of our normal. It was good and then for dessert Brandon and I had a South African type of cake. We had an awesome day and are looking forward to tomorrow!