Day 9 – Little 5 / Day 10 Sala Kahle
Internet in the wild doesn’t always work so this a double day post.
Day 9 started with tea and our morning game drive. It was a little chilly this morning so we didn’t see as many animals as the day before. Our ranger and tracker tried really hard to find us a rhino but no luck. It was still an amazing drive but I could have done without the spiders. As we drove down some paths it was clear we were the first truck to go down certain ones since we were riding through the large webs that went from one side of the path to the other. It was a bit scary but our ranger and tracker took good care of us. We headed back for breakfast and then it was time for the one thing on the adventure I really wasn’t looking forward to – the reptile and bug demonstration. I have to admit I am glad I went. The speaker was very passionate about snakes. He made me realize that snakes are not as scary as I used to think. Snakes really don’t want to bite people its people that cause the snakes to bite.
After that it was about time for lunch and then I was headed to the spa. I had a wonderful hot stone massage which was a nice to have at just about the end of the trip. The wellness center at Kampana is beautiful with its own private pool just for adults.
I went from my spa appointment to afternoon tea and then back out for another game drive. We were still searching for that rhino with no luck. We did see a lot of other animals though including some that we hadn’t seen yet like the wildebeest. Sadly after the game drive it was time for our farewell dinner. It was an amazing dinner with some great music and dance. The night ended with a powerpoint show of some of the photos taken during the adventure. Since the trip isn’t exactly over yet it wasn’t too sad. We still have one more game drive in the morning followed by breakfast and sort of mini game drive back to the airport. We are all flying to Johannesburg so we will officially say goodbye to everyone then.
Day 10 – our last morning’s game drive was a success – we finally found a rhino! Not just 1 but 2, just hanging out as we drove past and put on the brakes to back up and get a good look. It was bittersweet since we also knew this was the last time we would be driving the trails of Kapama. The game drives were the Africa I had pictured when I thought of going to Africa and they even surpassed my expectations. It was just so amazing to be driving around and be a part of the animal’s world. It was sad to hear how people poach the rhinos and some even found a way onto the preserve and killed one. They only want the horn so these poor animals die for no good reason. I hope that they can put a stop to the poaching so we don’t lose these magnificent animals for good.
After our game drive it was time to have breakfast and pack up. We headed back to the airport which is sort of a mini game drive. We had a giraffe say good bye to us as we left which was very cool. Due to flight issues we needed to add an extra day in Johannesburg. This is not normally part of the Adventure but Disney found us a great hotel to spend the night at and tomorrow we will do a short city tour. I don’t think I will have internet again until I get back to Florida. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventure and I will post a wrap up when I am back in Florida. I can say for sure that I won’t be able to travel any other way than Adventures by Disney from now on! I just wish I could take our guides Chris and Craig with me on each Adventure. They are the best guides and make a great team!
Sala Kahle (pronounced say-lah kaw-lee) which means good bye or go well.

South Africa Adventure – Day 8
Today’s theme was the Big Five and our morning game drive started off with the king of the 5 walking right out in front of our truck. It was a male about 3 years old according to our ranger, Janco. He walked right up to our truck and right past us like he could care less that we were there. It was so amazing. After watching him for a bit we were off to see what else we could find and we even luckier to find a couple lionesses and their cubs hiding out. There were not easy to see since they are very good at hiding but our ranger did a super job of getting us pretty close.
After the lions we ran into a pretty big herd of elephants. There were elephants of all sizes even a very small baby that our ranger said looked to be about a week old. It pretty much stayed under its mom so it was hard to get a good look. While we were watching one elephant eat some leaves he decided that the leaves were too high so he started to knock the tree down and it was coming right at our truck. Good thing our ranger has quick reflexes and started the truck up and backed us out pretty quick.
By this point I think we were all just in awe and it was not even 7 am yet! We had now seen 3 of the big 5 – Lion, Elephant, and Buffalo. We are still hoping to catch site of a rhino and leopard. Some of the other trucks said they saw rhino but so far no one has seen a leopard.
After the morning game drive we returned to the lodge for breakfast – it was hard to believe it was only breakfast time. After breakfast we had a wonderful demonstration by Trompie. He showed us archery and blow darts. I was picked to be his example and he said no matter what he could teach anyone to shot an arrow with less than 5 attempts. He was an excellent teacher because I was able to hit the yellow bullseye on my second try! Archery is something I always wanted to try so it was so cool to be able to get to do that! There was also a beading demonstration by Motsatsi and we could all make a beaded necklace or bracelet. I never knew how big beading was in Africa.
We had lunch and some time to relax before our evening game drive. We were lucky again tonight and found 2 sleepy cheetahs! This was perfect since the junior adventures were watching Disney’s African Cats after dinner. The evening game drives are a lot of fun even if we don’t see anthing. Before it got dark our ranger drove us over to the river area and showed us all the damage done by the recent flooding. It was scary to see how much damage rain could do.
Today word of the day is Boma – which most Disney World people have heard before but did you know that it comes from Swahili and means an enclosure normally used for livestock. Kind of funny that we know it as a place to eat and that doesn’t only apply to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge because here at the Kampana River Lodge we dined in the Rhino Boma tonight. It was another wonderful meal complete with bon fire. After dinner I snuck down into the snake pit with the junior adventures to watch the movie. It was a great way to end another great day!

Masambene! That means let’s move. Our guide Craig says this word quite often but i thoguht it was most appropriate today since it’s finally time to move to our last location and go on Safari! This morning we were up bright and early to say good bye to Knysna and head back to the George airport to fly to Kapama Game reserve. When we arrived it finally felt like we were in the Africa I had pictured. The airport was pretty much a runway and a small building. We walked out the back door to find our wheels for the next few days waiting for us. These open air jeeps would be what we will be riding in for the next few mornings and evenings as we search for all the animals we can find. The ride from the airport into the game reserve and up to the lodge was almost like a mini safari. Within seconds we made our first sighting and it was a kudu. Our excitement got the best of us and we did let a couple squeals which scared it off pretty quick. We did learn that from here on out we need to keep quiet so as not to frighten the animals.
We arrived at the River Lodge fueled up with some lunch and then found our rooms. After a quick cool down it was time to head out for our first real safari. It was almost sunset so the heat from earlier had subsided and ride was very comfortable. We were able to spot quite a few animals and some even got very close to our jeep. We saw giraffes, zebras, cape buffalo, hippos, warthogs , hornbills, and a few I already forgot. I have taken a picture of each animal we find but I guess I better start writing these down as we see them tomorrow. After a few hours of the game drive we found ourselves pulling up to a nice bon fire where tables were all set for up to have dinner right there out on the game preserve! Dinner was a braai (pronounced bry), which is Afrikaans for barbecue. It was amazing to be eating out on the preserve and looking up to see all the stars. Of course a dinner by a bon fire would not be complete without smores!
Now it is off to sleep so we can get a nice early start at 6 am tomorrow to see what other animals we can find!
PS – The internet out here on the preserve is very very slow so you might have to wait until I get back to civilization in a few days to see photos added. I will try getting at least one or 2 here now but will add more later.

Today was totally bakgat (pronounced buck-ghut) that means cool or awesome in Afrikaans. We started with a ferry ride across the Knsyna Lagoon to Featherbed Nature Reserve. We rode Unimogs up to the top of the cliff and then hiked back down, stopping for some breathtaking views! Once back at the Pezula resort I was able to squeeze in a quick horseback ride around the parts of the resort. This was not part of the adventure but it was one of many activities the resort offered and i just had to do it.
Then it was finally time to meet one of the big 5. Not only did we get to see elephants we got to feed them and then walk in a field with them and touch them. It really was just amazing to be walking around freely with these big animals. We then walked just a few steps to enjoy our wonderful dinner.
Tomorrow we say good bye to Knysna and head to the main event – Kapama Game Reserve. The game drive begins the moment we drive out of the airport. I cannot wait to see what animals we will catch a glimpse of!

The Garden Route
Today we were up at 4:30 am to say good bye to Cape Town and head to the airport and fly to Knsyna. Cape Town was a beautiful city and I am so glad I had the opportunity to visit it and soak up some of the culture. Our next stop is Knysna on the Garden Route. This was like going out to the country compared to Cape Town. It was a quick 45 minute flight but it would have been an all day drive so I don’t mind that we had to be up so early if it meant not spending a whole day on a bus.
When I used to picture Africa in my head I thought of the flat savannas and so far we haven’t gotten to that part. Instead we have seen the vibrant waterfront and city of Cape Town which was bordered with rocky looking mountains. Now we are out in garden country where there are green covered mountains everywhere. Today we went a little bananas at Monkeyland and then watched the birds soar at the world’s largest free flight sanctuary.
After some lunch we headed to our new home for 2 nights – the Pezula resort. All I can say is – OH MY GUIDES! This resort is just A-Mazing! We don’t just have rooms we have suites that even have a fireplace. This resort also has its own small castle that we were able to tour. We are only half way through our Adventure and I am already totally spoiled! I know that I will never be able to travel any other way than Adventures by Disney!

South Africa Adventure Day 4
Today started off with a drive to Stellenbosch, which is South Africa’s second oldest city and also known as the wine capital. It is a very cute town with lots of Cape Dutch cottages. First we had a hands on cooking class and made Koeksister (pronounced cook-sister), and that was also our word of the day. A Koeksister is a pastry sort of like a doughnut dipped in syrup. We then got to work off our Koeksister with a bike ride to our lunch location. Our lunch was at Moyo in the Spier Wine Estate, a fun place where we almost felt like we were eating in a treehouse. After lunch there were 2 choices – wine tasting or an eagle encounter. I am not big on wine so I chose the eagles and I am glad I did. It was a nice presentation where were we had a couple owls land on us and got up close with a couple vultures.
Compared to yesterday today was relaxing, of course that is also partly because we will be saying good bye to Cape Town bright and early tomorrow morning. We are headed to the airport at 5:30 am to make our way to Knysna (pronounced nize-nuh). Adventures by Disney is the only tour that flies to Knysna, others go by motorcoach and waste a whole day driving.