There is a place that is just one step away from heaven in South Africa: Kichaka Luxury Lodge! It's hard to convey how special this place is with just words and pictures. It was amazing to go there again and soak in the beauty and the wonderful hospitality. There is nothing they won't do to make you comfortable and meet every need. I guess that's what 5 star resorts do so well to earn their stars! I can't even express how thankful I am for the opportunity to see God's creation up close like this. (Warning... LOTS of pictures, but only a fraction of the couple thousand that I took! You can click on any pictures to see it larger.)
We flew to Port Elizabeth on the east coast of Africa and then headed west about 90 minutes out a dirt road to the middle of nowhere.
I loved this cab that we saw at the airport... a perfect reminder!!
We pulled up to the gate and jumped out for a gazillion pictures in front of the sign and then we were in!
Jason and some lovely ladies were there to greet us with warm towels and refreshing drinks with delicious snacks laid out for us... just the beginning of being fed non-stop for 3 days!
Then we were off to settle into our own "little" bungalows... more like a thatch-roofed house I could live in!
The next morning a 5:15am wake up call summoned us to a continental breakfast and then we were off for our first safari (we returned about 10am for a full breakfast and then lunch and then snack and then more snack and then a huge dinner about 8pm!)
With our comfy ponchos and hot water bottles, we headed out... The spotter scans the horizon looking for movement; they check the "foot" prints on the tracks and the droppings along the way; and even can tell by the broken brush how long it's been since which animal has been by. When you consider that we drove almost non-stop for almost four hours each time, I can't imagine how many miles we covered each day.
they follow the clues and what do we spot first?...
... a duck! Wow! :) But it got better and better! They spotted this beauty in the grass... and her nearby friend.
I love how the "deer" in the background are at high alert for predators in this next picture.
Every once in a while we'd see the rest of our group in the other Landrover...
We even saw Timon and Pumbaa... the first picture is Timon in the distance (can you believe they spotted him!) ... and then cropped in. See him standing up in the middle there?
We saw a very interesting elephant who had "five legs"... I'll spare you a picture of that but he was not too comfortable with us nearby and made threatening movements toward us. Once we moved so that he was a little higher than us, he was fine since he had a place of dominance.
Such an amazing creature!
Another time we saw a whole herd of elephants... love the babies the best!
We saw zebra (rhymes with Debra) and hippos and rhinos and giraffe and beautiful birds and tons of different types of "Debby's deer" as we called everything that remotely resembled a deer... impala, kudu, and more.
They'd had a lot of rain in August so the land was soo green and vibrant and more flowers were in bloom than usual. It was just gorgeous! In this picture you can see the resort... the large building is the lodge where we had our meals and hung out and then each of our own bungalows tucked into the landscape.
The highlight of the game drives to me was the cheetah sighting. The guides said that it was the best sighting they had ever had. We got to watch a mama and two kids playing... it was beyond amazing. Really almost a holy moment! They look so sweet and cuddly until you see their faces closer!
When they play, it becomes a blur of dots and stripes!
It was a blessing to share these memories with our fellow teachers and their husbands and friends.
Roseanne, Paula Cheney, Werner our guide, me, and Jay Cheney with our hot chocolate...
the Glitz girls, Ginger and Laura, with Paula...
Saying goodbye to such a magical place comes with the wish to return again... hopefully someday!
Hambagahle, Debby & Dave. Thanks again (we can never say it enough) for the kind words about our country. we are proud to have had you here and will welcome you back again, we hope. I commented a couple of posts back, but it was "swallowed", so I say again-- Prayers always for Brandon & Alicia.
Posted by: Jennifer Rogers | September 30, 2011 at 08:46 AM
Wow! Now that's something to see. Would love to go there some day. Doubt it ever happens though. I'm glad you had such a great time and come home safe and sound.
Posted by: Deb J | September 30, 2011 at 10:19 AM
was there a fence or something around the bungalow's to keep the wild animals away?
Posted by: Kip | September 30, 2011 at 11:54 AM
There is an electric fence hidden around the bungalow and lodge area. They warn us not to wander at all.
Posted by: Debby Schuh | September 30, 2011 at 12:32 PM
What a wonderful adventure! You will be inspired for a very long time.
Posted by: Marti Murphy | October 01, 2011 at 08:42 AM