Sunday 19 May 2019
Sunday morning we
reported at the safari boarding station at 630 AM. It meant getting up atleast
half an hour earlier and getting ready for the trip. After yesterday’s super
cold night travel, everyone was wearing suitable clothing which would protect
them adequately from the cold morning wind.
The day started
luckily for us. Within 10 minutes of starting our trip we could sight a Giraffe.
We almost missed it, but for the sharp eye of Heena Shah, who requested Nuria
to drive back a few metres. The reason Nuria too with her sharp trained eyes
missed the giraffe was because the animal was in a sitting position. Nuria
mentioned that a giraffe usually sits / rests in this position for only about
half an hour in a day.
After the
giraffe sighting we drove along pleasantly for half an hour, enjoying the sun
rise.
Around 0700 AM we came across a herd of wild buffaloes. There would have
been around 50 animals in this herd, whether this was a full herd or part of a
bigger one I was not sure. They leisurely walked over from one side of the road
to the other eyeing the safari jeep & its occupants lazily. Nuria informed
that an adult male buffalo can weigh upto 1000 Kilograms.
In some time
Nuria’s vehicle phone cackled with a conversation from a colleague ranger. The
message was that the lions have been sighted. After a quick drive to the said
area, we reached the clearing where we could see the pride at a distance of
around 200/250 metres away from the vehicle. Initially 3 lions, which were
joined by 2 more; Nuria was happy that we were able to see the full quorum.
On the way back to
the lodge after sighting the lions, we managed to catch a glimpse of a couple
of varieties of deer, a few zebras and some other small native animals.
In all
a morning which I feel we spent usefully. After breakfast, we checked out of
the hotel & boarded the coach for what would be the last destination of our
beautiful tour, Peermont Metcourt Suites at Johannesberg.
Before proceeding
to the hotel we had a city tour of
Johannesberg, seeing most of the points from the comfort of our coach seats. On
reaching the Gandhi Square area, we alighted from the coach to get a feel of
the place, with strict instructions from Dev to stick together and always be
with the group.
By 300 PM we checked
into Hotel Peermont Metcourt Suites which was situated very close to the airport.
After a short rest, we spent the evening roaming around inside the hotel.
The
lavishly done interior of the hotel was a treat to the eyes & other senses.
The tourists started realising that the tour is gradually coming to an end.
Rather than preferring to go around seeing places in and around the hotel,
people preferred being with other group members, talking to each other and
reminiscing about the experiences of the past few days.
At dinner time that
night, Dev informed everyone that next day morning the coach would leave for
the airport by 10 AM.
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