Kapama – Day Two

Following the night drive that scratched skin and tore shirts, I was up early for the game drive. I was mostly excited, and just a little bit concerned. It couldn’t be that bad again, right?

 

 

I  shouldn’t have been worried, though there are definitely some differences between here and Kariega. Joe was very tame the next morning overall. I was disappointed that Jen was not feeling well, but after confirming she would be okay I also didn’t want to miss a great opportunity, and decided there was only one option. I headed out to the game drive alone. All things considered, I’ll bet she is glad she skipped this one.

 

While the drive was calm, and there were none of the concerns from the night before, we were in pursuit of small pack of lions and again we were off-roading. After last night, Joe avoided bushes for the most part, but one bush in particular caught the truck. I didn’t think much of it until I saw the spider on the lady in front of me… and then there were the ants.

 

 

My entire lap was covered in ants, and three spiders, and we were sitting right by a very active pack of four lions, so not the best time to dance around screaming “get them off me, get them off me!”, so I fought that down. I watched the spiders while still taking pictures, and eventually one worked its way down to the floor of the truck.

 

STOMP!

 

One down, two to go, and now still the ants… I scooped up the spider closest to my thighs (you know, priorities!) and tossed him out of the cab. The last spider was bright green, and mostly small, but sitting perched on my leg by my knee. I kept hoping he would fall off, but to no avail. We took photos of the lions, a mother and two cubs, as well as another female. They played, sparring with each other a bit, and continued to walk along the road as we traveled. I was thankful that soon we headed off and had a drink break, where I stood and brushed the last spider from my jeans. All the while, I’d been sitting in ants, and had some crawling on my back and the back of the seat. The spotter was nice enough to knock them off of my back for me, and I brushed them from the seat to the cab of the truck. All was well again. Oh yes, I took a lot of lion pictures…

 

 

After the drinks break, and once I was doubly sure I had no ants on my back anymore, I clamored back into the truck and we headed out in search of elephant. After nearly an hour, it was time to head back and while we had seen all the signs, we saw no elephants. I thought it was fitting… they are Jen’s favorites, after all! I headed back immediately to check on her, and she was doing much better after some rest.

 

I’m going to mention lunch today because it was something I think was memorable. I ordered Springbock Carpaccio as a lunch “entree” (appetizer in South Africa), and was a little surprised to learn that carpaccio is essentially thinly sliced raw meat. I’d not had it before, and wasn’t sure what carpaccio was! I ate it anyway, and it was pretty delicious! Why take typhoid pills if you aren’t willing to take a risk or two, right?!? After a quick bite to eat, and a nap for us both, we were ready to go for “high tea” as they call it here, and our afternoon game drive.

 

Again in the afternoon, it was a day of lions. We went out again and found ourselves watching the same pack of lions eating a warthog. Well… there wasn’t much of the warthog left, but we could hear the crunching and the mother lion was very protective of what was left over. Lions do this odd growling sound that almost sounds like a malfunctioning engine that revs every few moments when trying to eat and also trying to protect their kill from other lions. We watched this for some time. Initially, we were looking for a lion with a newborn(ish) cub, but we were unable to track them down and ran into the same four lions again.

 

 

By the time we left them, it was getting dark, and after a drinks break we were heading back to camp by headlight and spotlight. The spotter noticed a chameleon, though how is another question altogether. Joe picked it out of the bush, and brought it to the car. It changed color slightly as it was angered (to black), but it was a pretty fun thing to see outside of a pet store, and in its natural habitat. It was a very successful game drive.

 

 

At dinner, both Jen and I contemplated how our trip was coming to an end soon, how quickly it has all gone by. With one more day left, we’re hoping for a few more shots of elephants, and adding an elephant experience to our itinerary here as well… more on that to come as well.