On our fourth day in South Africa, we took off for our next destination, Kruger National Park!
When we landed in Mpumalanga...
there was no one to greet us as had been promised by the travel agent.
Fortunately, the Mpumalanga airport is a small one,
so...when TheChief set out to find the airline for our connecting flight, he found it quickly.
Well...the reason there was no one to greet us...was because our reservations had been cancelled!!!
CRAP!!!
Fortunately for us...Federal Air had Ian working that day...our savior!!!
Ian immediately got on the phone and found out our reservations had been cancelled...
apparently someone booked us twice by mistake and instead of cancelling just one booking
...yep...they cancelled both!!!
(even though the travel agent confirmed the reservations just a few weeks before we got there!)
Well Ian saved the day by calling another small airline that they often help out and vice versa.
The other airline had a plane available and they would happily get us to the Singita airstrip!
He told us it would be a small plane...
...it wasn't so small...after all...it had 5 seats...including the pilot and co-pilot seats!
I've flown in small planes before...but this one was definitely the smallest in my experience!!!
Proof positive that we actually did fly in it!!!
It was a fun flight! But given that it was kind of like driving an old beater compared to a Jaguar,
it was a bit slower than it would have been if we had caught the original flight we were booked for!
Because we were flying fairly close to the ground, I saw 3 elephants from the plane!
When we arrived at the Singita Air strip...it was just that...basically a long, straight dirt landing strip!
There was an airport structure of sorts...
...a fairly small structure with a working bathroom, a bit of shade and a table with refreshments!
We refreshed ourselves for a few minutes and were then picked up by a Guide in a shuttle bus.
Off we went to Singita Lebombo Lodge...our home for the next 3 nights.
It took us about a half hour to get to the lodge...once there we had only a few minutes to get settled...
and then off we went to meet up with our Safari Drive jeep and crew for our first Safari Drive!
Pretty exciting to see our first animal in the park...a big, beautiful, Waterbuck!
Then...the first of many Zebras!
Did you know that we pronounce Zebra as ZEE-bra here in the States,
but it is is actually pronounced ZEB-ra in Africa!
TheChief also learned how you tell a male from a female Zebra...
...do you know?
"A male is black with white stripes,
and a female is white with black stripes..."
(yeah...I know...straight from TheChief's mouth!!!)
This gent was the first of many Wildebeast we would see as well!
I'm sure you've heard of the magic of the African sunset...
It's even more magical than you can imagine in person!
At the end of our first drive...we were taken to a remote area
for a rather gourmet camp meal!
With an open bar...
...our food being prepared there with camp lights...
...and complete with locals and guests entertainment!
A fantastic beginning to our great South African Adventure!!!
"There is something about safari life that makes you forget all your sorrows and feel as if you had drunk half a bottle of champagne-
bubbling over with heartfelt gratitude for being alive."
Karen Blixen
To visit more little corners of the world...click on the image below...
