Time Zone Time Warp

Here it is almost two weeks since we got home from our 2009 African adventure and I am just getting my internal clock set back to Pacific Daylight time. Our 26 hour flight home took it out of me, and I have been trying to catch back up since we returned. The Torti clan is happy we are home, and we are glad to be here.

I am still wading through photos, but decided I should get started telling everyone about our amazing journey.

After hop scotching from Seattle to Vancouver to London, and finally to Johannesburg, we dragged ourselves into the Hertz rental office at the airport and picked up the keys to our SUV. A Kia Sportage was our trusty steed for our two week stay, and it didn't fail us, successfully battling the traffic, Elephants and Cape Buffalo to get us to our numerous destinations and back to the airport in Johannesburg without a scratch.

Our first destination was SanWild, an animal rescue and rehabilitation Preserve near Kruger National Park. Sanwild is where we spent our first week, attending a Wildlife Rehabilitation course. More about SanWild in another post, though I will say that they are a dedicated group doing great things on a small budget.

After our week at SanWild, we packed up and headed to Kruger, arriving in Phalaborwa Saturday mid-day. After a stop at the SPAR grocery for supplies we drove through the gate into a wonderland. One of our first sightings was a group of Elephant on the left side of the road. Tricia wanted a better look and asked me to back up a little bit. As I was backing up something caught my eye to the right.

I still can't figure out how I didn't see this giant when I drove by him the first time. He was massive, and about twenty feet away.

We continued on to Mopani rest camp where we had reservations for our first night. At Mopani we had booked an evening game drive, and by the time we got to the camp it was time to go on the drive. Lots of Impala, Elephant and Cape Buffalo to be seen, a few other Antelope and a lone Jackal but not much more. We finished the drive unpacked our bags grabbed a bite in the restaurant and hit the sack looking forward to more adventure in the morning.