We managed to fall asleep with the sounds of the bush and the pitch black night surrounding us. We awoke to the same sound, in the same darkness. The sound seemed to be like someone was either hocking a lugey or puking while blowing a vuvuzela at the same time. I had thought it was an elephant and didn't think twice about it. After all I had heard the day before that elephants come near the lodge to visit the watering hole.
After showering and gearing up for the safari we headed toward the lodge. The puking vuvuzela sound was louder now and as soon as we walked into the lodge Josh seemed anxious. He said "is everyone okay to leave without coffee?" We all said okay, but I wasn't sure what we were agreeing to. I sent EJ back to get our parents, but our mother wasn't ready yet.
Everyone climbed into the jeep (leaving mom behind unfortunately) and Josh drove off like a man on a mission. He said that we didn't have much time before he disappeared (and I still wasn't quite sure what he meant by it). Within a few minutes though, I could see just what Josh and Cameron had been tracking.
It was a large, young male lion. Josh said that he was probably two years from being full size and he was already massive. We followed him as he sauntered down the road for a while. He had finally quieted down from earlier in the evening/morning and seemed to be taking his sweet old time walking down the jeep's trail.
When he had finally gone too far off road for us to follow and into territory that we were not allowed to enter we turned around and headed back to the lodge. My mother was there on the platform waiting for us, coffee in hand.
After finishing off the coffee we had abandoned earlier it was piling back into the jeep again, this time with the whole gang, and heading off to see if we could find our friend, the young male lion, again.
We drove and drove and drove. Over bumps, through thorny trees, past huge piles of poop, and the male lion was no where to be found. His tracks were everywhere, making loops and lazily pacing through trees but the animal itself could not be found. We did get to see a zebra and some more Impalas (of course). Finally Josh got a hot tip and we were back to flying down the roads.
When the jeep finally slowed down we noticed three lionesses laying in the reeds. They looked up at us but otherwise couldn't care less that we were there.
After watching the lionesses relax for a while we turned around and headed back to the lodge. Breakfast was there waiting for us, and like all the other food it was delicious. EJ had a special breakfast dessert brought out to him - a springbok shot! It is half mint schnapps and half Amarulla, an African fruit cream liquor. A great way to start off a 21st birthday.
After breakfast we took a walk down a precarious boarded 50ft walkway to an equally questionable tree house veranda. One of the guests from the day before had told us that there were elephants and giraffes there the day before.
For a while there was nothing but trees and grass. Then suddenly there was something shifting amongst the brush and a massive grey figure could be barely seen. An elephant emerged bursting through the brush, and then another and another.
By the time they were finished there were seven elephants surrounding the watering hole. One of them was a massive male who came within a foot or two of our platform and was so tall that if he had reached up his trunk he probably could have torn the whole platform down.
A few moments later they left and a lone medium sized male came out and bathed himself in the mud puddle, sucking up the mud and water and then flinging it onto his back and under carriage with his large trunk. By this time the sun was high in the sky and beating down on all of us. When the elephant was done and left I thought that he didn't have such a bad idea cooling himself off with the muddy water and decided to take a dip in the pool myself.
Now I'm no stranger to pools with broken or missing water heaters but even that experience couldn't have prepared me for what lied ahead as I plunged my left foot into the water.
It was COLD. Not tepid, not chilly, not cool, but ice cold. I think it may have even been colder then ice, and cold water was just continually being pumped into the pool by a small waterfall. But my stubbornness saw me through and pretty soon I was neck deep. It was cold enough that I forgot all about how hot I had been before watching the elephants. Soon enough I managed to convince my aunt to join me and we stood in the ice bath for a while. EJ even tried to show us up by jumping right in but quickly thought better of it after dipping in a toe. We all exited the ice bath area soon afterwards and went back to change.
I decided to surprise EJ with his gifts after he came out of the bathroom. At first he was confused by the play station 4 bag but when I explained to him that it was a logistical nightmare bringing the PS4 to South Africa with us he began to understand. At first he was thrilled and then annoyed that I didn't give it to him before our trip, in typical kitty fashion.
Soon it was time for lunch, where we enjoyed all different kinds of pasties and finished things up with another round of shots. First it was tequila, then jaeger. With pouring those shots Josh had officially declared it EJ's 21st and we all climbed in the Land Rover.
Josh began the ride by asking which of the Big 5 EJ wanted to see. He said elephant, though I'm not sure why since we had already seen so many that afternoon. Josh said okay and then asked him to nominate who would take the shots when we found one so EJ said our mother and James.
The first animals we saw were a bunch of zebras, they galloped right across the road in front of us! We sat and watched them graze until they trotted out of sight and then just a quick drive ahead of them was a group of warthogs including a baby warthog rummaging through the grass. The zebras were a bit skittish around the car but the warthogs carried on like we weren't even there.
Next was a group of Impalas and a giraffe way in the distance. Then Josh told EJ and Conrad to switch places. As EJ road on the front of the Land Rover we kept making our way through the bush. After a bit Conrad took his place back as Tracker and we got a tip for an animal. Way out of the way for us, a huge bull elephant. Josh had knocked over a bunch of small trees to get there and we watched the elephant take down a huge tree, roots and all. One shot for mom and James!
As we drove along Conrad and Josh later saw some tracks that they wanted to follow. Now normally they would go off together for a few minutes into the bush and either one would come back and the other would meet up with us down the road or they would come back together. This time Josh told EJ to hop out and took him tracking. He showed him all the different animal tracks and they even found a dung beetle sphere that is leftover when a dung beetle's larva hatch.
They both made it back in one piece and we continued our journey. Josh had asked all the other Rangers to help him make EJ's birthday special - calling it the big 5 21 and they really came through. Our next hot tip was for some more lionesses but it wasn't just a few like before. This time there were twelve of them and a few older cubs, all laying in the tall grass. As we kept watching them they started to move and soon enough there was a lioness heading right for Conrad on his exposed seat at the front of the Land Rover. I don't know how he did it but he didn't even flinch, not a single muscle as Josh backed the jeep up slowly and sure enough the lioness lost interest.
The sunlight was quickly fading as we continued to drive. I wondered when we would be stopping for our sunset drinks. It was already getting pretty dark. In the distance a sort of treehouse started to come into view and got larger and taller as we drove closer. Josh pulled up to a pickup truck already parked near the tall lookout post and I could see the white linen table cloth and champagne classes set up. He told us to hop out, that we had reached the location of our sunset drinks.
We had reached Ezulwini Paradise Camp, a two story outpost that overlooks the entire reserve. As the sun was setting Angie, aka Kruger Cougar, handed out a platter of springbok shots and EJ made a birthday toast. He said that it was perhaps the best birthday he has ever had, only the one where we told him we were driving to Gatorworld and then surprised him by going to Disney World may have been better.
Sparkling wine soon followed the springbok shots and then it was a mixed shooter with Everclear for mom, James, me and EJ. Then it was our sunset drink we had ordered (Jameson and ginger for me). By the time we were ready to head back to camp I was a bit tipsy and it was pitch black dark. Climbing back down the stairs leading up to the platform was more difficult now that flashlights illuminated the path and I could see just how shody and dangerous they were. Some of the planks were broken! And there was no handrail, only an unfinished log that filled your hand with splinters the moment you touched it.
Everyone made it safely back down the tower thanks to everyone's cellphone lights. Climbing into the vehicle we headed back to the lodge.
The night was so dark that you could see every star in the sky as we whizzed by. Suddenly Conrad's spotlight stopped on a small black furry figure and Josh shouted "honey badger!!!!"
We were all so excited to find two honey badgers scurrying through the bush. Everyone started quoting the popular YouTube video of a man narrating an animal documentary about a honey badger - "honey badger don't give a shit."
The rest of the ride back was everyone laughing and quoting the video. When we pulled up to the lodge everyone was there waiting for us, including the "Big 5" - a coffee shooter, a springbok, a blue shooter, a b-52, and a tequila sunrise.
Everyone gathered to watch EJ drink his "Big 5" with Ashely and myself videoing the event. He downed each drink and everyone cheered him on. By the time we came back after dropping off our things half the bush had seen the video.
We kept going with tequila shots and blue shooters and Amarulla. Even the staff joined in on the celebration. Finally dinner was announced and we had to abandon the bar to eat some food.
Once everyone had their fill I saw Josh slowly walking out with a cake covered in candles. It was decorated to look like a soccer pitch, complete with a ball made of icing and chocolate malt balls in the middle and two goals made with netting and tooth picks. Unfortunately the wind picked up and burned down one of the nets, but the other survived.
EJ cut slices of the beautiful cake that Ashley made from scratch for everyone. As we ate the cake we swapped stories with the two Australian guest, Tracey and Cam, about our hometowns and past adventures. Eventually our Seinfeld based conversation drew to a close as everyone's eyelids grew heavy. Josh came back and agreed with EJ to call a truce on the drinking in order to catch some sleep.
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