Last morning safari through Kruger National Park before heading out to Botswana via Johannesburg and Zimbabwe/Victoria Falls. Jeffrey decided we would take one last look for my cell phone and Don's jacket and prescription sunglasses. Incredibly, Sharon spotted the jacket, to the left off the beaten track, looking more like a crumpled heap of something. Jeffrey hopped out of the jeep and went over to inspect the pile, then he held it up for Don's inspection. Sure enough, not only was it Don's, but his sunglasses were totally intact! Jeffrey said that the elephants probably tossed it around and ground it into the ground. Unfortunately for me, we did not find my cell phone.
Not many new sightings except for the birds. So far Iris and I have to agree with what we've read and heard that Kenya and Tanzania by far offer the most wildlife sightings, and that Kruger is best for its numerous bird sightings.
I did get a few snaps of the baboons (these seem to run away from the jeep, while the ones we saw last year ran toward us and even blocked the road sometimes, demanding food for safe passage). Probably the highlight of the shorter safari was watching a very colorful harrier hawk plunder a nest, looking for a baby bird smorgasbord.
Harrier hawk.
We returned to the lodge about an hour earlier than usual so we could eat brunch, pack, check-out and head to our little dirt runway for a flight back to Johannesburg. While we waited for the plane to arrive, I killed time catching up on my blog while the others tried to check off the animals, plants, tree and shrubs we spotted during our 3 1/2 day visit in the checklist book we were given as a gift from the lodge. Listening to them all talking at once was like listening to a class full of high school students. It was hilarious.
When we arrived at the runway for our flight back to Johannesburg, we noticed a group of zebras lallygagging smack dab in the middle of the runway. Jeffrey tried to scatter them by throwing rocks at them (very poorly, I might add) before the small plane arrived and cut them up into bite-size pieces, but they just moved a bit then returned as if daring him to throw at them again. Finally he just went at them in the jeep at a pretty good clip. They finally got the message and ran off to safety.
Zebras with low SAT scores and a death wish.
Our plane finally arrived so we said our goodbyes to Jeffrey and climbed back in to the 12-seater than we flew in just 3 days ago. Soon we were on our way back to Johannesburg and the four-star Protea Hotel OR Tambo Airport located next door to the Johannesburg International Airport. This modernized hotel was built in to resemble an aircraft hangar, and the industrial ambiance is reflected in the concrete floors, steel finishes, chrome lighting and top to bottom windows that overlook the airplanes as they dock and take off. The toilet in our room had one of those oxygen masks that dropped down from above when the cabin pressure drops to dangerous levels.
Iris readies herself for the drop in atmospheric pressure.
Iris thought we only had one bath towel, but I pointed out to her that we had to dissemble our little towel dog if we planned to use more towels. Before we did that, we made sure to take a photo since it was so unique. Another interesting feature of both this hotel and the camps was that there never seemed to be enough trash cans. Every place we stayed had one container for trash so some days we would just keep moving it from one part of the room to another because it just made it easier than trying to remember where it was.
Our little towel dog, Fluffy.
My first order of business was to contact T-Mobile via the internet so I could let them know I lost my phone. In my first chat session with Jessica N., I was informed: (1) that I didn't have insurance (on my free phone); (2) that I had to phone in the request to suspend my service; and (3) that I could upgrade my replacement phone. I don't know how many times I told Jessica: (1) I didn't feel the need to insure a phone that was free; (2) that I had no phone to call and suspend my service; and (3) I did NOT appreciate her viewing my stressful situation as an upgrade opportunity. After almost one hour of frustration back and forth, I finally had to ask for a supervisor. Edgar, the supervisor, finally informed me that my service was suspended and that I would be responsible for any calls made before the suspension. I told him I would be sure to let the Kruger baboons who made any long-distance calls to Borneo on my cell phone know that they were to reimburse me. First order of business upon returning home will be investigating another cell phone carrier.
This was the first opportunity to check email and start the blog since we now had internet access. I flowed the first 5 days' worth of copy for the blog but had a heck of a time getting the photos uploaded because the hotel's wireless connection was so slow. Finally I was so tired I decided to give it up and go to bed.
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