It is now lunch time and the lodge is very close, so we head there for our 1pm reservation at the Cattle Baron restaurant, feasting on a monstrous burger with fried eggs for Ed and a huge BBQ chicken and pineapple salad for me.  We have some free time here to peruse the gift shop, which has a ton of items, but all fairly pricey, but it’s a park shop, so what can we expect?

After the last restroom break, we pile back into the van to reverse our course and head south through the park and back to the ship.  One of the ladies in the group doesn’t feel well, and her husband has asked Graeme if he will find some way to get her up front.  I overheard this and switched seats with her because a) the seat is right behind Ed, b) I have my pills if I start to get sick and c) I sort of felt bad for sitting up front the whole time and thought someone else should get the cat bird seat.

Graeme and the driver compare notes on the route we should take (they’ve been having this little passive-aggressive tussle all day long which was actually sort of humorous to watch), finally deciding on a course of action to get us back through a different route than the one on which we arrived. The great thing is we’ve still got hours of wandering through the park roads in search of wildlife on our way back, which we find immediately in the form of Kudu bucks.  Then it is back to the elephant-palooza! We find a huge herd grazing in the fields, with a whole bunch of babies and youths, including one set of young bulls tussling around in the background.  They are so fun to watch, butting heads and pushing back and forth against each other with their tusk entangled.  We spend a good 5 or 10 minutes there just watching their antics.

Meanwhile, Graeme has been checking his whatsapp Ranger group for lion sightings when we had service at the lodge.  He says that a lion was sighted in a specific area and we speed off to see if we can spot him.  As we approach this huge wide field, there a ton of cars sitting on the side of the road, indicating a lion is somewhere.  We pull up and stare at the tall grass, seeing nothing.  But Graeme and the driver see the lion lying under a tree in the shade. How they can spot these things, I’ll never know! I guess training and practice and from doing it for so long, but honestly, all we see is a tree out in the distance with some tall grass around it!  And then it stretches!  OMG there is a lion out there!  We see it’s paws come up out of the grass in a stretch and then his tail switches.  Cool.

As some of the other vehicles begin to leave, we inch up so that we are almost parallel with the tree and lion, when all of a sudden we see two sets of paws.  There are two!!  Now comes the waiting game.  We sit quietly looking at the space underneath the tree, willing the lions to move or sit up so we can see them.  Nothing but the wind rippling through the tall grass, which in and of itself was pretty cool and very much what you’d think Africa would look like, but not as cool as seeing lions.  Minutes go by. Nothing. Graeme says we must be patient, so we wait.  Finally, 3 cape buffalo appear down wind of the lions.  They meander about grazing, and we can’t figure out why they haven’t smelled the lions, when suddenly the big one stops and stares right at the tree.  Then another on stops and stares.

Well, that’s all the lions need. Up pop their two heads staring back at the buffaloes. 

We’re waiting to see who is the king of the savannah here – are the lions hungry enough to attack? Or will they not bother and  go back to sleep?  Well, apparently they aren’t hungry, but they also don’t like the buffalo so close because they get up and move away from the tree and the buffalo, glancing back occasionally to make sure they aren’t being followed.  Awesome! Prime picture taking opportunity as the two male lions saunter across the field, then plop down a little ways away from the van in shorter grass.  We spend a few more minutes marveling at these two lion kings, then slowly turn around and head back toward the south entrance. 

Along the drive we encounter a pack of yellow mongoose, who are really quite cute looking little fellows (like a weasel or ferret), and are quite curious about us as they poke in and out of their little den underneath a thorny bush.  Then we find a couple of black backed jackals who are eating something off the road – insects or some little microscopic specks that we can’t really see.  One just wanders all along the side of the van as he eats, his long hair on his back rippling in the wind.  We might as well not even have been there for all he cared.

Around the corner is a large herd of cape buffalo grazing on the plains.  They don’t give us much mind either, although a couple do look up long enough for us to take their pictures.  Then there are more zebras, including one baby who walks right up to the van and alongside it, literally hugging the side.  (This is where I will go into my riff about how oblivious or just down right selfish people are.  There are 11 people on this van and everyone wants to take pictures of the animals, but there are also people who just won’t move from their window, hogging the space and not allowing or offering for anyone else to come up and take a photo!  I mean honestly!  I bit my tongue for the entire trip, because there was one woman up front who constantly bogarted the window, but now in the back there are a couple men who are worse -and the reason I say that now is because I really wanted a picture of the little zebra right outside the van but couldn’t push my way into the space to get a good shot.  Thus, the ones I have are, well, crap.  Avant garde in a positive light, but crap in an objective light! Ok, that felt good.  I’m done now.)

Moving on, our last sighting is another big herd of cape buffalo grazing and playing in the grass.  A few are bunched up together, and some of the bulls are pushing and shoving each other just like the elephants.  Must be the time of year!  Just as we are about to leave, 2 big bulls come up in front of us and face off before tangling horns and pushing and shoving each other in their contest of wills.  Awesome way to end a fantastic day!

We are soon out of the park and on the highway returning to the ship.  What a great day – so much wildlife!  Even if the next 2 safaris are a bust, we don’t care.  Today was an absolute blast! 

Back on the ship, we dump our backpacks, wash our faces quickly and go upstairs to the African BBQ on deck.  We’re excited to see what they have prepared, and we are not disappointed.  It’s like a pseudo White Night – all the officers serving, special dishes like Droewors sausage and Ostrich (which is yummy btw), and Kingclip and hake (fish local to the area) plus Bunny Chow!!!!  Finally we get to try Bunny Chow!  We’ve wanted it every since Maritza told us about it on the Pursuit.  Traditionally found in Durban, it is essentially curry inside a hollowed out loaf of bread.  Here on The Quest they have made it with beef curry and a smaller maybe 1/3^rd loaf size bread.  It is so good yummy, and I’m totally excited to finally try it!  There are a million other offerings, pasta, sushi, salads, veggies, desserts – you name it.  These outdoor buffets are some of our favorite things on Azamara.

Fully sated after our meal, we head back downstairs to freshen up, then hit the show – which is a wonderful local dance and singing troupe, then the Living Room bar and the cabin for a good night’s sleep.