A quick half an hour drive to the parks, and after a bathroom stop where there are warthogs! We hop on our safari vehicles.  Because there are 12 of us, we get to have 2 vehicles so we can spread out – which is a great bonus for this size group!  Charl divides us into groups, and off we go. We end up with Pat and Walt and Hoa and John for our 3 hour tour.  (There is a little drama in the beginning as Hoa says she needs to be in front because she is short, but Walt is already there because, well, he’s 7 feet 6 inches tall and really can’t sit anywhere else.  We try to explain that the animals will be on the sides not really in the front, but…well…what can we say?)

After that, we head off into the beauty of the park and the very first thing we see – not even 5 minutes into the drive – is a female lion on the side of the road!  Fabulous.  Her partner is there as well, but he’s hiding behind the bushes, guess he’s shy.  We only get fleeting glimpses of him, but it is enough.  Great way to start our day!

H-I has a storied history in the country.  Started in 1895, it is the oldest nature preserve in S. Africa. Originally created to try to protect rhinos which are poached almost into extinction, the park has grown into a huge sanctuary for all types of animals.  I’m interested in the Rhino conservation and ask about the number of rhinos here in the park. As it turns out, the rangers never give out the number of rhinos in the park so that the poachers don’t know how many animals are here.  The rangers also code names for rhinos that change daily so that poachers can’t intercept the ranger-guide’s chatter on the radio and figure out where the rhinos are located.

As technology has advanced, for both the rangers and the poachers, the park has begun using drones and infrared cameras to detect poaching. Since rhino horns grow back in 7 about years, the park has taken to cutting off the horns in an attempt to save the rhinos from poachers. Charl points out how seriously the country takes poaching – the charges for rhino poaching are more severe than for murder here.

And lo and behold, after all this information, what do we see?  A rhino walking down the road in front of us!  Guess he knew we were taking about him!

From here, it is just beautiful scenery stretching out into the horizon.  Mountains in the distance, watering holes, beautiful birds (that you’ll never see on our photos!).  Just magical – even for 7 o’clock in the morning!

Soon, it is time for our breakfast stop. Did I mention the food?  The hotel has also given us breakfast bags filled with all sorts of food, which we’ve stockpiled for later, because I can’t eat that early in the morning!  But now, out in the middle of the park in a picnic area we are served our “real” full breakfast with eggs and muesli and bread and fruit, the whole works.  A fun communal breakfast where we share stories and lightheartedly make jabs at Sam and Scott (sister/brother).

After breakfast, we chase monkeys around the picnic area to get the best photos.  They are in the trees, running around trying to grab leftover – or still being eaten – food.  They are cute – but such a menace!  As we are leaving, we get a close up view of a big bruiser sitting on a picnic table, just waiting to be fed. Sorry buddy, you’ll have to wait for someone else!

Back out on the drive we are treated to spectacular scenery, lots of Impalas and Kudus, and monkeys running across the road.

We find a pair of water buffaloes beside the road.  They are the most dangerous animals in the park, because they don’t give any warning when they rush you.  Fortunately these guys were too busy eating to bother with us!

Our final sighting, completing the cycle, were warthogs on the way out!  Warthogs in the beginning, warthogs at the end.  Great way to end our first game drive of the trip!