Lalibela Game Reserve

February 19, 2014

Lalibela Game Reserve

Yea! Today is here! I was up most of the night (jetlag), but am so excited to experience my first adventure with wild animals in their own habitat (very different from driving through the safari theme park as a kid - lol)! We docked in Port Elizabeth:

Then we boarded a bus for the Reserve. It was about an hour's drive. We had our guide giving history about the area during our drive, but the best part was seeing giraffes in the fields along the way! I didn't get any pictures, it all happened so fast (and they were pretty far away). There are many reserves in the area where we were going. Our reserve (Lalibela) is over 18,000 acres! Here we are:

This is our view driving in:

We saw these guys as we were driving in:

This is the jeep we will be riding in:

Pulling up to the lodge, the drivers and this guy greeted us:

After driving for an hour or so, my first stop was the bathroom (lol). On the way there, I saw this nice sitting area with giraffe statues (the only ones I saw close up today)

Helli & I ready for the ride!

The Jeeps sit up pretty high, so they have this "launch" area where you can just step right in (instead of climbing -but being the healthy young folks Helli & I are - we climbed LOL)

Our view in the Jeep (we sat at the very back - the E-Ticket seats!)

Driving to our first stop we saw this cool looking bird:

First stop - hippos! They were floating in a nearby pond. Look at those faces!

They must have been tired because they sure did a lot of yawning

This guy was sitting nearby. Not sure what kind of antelope he is.

These guys were all around the water hole: antelope and warthogs (I like to call them "Pumbas" ;) Did you know that when warthogs run, their tails stick straight up?!

Our driver/guide about had a heart attack when we spotted these Kudu. They are his favorite and usually don't hang around when the Jeeps are near. Look at their horns and big ears.

Nearby to the field where the kudu were these:

And then later....zebras (or zay-brahs as they pronounce it here)

Zebras are not just black and white, they have a tan color in their stipes as well. And no zebras stripes are the same (kind of like our fingerprints)

Mamma & her baby

See how close our Jeep is?

After driving around some more in search of one (or more) of the Big 5 (Lion, giraffe, elephant,.....I can't think what the other 2 are), we drove down a big hill and came across.....