Day 10: Welgevonden Game Reserve

July 7, 2019

We have no appointments this morning, so sleeping in is the plan!

The night was quite chilly and the cold is creeping into the farmhouse this morning.

But the sun is already shining and will warm us up soon.

We have breakfast all to ourselves. Either there are no more tourists, they are on the game drive, or they are self-catering!?

Well, we have everything to ourselves!

View of the pool. It looks very inviting, but it's freezing cold (and with the current temperature of 13 degrees, I won't be getting in there!)

We walk back to our farmhouse along the stream.

After relaxing in the sun on the terrace, the kids and Dad want to explore the surroundings of Kololo Lodge by mountain bike (there are bikes available in all sizes free of charge!).

There are supposed to be giraffes among the impalas and various gazelles. We have to find them.

But before we see the giraffes, curious kudus cross our path again.

The three of them are on the 8km long circular path for about 1.5 hours and actually find the giraffes.

Unfortunately, there is only video footage of them...

After a snack, we prepare for our second game drive in the afternoon.

This time we have even more sweaters and jackets with us than the day before. So, we won't get cold so quickly this time.

The husband hasn't been feeling well since the evening bush braii. Hopefully, he's not coming down with a cold....

Phineas is already waiting for us at the safari jeep. Today, we are a very small group. Only a Belgian couple is going out with us. The second jeep is also not going out today.

The Belgians tell us that they were already on the morning drive with Phineas at 5:30 am - and it was soooooooo cold and dark.

Well, I don't think we missed anything!

The husband takes a seat in the front passenger seat today, the kids and I take the "last row" again :-)

We don't see any rhinos or lions today, but there are countless wildebeests and zebras exactly where the rhinos were supposed to be.

We leave the track and drive cross-country through the meadow in search of lions.

But they seem to be somewhere else today. We don't see anything...

Phineas receives a message over the radio. We don't understand exactly what was said, but he accelerates and drives towards the sunset cliff.

Just before we reach it, there is a damn steep road (more like a track) downhill into the valley.

We already see ourselves flying from the last row through the entire jeep when the brakes are applied once, that's how steep the stretch is.

But Phineas seems to know every stone here and skillfully races down the mountain.

While the landscape above looked more like a steppe, it resembles a jungle down here in the valley with the riverbed. Many trees, forests, and ravines. It's amazing what a difference!

Arriving at the bottom of the valley, we cross the shallow riverbed and wait at the roadside.... but for what!?

Phineas receives another message from a safari vehicle further ahead and instructs us to be quiet and watch the road ahead.

Man, this is exciting! What's coming towards us!?

Then everyone in front of us whispers and Phineas points to the road with one finger and puts the other finger to his lips, telling us to be absolutely quiet.

A cheetah mother with her 4 (!) cubs calmly walks towards us on the road, briefly examines our jeep, and continues along the road towards the riverbed.

While the cheetah mother walks past our vehicle with her cubs, she examines us very closely.

However, it seems that we're not the reason for her unease, as Phineas determines shortly afterwards.

A jaguar is lying in wait above the gorge on the cliff edge. Cheetahs and jaguars are supposedly "archenemies" here in the Welgevonden and avoid each other.

The jaguar is so well hidden that it takes me a while to find it.

Directly below the jaguar stands a klipspringer - a dwarf antelope - and also seems to be on alert.

Unimpressed by us, the cheetah mother continues along the road with her cubs and disappears into the undergrowth after they all jump over the riverbed.

What a sighting!!!!

After this event, we are totally thrilled and can't believe our luck.

We stay in the gorge for a while, then we take another, equally steep road (one-way system) back up to the plateau, where we enjoy the sunset again.

Phineas has another large basket of snacks with him, as well as all kinds of drinks.

Today, I'm having South African white wine, stylishly from a wine glass - in the middle of the 'wilderness'.

Soft drinks are available for the kids, and Dad treats himself to a beer.

A black-backed jackal walks curiously around us at a safe distance. Apparently, it hopes to get something from our snacks.

We watch zebras and wildebeests in the sunset at the Welgevonden Game Reserve, then it quickly becomes very cold again, and wrapped in warm blankets, we drive back to the Kololo Lodge.