I am met at the entrance to the lodge by a young man, Iwan (long E sound, followed by van with short a sound). He is one of the Rangers at the lodge. A quick tour of the main lodge building and then I am looking out over the watering hole watching a herd of elephants drinking and one hippo relaxing! Amazing! The peacefulness of this place is unlike anything that I have experienced and it is noticeable as soon as you set foot on the property.
My hut is one of the closest to the lodge. I think this was done for safety reasons, as I will be walking back and forth alone at times. It is lovely! A veranda overlooks the watering hole, yet it still very private. They have given me a family unit: large main bedroom, enormous bathroom with shower stall and square tub, second bedroom in the back with two twin beds. Should have brought a few people with me! It is all lovely!
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| All the comforts of home! |
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| View from my bed - Elephants are just on other side of watering hole! |
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| View from veranda - Amazing! |
A quick shower to refresh and then lunch is served at 2 pm. I quickly learn that lunch is not the main meal of the day! It is generally very light. Today was a salad with minimal greens, ruby grapefruit, pears and some grilled chicken. Fresh bread was a welcome taste after the prepackaged bread on the plane.
At 3:30 my first game drive begins! I am excited to find out what this will be like. We travel in open Land Rovers, seating maximum of 10 plus the Ranger (three rows of three plus one in front with Ranger if need be). Most days we will have six to nine guests in the vehicle. Our tracker, Kenneth, sits on a seat on the front hood of the vehicle. Incredible to watch Kenneth and Ivan follow tracks and lead us to various animals. They are able to distinguish what species, male or female, how recent the track is, what direction the tracks are going. We find two male lions relaxing in the afternoon sun. I had hoped to see many animals, but the part of the game drives that I did not envision is that we would drive right up to the animals, they would acknowledge our arrival and then go about their business. The lions are very lazy, sleeping up to 20 hours each day. Don't be mistaken, the animals are not tame, in fact, if we were to get off of the Land Rover they would quickly become aggressive, but they are accustomed to the vehicles and are generally not threatened. I will explain the “generally” at a later date. So here we sit, ten feet from two older male lions and the photography begins!
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| He awoke when we pulled up. |
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| Not a roar, just a big yawn! |
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| A long stare to size up the audience... |
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| then a rollover and back to sleep! |
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| The other male watches from the shade of nearby tree. |
We stay with the two male lions for a half hour or so and then move on to track other animals.
Cape Buffalo are considered one of the meanest animals in the region. They travel in herds and can be aggressive if threatened or if they just are in the mood for a fight. Thankfully, they are also fairly comfortable with the Land Rovers. We encountered a herd of 400 many times during my stay at Gomo Gomo.
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| Cape Buffalo |
Our final find for the afternoon was a lioness and four cubs. There are nine lioness in this pride. Eight are out hunting and have left one lioness with the cubs. Two cubs are five months old and two cubs are eight months old. Again, they are 10 to 20 feet from us and very comfortable. The cubs are rambunctious and very inquisitive about the vehicles. At first the female keeps a close eye on us, but eventually she relaxes. Iwan tells us that if we were to stand up or get off the vehicle, her demeanor would instantly change.
Dinner is outside tonight in traditional African style around a log fire in the boma. Menu consists of butternut squash soup, pork chops, beef Wellington, roasted potatoes, green beans, carrots and fresh bread. Dessert was a warm cake with a sweet cream sauce. All very delicious and a great way to end the night.
Other guests include Wendy and Kaiser, a US couple that have worked for American Embassy for many years. They are currently stationed in Afghanistan but will be leaving in November for a three year commitment in Thailand. Phil and Ingrid and their daughter, Karis are from the UK. Delightful couple with great sense of humour and much personality! There are six others at the camp. We have exchanged greetings, but I have not found them to be very social.
I am asleep by 10 pm. The days of minimal sleep have caught up with me and 5 am will be here soon.
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