So it was 8:15 in the morning. I was sitting in my office starting a normal day at work, talking to my coworker when he says, “Why don’t you go on the crew tour?”
I thought a moment. Could I really blow off a day at work?
Then reality check came in and said sarcastically, “You are going to be in Africa sooooo frequently in life. Why blow off a day sitting at a computer for a day in the African sun potentially seeing big game?”
So poof, I ran out of my office, changed into my safari attire, grabbed my camera, water and not enough sun block from my cabin. Ten minutes later I was on the dock in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with a bunch of other cruise ship crew members, waiting for a bus that would take us to a game reserve.
An hour bus ride later we arrived at Lalibela Game Reserve. We were greeted with champagne flutes of orange-like juice and an African musical performance. (While we enjoyed the performance, we were politely asked to sign away our rights to sue them if we got eaten by a lion.)
Then we piled into an open top jeep that amazingly sat ten people comfortably.
I must admit, my expectations were low. I figured a nice day driving around the African wilderness enjoying the sunshine would be worth blowing off work and the cost of the crew tour.
And ten minutes into the ride… we were 30 feet from a pride of lions. It is a bit of a thrill to be sitting so close and so vulnerable so near to a bunch of lions. I mean really, there was nothing stopping them from making us lunch, except mid-day lethargy, the heat and perhaps the overpowering smell of sun block. We enjoyed watching the lions for a while, and the lions seemed a bit annoyed but tolerant of us. (It is, after all, a game reserve; they see the jeeps in the morning, afternoon and evening.)
We continued our drive on roughly forged trails through the African landscape passing herds of antelope like things (I didn’t catch the names of all the animals), zebras and giraffes.
Our next major thrill was a family of elephants huddled beneath the shade of a tree. Elephants, being more docile than the lions, allowed the jeep to come real close. We could not have been more than ten feet away from the elephants. They watched us, watching them as they flapped their ears continuously to cool themselves.
Then we heard a noise from behind us. There was another group of elephants behind us. This made our guide very nervous. Apparently you don’t want to be between two groups of elephants. They passed right around us, reach out and touch them close. We survived the encounter.
From there, the guide went searching for rhinos, through valleys, over hills, through meadows. Bounce bounce bounce in the jeep, frying in the hot mid-day African sun. Drinking lots of water, applying again and again sun block.
And then the guide delivered, and there was a rhino. The rhino was the most bothered by our presence and walked casually away.
Our final sighting was a bunch of bumps on the water. They were hippos, but honestly, they just looked like some bumps on the water. All they had exposed was their eyes and noses.
Following a few hours on safari, we returned to a lodge for a delicious late lunch. I really liked the lodge for the details, like antler door knobs and ostridge egg chandeliers.
An hour drive later, a quick costume change, and I was back in the office at work.
(If you are going to play hooky from work, why not go on safari in Africa!)
Cool: Safari.
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