Morning has Broken

June 17, 2024

early coffee time

Each day starts with a cheerful 6:00 am Wake-up call. We throw our clothes on, slather our faces with sunscreen and bundle up for the morning ride to meet at 6:15. Coffee, cookies, and crossiants are served to take the sting out of such an early time. Our group gathers while the guides and trackers ready the land cruisers. Speaking of which, Phinda's crew keeps these bad boys polished and shiny. You can feel the pride in the work that is done on every level. Staff has been so welcoming with a commitment to seeing their guests happy.

Getting in these land cruisers seemed easy for the rest of our group, but John and I struggled with it. His movements are stiff and uncoordinated, and I have a messed up leg. They gave us a little step stool to make the first step onto the vehicle easier. There was always a kind person in our group and/or staff that graciously assisted us. One night, l missed a step that kind of left me hanging onto the side with my good leg folded under me. Luckily Chell was there to help me stand on my own two feet and I wasn't injured.

The morning game drives last about 3 hours. Chell would take us from the sand forest to clearings in search of animals. We saw the 'big 5' early on (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo and leopard). Back at home, I thought- how would we do these drives twice a day? I mean - you see one lion you've seen them all, right? WRONG! Every day was exciting to see what we would spot next. Driving on the bumpy dirt roads was soothing to me. The canopies of the dense trees, the endless skies, and the stops to see fresh animal tracks (how could they even spot them?) Then changing direction to follow the tracks.

I could see God everywhere, creator of this amazing ecosystem. Giving him the glory all the way! These drives took me so far away from my pre - trip worries and home related responsibilities. I felt so free.

Arriving back at the lodge around 10:00 am, we had breakfast. Fresh juices, and the food was wonderful.. looking for critters in the bush gives you a good appetite.

One morning as we got in the vehicle Chelle told us there had been a commotion the night before, and a pride of lions had killed a giraffe, so we went out in search of it. The circle of life is fascinating, even though the thought of a poor giraffe being killed is hard to take. The lions go for the meat, the hyenas for the bones. There is no waste in God's design! We found them and it was a bit shocking to see the huge stomach cavity with the ribs exposed. Kind of looked like the inside of a boat, or maybe what Jonah saw inside the whale. Most of the lionesses had full bellies and plopped down to relax after all that eating. One walked by us not 3 feet away...makes you kind of hold your breath!

Zulu people visit

We took an excursion to visit some Zulu people. Our first stop was to see a medicine woman. Each compound has a rounded building that is considered sacred. Our guide told us we needed to take our shoes off, and at the doorway bow and clap our hands 3 times and say 'molumbooola' or 'boom-shakka-laca' 😜 by the time it was my turn, I'm sure I butchered it, but she let me in anyway. So she did this potion thingy, drank some and started wailing something to the beat of her relatives drums. Yoko Ono had nothin' on this gal. Was kind of interesting in a creepy sort of way. Guess she 'connected' with the spiritual world, and then came back to our world and took questions.

We also went to see a 78 year old grandmother and mother of 10. This lady was really a character. She runs the property and keeps a pretty big garden. She took us into her round house ( shoes off again) and shared with us the Zulu marriage tradition.