Early Morning Safari South Africa

Bottlierskop Early Morning Safari

5^th April 2014

This morning we were up at 05.30am for our early morning safari.  After boarding our 4x4 we soon encountered Black Impalas and Zebras grazing near our tent before we climbed to the top of a hill watching the sun rise over Bottlierskop.

We went to the waterhole where we found the male Rhinoceros (its horn had been removed to protect it from poachers).  Here we also saw more Wildebeest and Kudos. 

Our ranger then went in search of mother and baby Rhino, which we eventually found.  The baby was just three months old and luckily for the mother the baby was born without its horn, which is not always the case.

We again climbed the hills to a viewpoint with views over the safari park, where we were served hot coffee laced with a liquer similar to Baileys.  A very welcome stop after our very early start.

We were soon on the move again spotting many other wild animals including Waterbuck, Kudos, and the a lone pregnant female giraffe.  After three hours driving around we returned to the Lodge for a welcome breakfast.  After this we had some free time to pack our bags before we rejoined our coach for the five hour drive to Cape Town.

En route we stopped at the top of a very, very windy Sir Lawry’s Pass, where we got our first sight of Cape Town.  As we drove in to Cape Town we saw the sun setting over Table Mountain. 

As we drove in to the port we saw Wendy and Luiz waiting patiently there for us, as we had arrived an hour later than planned.  We quickly went on board to change before we joined Wendy and Luiz for a short shuttle ride into the Waterfront area of Cape Town.  Wendy had kindly booked a table in a quayside restaurant specializing in South African food.  We had a very nice leisurely meal, catching up on all the news.

We then spent an hour walking around the Waterfront before returning to the ship at gone midnight, an end to a very, very long day.

Thanks again to Wendy and Luiz for arranging a very nice evening.  Perhaps next time we can stay a little longer in this beautiful country.