Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!

Friday, I was taken to Shamwari Game Reserve. After turning into Shamwari, it was about 20 miles of rocky road before we reached the Bayethe Lodge. I was escorted to my tent which was down a series of walkways, planks, stairs and bridges. All I could think of was how the hell am I going to get here by myself after dinner in the dark. My luxury lodge was a tent with a straw roof, hard wood floors, king bed with fresh flowers precisely placed, fully stocked refrig, very cool bathroom with an old fashioned tub, outside shower and a private plunge pool off my viewing deck, heat, a/c. Apart from being a tent it was really a luxury room. I looked up and saw gaps where the tent side meets the straw roof and thought about the spiders, lizards, birds, and other tiny creatures that also have access to my room... I was doing alot of thinking like 'what the hell am I doing here alone.' I asked the girl if there was a key and she said most do not use a key but if I would like one, stop at the office. "I think I will."
We met with our ranger about 4PM for our first drive into the bush. Headman was his name and he has been working at Shamwari for 11 years and was extremely knowledgable. A series on Shamwari was featured on animal planet for its conservation efforts. Headman promised us, (myself and two couples from England) that he would try to show us the Big Five ( Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and Rhino) by the end of the weekend.
We climbed into our Jurassic Park type vehicle and Headman loads the rifle that is secured to the dashboard.
"Is that a tranquiler gun," I asked.
"One bullet could kill an elephant." Headman replied.
"Did you ever have to use it?"
"No," he said.
I felt my body relax and I stopped asking questions.
He set down the rules as he held the gun. "No standing, no calling to the animals, no littering. If I tell you to put on your seatbelts, do it immediately." We all just nodded our heads in agreement with the man holding the rifle.
We proceeded on a ride through the bush. It is called the bush because there are very few trees. Can you believe I actually asked that question.
We immediately saw warthog (very ugly animal) giraffe, zebra, monkey wilderbeast, impala, springbok. A massive giraffe came so close to the vehicle Headman pulled away concerned he might kick. The sun was going down and the temperature dropped dramatically, I was wearing three layers by now and wrapped in the blanket they provided. Headman stopped the vehicle on the top of the mountain and set up cocktails and snacks on the back of the truck as we watched the sun set. Clare and I bought a hat at the shop after the drive.
Dinner was in the lodge in front of a roaring fire with the same group from your vehicle. Bottles of red and white SA wines were poured and a 7 course goumet dinner while we bombarded our ranger with questions.
"Is it true John Travolta and Brad Pitt were here." Catherine asked the important questions.
"Yes," he said, "but I treated them the same as anyone else."
Clare and Justin walked me 3/4 of the way back to my tent and I jogged the rest of the way and locked the door. I figured I should go right to sleep since we were getting a 5am wakeup call from Headman for our morning drive. I didn't sleep well with the sound of the tent flappping and the rustles of creatures in the bush. In the morning I noticed the plastic from the tray of pastries and cookies was nibbled and crumbs on the table... so I wasn't hearing things.
I was up and dressed before the phone rang at 5 AM. On the morning drive we saw a herd of elephants, a leopard stalking a warthog. She and her baby were within 10 feet of the vehicle. Headman said it was a very rare siting. You could see the baby had one blue and one brown eye.
We saw a family of hippos in the river and the usual ... giraffe, zebra, gazelle, hyaena, etc.
We told him we need to see the white rhino and the black rhino, buffalo and lion. He laughed. I guess when you have 60,000- 70,000 acres of bush it is almost like finding a needle in a haystack. I said we were told he was the best.
Headman proved to be the best over the next 2 drives, we saw the white rhino and the black rhino, buffalo, elephants as Catherine keeps humming the tune to Jurassic Park in the back.
Headman stops the vehicle once in a while, takes his gun and gets out looking at prints or picking up dung... tracking the beasts.
As we were having our evening cocktail and snack we heard the incredibly loud roar of a lion in the distance. Headman's ears perked and he packed up the drinks and told us to put on our seat belts. The roar was extremely loud because the lion was maybe 2 miles away at that point. Headman tore through the pathways of the bush in search of the lion as we jostled and bounced in the back trying to keep warm. It was unbelieveable, because he did find him sitting in the grass. There is a reason they call the lion "king." He sat there so cool like we weren't even there and sounded a fearsome roar in our direction every once in a while.
It was an incredible experience.