Part 2 Safari: Amazing Experience

So, safari part 2….We ended up going on 8 total safari outings with our guides, Al, Mumps and Liam.  A few highlights follow:

our trusty guides-Mumps, Liam and Al

I cannot say enough on how awesome these two guys are and how they helped us get in front of EVERY animal we wanted to see.  And I’m not just talking close…but CLOSE.  I mentioned we saw 4 of the 5 “Big 5″ on the first day which was amazing…and then we continued to see elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo, widebeasts (9 o’clock!!!!)zebras (pronounced with a SOFT “e”) by the way, female lions, and an amazing jackpot of leapards every single day we went out.  The only animal we hadn’t seen yet was the prized MALE LION!!! 

Our leapard sightings apparently were OFF THE CHARTS!  For example, we witnessed a mother leapard basically steal a large impala from her first born daughter to feed to her new cubs…amazing.  In our pics you’ll see her cleaning her cubs after the feast!  I also have to mention another leapard, following a warthog kill, drag the half eaten carcass up a tree for safe keeping. 

Cleaning up after dinner!

Many of you probably saw the near death experience we encountered from our Facebook video.  Apparently Al (our guide) didn’t like us much and tried to feed us to an angry hippo one morning.  If you havent seen the video, check it out here…I still laugh my ass off every time I watch it.

On top of over-deliverying every single day and having the experience of a life time…on our very last safari drive, we amazingly hit the real jackpot we’d been searching for.  All of a sudden, Al started speeding off in the Land Rover with us bouncing around in the back like bobbleheads.  We knew he was on to something big and before we knew it, we were literally sitting a few feet away from the big prize.  A pride of 11 full grown lions who had just killed a Cape Buffalo…thank GOD they weren’t hungry.  Of the 11 lions, 3 were males and I have to say, besides Zachary, the most majestic animal I’ve ever seen.  They continued to walk around the Land Rover finding a cool area of shade to start their nap.  Al kept getting closer and closer.  Before we knew it, we were probably 15 feet from them…AMAZING!

Jackpot!

Although we could have left completely fulfilled with everything we saw, the experience of being surrounded by full grown lions was an experience i’ll never forget.  We basically almost died!!

One thing I havent mentioned which is crazy because its been so good is the food.  We’ve never eaten so much food in our life…and FANTASTIC food at that.  A little sad since all we did was eat enourmous portions and sleep during the day…I’m well on my way to bear status which I’m sorta looking foward to…Croccodile Carpaccio, Kudu (Large Antelope) and a huge variety of other options made the menu and their way into my stomach throughout the visit at Sambambili.

OK…as much as we hate to leave the beautiful place, Cape Town calls!  We are looking forward to a great trip there…beaches, food, wine…all good stuff.  Thanks again for the amazing staff at Sambambili.  If you should ever be looking for a place to experience S. African Safari…Simbambili is the place.  Guaranteed!

We’re off…stay tuned.

We're off to Cape Town!